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What does backup software actually do for a Palm?
- Thread starter Nectar
- Start date
Skinny Girf
New member
See the post two down "Essential Software for T3" It has some good ideas about this question.
Richard
Richard
--If your PC was always currently synched with your PDA AND it never corrupted and had to be "factory restored"...then you wouldn't need a backup.
--If you were never away from your PC and therefore could always hotsynch....then you wouldn't need a backup.
--If you PDA NEVER went dead due to battery drain and did a spontaneous hard reset back to factory setting....then you wouldn't need a backup
If none of these, and many other situations never occurred then you wouldn't need a backup....the only problem is that one or more of the above will occur....eventually
On a day to day basis, this is why I use a backup program: All day long I add contacts, events, appts, memos, etc. If my PDA does a hard reset, say at the end of the day, OR IF I LOSE MY PDA, then I've lost everything since my last hotsynch, which in my case, might have been several days!
But it's your call and your data, huh?
--If you were never away from your PC and therefore could always hotsynch....then you wouldn't need a backup.
--If you PDA NEVER went dead due to battery drain and did a spontaneous hard reset back to factory setting....then you wouldn't need a backup
If none of these, and many other situations never occurred then you wouldn't need a backup....the only problem is that one or more of the above will occur....eventually
On a day to day basis, this is why I use a backup program: All day long I add contacts, events, appts, memos, etc. If my PDA does a hard reset, say at the end of the day, OR IF I LOSE MY PDA, then I've lost everything since my last hotsynch, which in my case, might have been several days!
But it's your call and your data, huh?
Palm Desktop backups your handheld every time you make a hotsync. So, if you inadvertently make errors in your handheld and hot syncs, then your handheld overwrites the Palm Desktop and you make an exact duplicate of the problem. That is what is going to be put back to your handheld after you hard reset. (But, technically, you can perform erasures in your desktop backup file to correct the problem before you hot sync, otherwise you'll get the same configuration)
Other softwares, like SD or MMC backups, saves the configuration as of a certain date. That means, you can "go back in tiime" and restore your handheld to what it was as of said date.
When I restore from the SD (no need for hard reset), and then do the hot sync, I get a fresh start without losing my data (the latest data are updated by the hot sync, but the problematic applications, if any, are removed).
Other softwares, like SD or MMC backups, saves the configuration as of a certain date. That means, you can "go back in tiime" and restore your handheld to what it was as of said date.
When I restore from the SD (no need for hard reset), and then do the hot sync, I get a fresh start without losing my data (the latest data are updated by the hot sync, but the problematic applications, if any, are removed).
The T3 can only store a maximum of 52 mb's of data in RAM so the 64 mb figure quoted by Palm is a little misleading. A 64 mb card is what you'd need anyway assuming you have more than 32 mb's of data in RAM since the next step up from 32 mb is 64 mb. You can buy 64 mb MMC cards for as little as $20 so it's cheap insurance.
I do think this is a good question. I'm a BackupBuddy user, and I've used it for a long time since Palm Pilot days. In those days the story was that the Palm sync just dealt with the core Palm apps, and if you had installed extra software, then you needed BackupBuddy to back them up properly. I don't think that is any more the case, and the Palm sync does backup the lot. I'm not sure what BackupBuddy does that the Palm sync procedure doesn't do, apart from a few bells and whistles like 'Zoomback' where you in effect keep several backups, in case the most recent one is corrupted.
Backup to SD card, on the other hand, which I do with BackupBuddyVFS does something Palm sync doesn't do, it puts a backup onto your SD card, and that has saved my skin many times when my T3 has needed a hard reset when I was away from base. I have it set to do a backup each day at 2am, and it doesn't depend of doing a hotsync.
Backup to SD card, on the other hand, which I do with BackupBuddyVFS does something Palm sync doesn't do, it puts a backup onto your SD card, and that has saved my skin many times when my T3 has needed a hard reset when I was away from base. I have it set to do a backup each day at 2am, and it doesn't depend of doing a hotsync.
iwhisperwolf
New member
I have read these posts with much interest, as my PALM was actually the first "computer" I had -- I'm the only nutjob on the planet who bought a PC as a PERIPHERAL to the Palm so I could load new software!! Card Backup was my only option in the beginning, so maybe I'm biased.
I have 60 apps running and 95% free of RAM. How? JackFlash/JackSprat. That's not for everyone. But the BACKUP files are only 2MB, so I get 2 complete backups in 4MB on a an SD256 card with jikware's CardBackup. I used to use VFS until it glitched on a restore; apparently there are certain PIM files that SHOULD NOT BE BACKED UP, and if they are you'll have a corruption. CardBackup doesn't do that, so that's what I went with after paying for BBVFS as part of a Handmark "Mobile tools" CD I bought for the M505 2.5 years ago.
If I have a hard reset situation I USE THE CARD TO RESTORE, NOT THE PC. I do this because I TRUST jkware (Jason is God) and CardBackup. It has been FLAWLESS, as has JackFlash and JackSafe, which keep 57 applications in flash and ARE AUTOMATICALLY RESTORED AFTER A HARD RESET. The "Card" only backs up databases, ClipPro and TealLock as well as the "regular" databases such as tasks/calendar/contacts/memos.
I know you can restore from the PC; however, if that conduit isn't set right you can overwrite with the "blank" Palm database and REALLY get screwed. Perhaps I did something wrong -- I know that after two "test" hard resets and two REAL ONES, CardBackup restored everything just as people on here swear by "BackupMan." It's personal choice based on your situation.
I know this - PC is fine, if you're at it! Card system backups are fine if they don't glitch; the answer to me has been to burn CDs of my Archive Folder (which is comprised NOT of "abandoned" apps, but actually applications MOVED over from the Backup Folder and then the "backup bit" being set to FORCE a backup to the backup folder at the next hotsync to make TWO copies of CURRENT applications and databases).
The argument against "huge backup files on an SD card" is moot if you REDUCE your files in RAM by using J/F. The other side of the coin is buy a BIGGER SD Card, like a 512MB, and keep 2 copies of your backup. All I know is if I hard reset twice a day every day for the rest of my life, the oldest information on the restored data will be 12 hours old - and I don't need the PC.
What's important to TEST in an actual HARD RESET is whether or not your card backup program actually does what's advertised - restore everything fully. I recommend ALL OF YOU test your Palm
under these conditions,when you're "safe at the PC" or else you will never know whether it will do it or not until too late. How many of you have done that? Actually HARD RESET and "seen what happened?" It's brutal and nerve racking - but worth it.
At this point I would restore from NOTHING OTHER THAN jkware's CardBackup; the PC is there if the card doesn't work. I'm sure all of your stuff is important . . . . I guess I'm asking all of you to ACTUALLY TEST a "worst case" dress rehearsal, whether or not BBVFS or BackupMan or CardBackup works FOR YOU in time of "crisis."
This is what impressed me so much about wghandorf's post - it probably IS WORTH getting a 2nd manufacturer to be "absolutely sure" -- I'll wait for Tealpoint to announce their program which should be in late August or early September. We can argue PC vs. Card forever - what matters is when you're on that plane, train or automobile and "big blue flash, programs everhwhere," what will you do? I'll hit the hard reset button, wait for JF to restore the ROM based apps, then go to "SD Card" and launch CardBackup and hit "restore." 45 seconds after the crisis I'm good to go. I've tested it. I know. You should know too. These discussions are very healthy and constructive because you can have all the bells and whistles programs in the world - they can't help you if your PHONE BOOK is gone!!
I have 60 apps running and 95% free of RAM. How? JackFlash/JackSprat. That's not for everyone. But the BACKUP files are only 2MB, so I get 2 complete backups in 4MB on a an SD256 card with jikware's CardBackup. I used to use VFS until it glitched on a restore; apparently there are certain PIM files that SHOULD NOT BE BACKED UP, and if they are you'll have a corruption. CardBackup doesn't do that, so that's what I went with after paying for BBVFS as part of a Handmark "Mobile tools" CD I bought for the M505 2.5 years ago.
If I have a hard reset situation I USE THE CARD TO RESTORE, NOT THE PC. I do this because I TRUST jkware (Jason is God) and CardBackup. It has been FLAWLESS, as has JackFlash and JackSafe, which keep 57 applications in flash and ARE AUTOMATICALLY RESTORED AFTER A HARD RESET. The "Card" only backs up databases, ClipPro and TealLock as well as the "regular" databases such as tasks/calendar/contacts/memos.
I know you can restore from the PC; however, if that conduit isn't set right you can overwrite with the "blank" Palm database and REALLY get screwed. Perhaps I did something wrong -- I know that after two "test" hard resets and two REAL ONES, CardBackup restored everything just as people on here swear by "BackupMan." It's personal choice based on your situation.
I know this - PC is fine, if you're at it! Card system backups are fine if they don't glitch; the answer to me has been to burn CDs of my Archive Folder (which is comprised NOT of "abandoned" apps, but actually applications MOVED over from the Backup Folder and then the "backup bit" being set to FORCE a backup to the backup folder at the next hotsync to make TWO copies of CURRENT applications and databases).
The argument against "huge backup files on an SD card" is moot if you REDUCE your files in RAM by using J/F. The other side of the coin is buy a BIGGER SD Card, like a 512MB, and keep 2 copies of your backup. All I know is if I hard reset twice a day every day for the rest of my life, the oldest information on the restored data will be 12 hours old - and I don't need the PC.
What's important to TEST in an actual HARD RESET is whether or not your card backup program actually does what's advertised - restore everything fully. I recommend ALL OF YOU test your Palm
under these conditions,when you're "safe at the PC" or else you will never know whether it will do it or not until too late. How many of you have done that? Actually HARD RESET and "seen what happened?" It's brutal and nerve racking - but worth it.
At this point I would restore from NOTHING OTHER THAN jkware's CardBackup; the PC is there if the card doesn't work. I'm sure all of your stuff is important . . . . I guess I'm asking all of you to ACTUALLY TEST a "worst case" dress rehearsal, whether or not BBVFS or BackupMan or CardBackup works FOR YOU in time of "crisis."
This is what impressed me so much about wghandorf's post - it probably IS WORTH getting a 2nd manufacturer to be "absolutely sure" -- I'll wait for Tealpoint to announce their program which should be in late August or early September. We can argue PC vs. Card forever - what matters is when you're on that plane, train or automobile and "big blue flash, programs everhwhere," what will you do? I'll hit the hard reset button, wait for JF to restore the ROM based apps, then go to "SD Card" and launch CardBackup and hit "restore." 45 seconds after the crisis I'm good to go. I've tested it. I know. You should know too. These discussions are very healthy and constructive because you can have all the bells and whistles programs in the world - they can't help you if your PHONE BOOK is gone!!
Ok, no need to get all elitist on me and act like I'm stupid. So backup software is for:
Incremental backups
Restoring when on the go
I don't use my Palm for business, so the worst thing that could happen to me is I forget to do some homework or lose a friends phone number. No big deal for me. I think I can trust hotsync for my backups.
Thanks for all the replies and letting me know what 3rd party backup software is for.
Incremental backups
Restoring when on the go
I don't use my Palm for business, so the worst thing that could happen to me is I forget to do some homework or lose a friends phone number. No big deal for me. I think I can trust hotsync for my backups.
Thanks for all the replies and letting me know what 3rd party backup software is for.