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Missing data after backup restore

andrewjamesgrif
3: Seeker
3: Seeker

Hi,

 

I am having an issue with my Xperia not having all of its data restored from backup using the XPeria Companion.

 

In May 2016 I got a Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, and set it up by using the XPeria Transfer to move over all of my data from my old phone (HTC One).  My headphone socket became faulty and the phone was sent for repair - I backed it up immediately beforehand using the Xperia Companion, and switched the SIM to my old HTC One X (my HTC One was no longing working). 

 

When I received a replacement Z5 Premium I restored it from the backup using Xperia Companion, then I transferred over messages and other data from my HTC One X using the Xperia Transfer tool.  The replacement phone was faulty and was returned almost immediately, so I again backed it up immediately beforehand using the Xperia Companion, and switched the SIM back to my old HTC One X.

 

When I received my current replacement Z5 Premium I restored it from the backup using Xperia Companion, but it was missing my contacts so I restored it again from the backup, and this time my contacts appear to have been restored but I seem to be missing huge chunks of messages.  Most noticeably, the latest text message from my wife is from March 2014, and I also have texts up to January 2017 from another person but I know I have exchanged texts with them in February and March.

 

How can I ensure that the backup is correct, and how can I check that it successfully restored the data to my phone?  Is this likely to be a problem with the phone (it's a refurbished replacement so in my experience is almost certainly faulty in some way), or a corrupt backup, or something else? 

 

Also, if I want to try restoring my phone from the backup again, as I've been using it for a while how do I make sure that I get the backed up data merged along with the data currently on the phone?  I dont want to be missing lots of historical data, but I also dont want to lose the newer text messages etc that I've got since I restored the phone.

 

Any help appreciated, thanks in advance,

Andrew.

5 REPLIES 5

BandOfBrothers
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Hi

 

Personally I back up my info in several places due to the issues your experiencing now. 

 

iCloud on the iPhone has imo always been the best most accurate. 

 

On my Samsung Galaxy s7 edge I back up using my Samsung Account and I also use gmail to back up contacts and Dropbox. 

 

There are other online vault options too. 

 

So my advice to people is to back up in a few places so all your info isn't all in one place. 

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

DaneB
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@andrewjamesgrif

 

Generally, you should not save photos, videos and other personal content solely on the internal memory of your device. If something should happen with the hardware, or if your device is lost or stolen, the data stored on its internal memory is gone forever. It is recommended to use the Xperia Companion software to make backups which save your data safely to a computer, that is, an external device. This method is especially recommended if you are updating your device software to a newer Android version.

 

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the responses.

 

@BandOfBrothers - I have backup through Google as well which preserves my contacts and so on, but doesnt to my knowledge save the text messages.  I remove all files such as photos and videos to my computer which are then subsequently backed up also. I take multiple backups using Xperia Companion and retain a history of backups to ensure that I dont lose much if a backup becomes corrupt, but as you have identified this doesnt help if the backup tool is faulty.

 

@Dane_B  - I'm not sure that you read my post at all - the whole issue is with Xperia Companion!

 

Many thanks,

Andrew.

Hi,

 

Previously I have not had any issues backing up my Z5 Premium, but I recently had my phone replaced under warranty by Vodafone and my replacement handset will not backup using Xperia Companion. 

 

I have restarted XPeria Companion and restarted my handset but it makes no difference.  I have a Sony Xperia Z5 (standard not premium) as a work phone and using the same Xperia companion this backs up fine.

 

Could it be that my replacement handset has a memory management issue or similar - its a refurbishment so there is a high chance it is faulty in my experience.  😞  I've already had to return the first replacement handset which was faulty.

 

Please note: I also have had an issue with missing data on the device after restoring the phone from a backup, which I raised earlier under a different thread.  I have raised this separately but do not know if they are connected issues.

 

Thanks in advance,

Andrew.

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

I've never used any of the proprietary software suites, but I've heard of various issues with backup software on a variety of devices over many years.   For anything important, I make specific file-by-file copies that I can see and verify individually.   Contacts are sync'd with Google and also exported as a vCard file to several locations.  Photos sync to both Dropbox and Google Photos.   I don't backup SMS, but there are apps that will do that.   In theory, Google backups up quite a lot (and there should be a list of which apps are involved in Settings), but I've had mixed results with restores.   I tend to assume that app data won't come back and, into the bargain, finding the associated files can be tricky.

 

I know this doesn't help with the present situation but, for anyone coming to this thread later, remember Schofield's Law: data that doesn't exist in at least three places doesn't exist at all.