Advice Request How to make a full system backup on Android

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shmu26

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I have a Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 and I want to make a full system backup. Not just user data and app settings, but more like the "system image" type of backup, which can restore my installed apps along with my data and settings.
I want to backup this phone before I root it.
 

byronbytes

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Mar 30, 2022
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I'm pretty sure that you can run an ADB command to create a backup of most data such as the current settings, apps, and shared storage.

adb backup -apk -shared -all -f backup.ab
 
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shmu26

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Unless rooted you cannot make a full backup.
Also, as far as I know its not possible to make system image in Android like the way we can do in Windows.
So let's say I root. Then how do I make a full backup, and how do I restore it?

In order to root, the instructions I was following said to install "lazyflasher-no-verity-opt-encrypt" on the phone.
I downloaded it, and unzipped it, but couldn't figure out how to actually install it. There is no APK file. So I uninstalled Magisk at that point, fearing I would bork the phone at the next reboot. At that point I realized I better make a backup before it's too late.

Getting back to the original question, is there a way to protect myself from the tedious process of reinstalling everything on my phone, in case it gets borked instead of rooted?
 

Deletedmessiah

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So let's say I root. Then how do I make a full backup, and how do I restore it?

In order to root, the instructions I was following said to install "lazyflasher-no-verity-opt-encrypt" on the phone.
I downloaded it, and unzipped it, but couldn't figure out how to actually install it. There is no APK file. So I uninstalled Magisk at that point, fearing I would bork the phone at the next reboot. At that point I realized I better make a backup before it's too late.

Getting back to the original question, is there a way to protect myself from the tedious process of reinstalling everything on my phone, in case it gets borked instead of rooted?
You can use something like TWRP custom recovery image which has a system image option called Nandroid backup.
 
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cryogent

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It's been a while since I've done this on a phone but from what I remember without full rights you can't back up, I don't think it works through adb either for the same reason, especially since many of the settings of some applications you want to back up reside in the system.
You can use a custom recovery to let you do that.
Just make sure you are well informed so you don't crash it (soft brick or hard brick).
For more information you can search :
Here , Here , Here or Here
 

roger_m

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As mentioned, you need to root your device to be able to make a full backup.
In addition to what @Deletedmessiah said about doing a Nandroid backup which creates an image, you can also do a full backup of all your apps including their data and your phone's settings with Titanium Backup.

When I buy a new phone, or before installing new custom firmware on my phone, I use Titanium Backup to crate a backup of all my installed apps and their app data. I can then restore the backup on the new or updated device and will not only get back all the apps I was using previously, but any saved data from the apps too.
 

shmu26

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As mentioned, you need to root your device to be able to make a full backup.
In addition to what @Deletedmessiah said about doing a Nandroid backup which creates an image, you can also do a full backup of all your apps including their data and your phone's settings with Titanium Backup.

When I buy a new phone, or before installing new custom firmware on my phone, I use Titanium Backup to crate a backup of all my installed apps and their app data. I can then restore the backup on the new or updated device and will not only get back all the apps I was using previously, but any saved data from the apps too.
Sounds good!
I am not sure what method to use for rooting. I could do it the fastboot way, but I will lose my data. I could do it the other way, but I read somwhere that I won't get updates anymore.
 

roger_m

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Sounds good!
I am not sure what method to use for rooting. I could do it the fastboot way, but I will lose my data. I could do it the other way, but I read somwhere that I won't get updates anymore.
This is a good place to start.

Also, see this regarding updates.
 

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