Re: Thumbnails, and what creates them.

Paul wrote on Sun, 3 Nov 2024 21:50:37 -0500 :

   "There is no method to make a full backup of android smartphones.
    It is always only a partial backup"
 
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/226573/adb-pull-stops-after-first-error
It's the stuff nightmares are made of.

As a (hopefully wise) octogenarian who lived through the age of computers,
successful backup are not a series of neatly marked and organized magtape
rolls tightly packed in numbered boxes well organized in a storage closet.

And successful backups don't require anything stored on the Internet.
The Internet isn't involved in a successful backup and restore.

Remember that.

A successful backup is something that you can restore & move forward with.
Paradoxically, a good backup is also your transition to a new machine.
And, your first good backup on a new machine becomes your next template.

You see? There is wisdom learned having lived through the computer age.
You all know how many times you did those things WITHOUT a good backup.

And it was miserable.
No more!

However... there is no such thing as a good backup/restore w/o planning!

On any platform, Windows or Android, a successful restore means planning
ahead, e.g., storing everything you care about in one folder (if possible).

For Windows, for me, that one folder for stuff I care about is C:\data.
For Android, it's /storage/sdcard0/0000/. & /storage/sdcard1/0001/.

People get all hung up on the short names I use but names aren't the point.
Choose your own names for your own top-level stuff you care about.

When you restore, you only need to restore the stuff you care about.
When you set up a new machine, you only need to bring over that same stuff.

You treat a restore the same way you treat setting up a new machine.
You set up ALL your machines the same way - it's easy if you plan ahead.

I moved from XP to a series of crap Windows to Windows 10 that way.
And my data and menus on Windows 10 are the *same* as they were on WinXP!

Yes. The same. The same menus work. That's because I planned ahead.
I planned ahead on Windows 95, to XP to all the crap & finally to Win10.

Same menus.
Same files.
Same data.

On Windows, C:\data\menus contains your menus, for example, so that you
have all your menus available when you restore. Since C:\apps contains your
apps (such as C:\apps\browsers\firefox\firefox.exe) the TARGET of all your
menus is always the same from Windows XP to all the Windows in between up
to Windows 10. Firefox is *still* in the same location it was on WinXP.

So all your menus still work just fine.

What about Android?
Same thing!

On Android you have a homescreen:browsers > firefox shortcut icon, right?
You bring it over from the old Android to the new Android & it just works.

Just as on Windows your entire set of menus is only a single hierarchy,
your entire homescreen on Android is only a single backup file.

You bring over that single backup file of your homescreen setup, and all
your icons and shortcuts and wizards move over to the new machine.

I've handed someone my old phone & my new phone (set up moments prior)
and other than for the scratches, they can't tell them apart.

The homescreen on Android 13 is the same as it was on Android 7.
The cascade accordion menu on Windows 10 is the same as it was on XP.
(There are slight improvements as you hone your menus over time.)

In summary, a successful backup requires only planning ahead.
a. Store what you care about in a single folder hierarchy.
   (that isn't polluted by the operating system & program installers)
b. Back that single hierarchy up without needing the Internet.
c. Restore it onto every phone & PC in your house
   (so that they all have the same consistent user interface & data)

Good luck Jim. This tape will self destruct in five seconds.