Can't recover backup after Lollipop upgrade any ideas how to resolve?

[DLF65]

As the title suggests. I've got a repaired phone back and all data is backed up using PC Companion. So i went to recover it all today and because the backup was done when it was KitKat it won't recover! I didn't realise this happened so have a real problem now - any idea how i can recover this backup or get the files a different way? It's photos, contacts, files done in OfficeSuite etc.

I'm feeling pretty frustrated after doing what I thought was the right thing!

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi,

I maybe wrong but I wouldn't of thought upgrading the firmware on the phone would affect the ability to use a BackUp. 

I would suggest performing ,if not done so already, a Google Search for the Sony phone model your using and PC Companion.

Their are dedicated forums , how to do's and YouTube Instructional Videos and also Sony Uk Support that can maybe help. 

[DLF65]

Yes I thought the same, but apparently not so!

If the phone is upgraded then the backup can not be restored, which I wish i'd known beforehand. There is a very small note on the Sony site, which isn't easy or obvious to see. 

Having read up i need to find a way to rollback to 4.4.4 then restore and that isn't easy by a long way.

So, warning for everyone else who is using PC companion, it's not a lot of use after any update. 

[BandOfBrothers]

That's pretty poor !

Im glad that does not happen with iCloud backups on my idevices 

Could you link to the Sony site showing the Disclaimer. 

This may help others searching for similar assistance. 

[aidey68]

Your Google account should be able to at least have your contact name and numbers listed. If you sign into Google on a PC, You will find all contact name & numbers 

I'm also wondering did you not have Google Photo on your phone; as if you have that installed and synched, it will have all your photos backed up to your account

[jeffkinn]

I've written about this on here many times but it's worth repeating. There is no reason to lose any data on a smartphone (or a computer come to that) as there are lots of ways to backup data.

If you have a gmail account you can be syncing with gmail online. If you have another account there will be a way of syncing it online.

Photos can be backed up to Google Photos and/or Onedrive.

Texts and call logs can be backed up to Google Drive using apps from the Play Store.

Most phone manufacturers also have backup routines that save things like WiFi settings, wallpaper etc.

Never rely on a single backup, in a single place using one piece of software, especially when you're moving from one version of the OS to another.

[hrym]

jeffkinn's absolutely right, though hindsight is always a wonderful thing.   Personally, I dislike proprietary backup systems because they rely on a file format remaining compatible through upgrades.  The file-by-file method is better because it makes your information accessible via a variety of systems.  And, yes, never rely on a single copy - Schofield's law reminds us that data never exists at all unless it exists in at least three places.

Some things will be recoverable from other sources - your contacts and calendar should be sync'd with Google and you can also export contacts to a vcard file which you can store on other hardware as well as other cloud services (I'd never rely on cloud backup, but it's convenient for portable accessibility).

It's also worth using an external sd card if your device supports them as they're easily transferred from one device to another (but always remove them before resetting as the process sometimes wipes them).  They can fail just as much as anything else, so set photos to sync to a cloud service such as Dropbox or Google Photos (maybe both) and then sync that back to a pc.

I'd have to say that it's pretty poor form of Sony to offer a backup service that isn't reliable, though, and I imagine a lot of people wouldn't check the website before updating.

[DLF65]

Apologies for the delay in replying as i've been out for a few days but thanks for all the replies - some helpful and some good with hindsight. From my position I sync with Outlook on my PC so all emails, contacts and calendar is recoverable. I backup photos to my PC so same again. However, I backup a bunch of other stuff with Sony PC Companion (documents I create viaOfficeSuite for example), which I thought was fine given that I also backup my PC regularly. However clearly not and I have unfortunately lost a bunch of stuff. I will now seek out other options to back-up myZ3 Compact though. Finally, I (wrongly) assumed that using the Sony solution I would be fine. Even more worrying is the reply I got from Sony as below, which should serve as a warning for everyone i guess! Here it is:

Thank you for contacting the Sony Xperia support centre regarding your Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.
We are sorry to hear about the issues you have been facing regarding restoring your data to the replacement handset that you received after a repair. 

Unfortunately the data that you have backed up on PC Companion can only be restored back to the phone it was taken from as it is locked to that handset and you will not be able to restore it onto the new device. 

I apologise for the inconvenience caused to you. 

[hrym]

Most of the documents that I keep on my phone are copied from a PC, so duplicates exist.   Anything I create on the phone, though, gets copied to Google Drive so that it then goes back to the PC by itself.  There isn't (or I don't have) an automatic way of doing this as there is for photos and it has to be manual.   I generally use Google Docs and it's easy enough to use the "share or make a copy" option - or an app such as ES or Cheetah Mobile's File Manager.

You can also use a built in file manager to copy to an sd card.  3rd party apps that are added later can't do this because of Android security, but most devices have an app that's seen as part of the system and is therefore enabled to write to the card.

I'd like to think that all the info Sony have given you is in the PC Suite documentation somewhere - and preferably prominent at that!

[glenndmel]

well, the contacts can be easily restored via Gmail or Outlook. For other types of data, you can use Androidphonesoft Android Recovery to restore deleted files from the device. I have been with this program for 2 months and it helped me recovered a lot of deleted files.