Difference between Hotsync and Backup?

[Pgr]

Hi,

I read several times here on these forums that doing a Hotsync does not exactly save all the state of your Palm, that one should use a backup program like NVBackup.

Can anyone please elaborate on what exactly I could be missing from using only Hotsync? I'd like to understand this well since I am probably going to have to hard-reset my Palm TX soon :( ...

Thanks in advance.

[Josser]

When you are away from your computer you Hotsync to, you can not restore your data.

[Pathdoc]

Also, not all third party applications have the backup bit set to back up during a hotsync. The result is that some but not all of your data and apps will be backed up during a hotsync. With a backup program, all of your data will be backed up. There are fixes for setting the backup bit on these apps (e.g. using FileZ or RescoExplorer to set the backup bit for each file). It is easier to use Pruss's free NVBackup, however.

I guess the question I have for you is why are you going to do a hard reset? If you are having some sort of problems and are seeking to fix it with a hard reset, you may not want to use a back-up program or even hotsync in a normal way. You may want to do clean installs of your third party apps and either 1) start over or 2) copy the data files for these third party apps from the backup directory. Be careful of the following in doing this, make cetrtain that you have all of your old registration codes and, since most apps have registration codes based upon the hotsync name, use the SAME hotsync name for the device after reset.

In order to do a hard reset and not load all of the third party apps BUT load your calendar, contacts, memo, and other original palm data, change the name of backup folder to something like oldbackup. The folder should be located in c:\Program Files\Palm (or possibly Palmone)\xxxxxx (where this is a variation of your hotsync name)\backup. After a hard reset and a hotsync using the same hotsync name, your device will be in a factory fresh state with only the databases form the built-in Palm apps loaded.

[wozofoz]

I never sync and just rely on NVBackup.

By doing an NVBackup before installing any new apps, if I get troubles I can simply restore my TX back to the condition it was in before the bad app install.
Then I go to last night's NVBackup, select 'Restore Individual Files' and restore any apps or files that may have been changed eg: Memos, as long as they aren't the problem of course.

Sweet and simple :)

All the best, woz of oz

[juggernaut#2]

Hotsync and backup serve two different purposes, although a hotsync backups some (but not all) of your data to your PC.

Hotsyncing enables you to share your palm data with some desktop apps (most notably, but not limited to, the Palm Desktop). Also, at least the palm hotsync conduits are designed to purge deleted records off your palm databases whereas you need specialized software on your palm to do the same.

Backup enables you to restore your device to a given state.

[Adam Helberg]

The HotSync synchronises ( by default) the files on your Palm with the files in your backup folder. If you HotSync after a hard reset it will copy the files from your backup folder to your Palm.

As pointed out not every file in your Palm has the backup bit set and these files will be lost after a hard reset and HotSync.

The earlier versions of Palm OS also did not delete old files from your backup folder, so a HotSync after hard reset created chaos with all the old files getting restored to RAM. I don't think this is a problem any more with OS5, though I'm not 100% sure. To restore my iQue I use BackupMan to restore from the card.

In any case you should also store a copy of the card on your PC in case you lose the Palm or the card fails.

Adam

[pruss]

Also, at least the palm hotsync conduits are designed to purge deleted records off your palm databases whereas you need specialized software on your palm to do the same.


Oh, that's interesting. I hadn't thought of this issue. Maybe I should add it as an option to NVBackup?

[BrentDC]

Sounds like a good idea to me....

[scottl]

Oh, that's interesting. I hadn't thought of this issue. Maybe I should add it as an option to NVBackup?
That would be a great addition. I think this can be done with an app such as DbFixIt (http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/dbfixit.htm), but those that don't own this app for other reasons could sure benefit from it as an additional feature in NVB.

[wozofoz]

Yes, good idea Alex :)

The latest version ofBackupMan has
Menu/Tools/Advanced/ 'Verify PIM Databases'
This purges deleted Memos, Contacts, Calendar etc.

It also has 'Verify Database Timestamps' but I am not real sure of the purpose of this.

All the best, woz of oz

[juggernaut#2]

Purging deleted records off the palm databases can be done by hotsyncing or with a function contained in dbScan by pimlico software (free), which is a very valuable tool anyway.

Drawback is that if you do a hotsync after doing that it will result in a "slow sync" meaning lots of time.

[PinCushionQueen]

Oh, that's interesting. I hadn't thought of this issue. Maybe I should add it as an option to NVBackup?

Oh Yes Please!! That would be an excellent addition to NVB :D

[lichan]

Another useful option for NVBackup would be a diff between the current internal memory and a backup set. 20K of free memory recently disappeared on my E2 and I'm wondering if something stayed in memory after a reset or a pdb file grew, just what is the source of the memory usage.

[Razoff]

Also, not all third party applications have the backup bit set to back up during a hotsync. The result is that some but not all of your data and apps will be backed up during a hotsync.

There are some programs to correct it:

http://wristpda.da.ru/sync/SyncAll.zip
http://wristpda.da.ru/sync/XSYNC.ZIP

Using of them allows hotsync all data.

[PinCushionQueen]

Purging deleted records off the palm databases can be done by hotsyncing or with a function contained in dbScan by pimlico software (free), which is a very valuable tool anyway.

Drawback is that if you do a hotsync after doing that it will result in a "slow sync" meaning lots of time.

dbScan appears only to fixed deleted calendar records...

[juggernaut#2]

menu -> options -> "remove all deleted records" ?

(v2.2d, that is, but i think this has been in there all the time)