Using mobile for backups

goodValue

I had the idea of using my old mobile to backup my most important files.

There's about 50GB on the Motorola G7 Power. About 11GB of this is inaccessible. Is this the size of the Android system?

My files take up about 5GB, so there's ample space for half a dozen backups.

But when I make a copy to the phone, 2 of the 5 directories don't get copied properly, even though there's no error messages.

One directory is only partially copied, and the other is missing just one file.

I tried the copy of the first of these, a number of times, and it was consistent in the number of files, and the size, that was copied.
I did the same copies to a memory stick, and that worked without a problem. So that makes me think it is a problem with the phone rather than with Win11.

How can I investigate this further?

Neil_Jones

You'd probably do better to use something like Google Drive which you can upload to from the computer and then download again on your Android phone if you wish.

Copying to a USB stick isn't a problem because Windows works with those all the time.  It doesn't always work with Linux systems which is what Android is based on.

Vitor

Android exposes its storage to Windows via MTP, which isn’t the same as normal file system access. MTP is notorious for silent failures, especially with long paths, large files, or directory trees containing odd characters or hidden files. It doesn’t always generate error messages; sometimes it just fails to transfer a subset.  A £30 USB SSD or a reliable cloud service gives orders of magnitude more certainty.

goodValue

I find this quite interesting.

It could possibly be the directory/filenames that are creating the problem.

And transferring tickets/passes, downloaded to a pc, onto the phone could also fail.

For me, this was an exercise in recycling. So I will look for less important files to put onto the phone.

A £30 USB SSD or a reliable cloud service gives orders of magnitude more certainty.

I did a search on USB SSD, and it seems they need an adapter. So they are not just a larger version of what I know as a memory stick/pen drive?

Can these USB SSD's be bought on the High St?

Copying to a USB stick isn't a problem because Windows works with those all the time.

Is it possible to connect a phone to a USB stick, and so transfer the files via the stick?

Grey_Critic

Back in the 1990s When storage was more of a problem I used to email competition result and data files to myself - record the file names and then delete the original. Still have them somewhere

sausage_time

A USB SSD can simply plug into a USB port on your PC or laptop.  It will appear as an extra drive that you can access.  Just search USB SSD or external drive - Argos or Currys on the high street will have them.  Likely a reasonable sized supermarket too.  

sausage_time

goodValue said:

I find this quite interesting.

It could possibly be the directory/filenames that are creating the problem.

And transferring tickets/passes, downloaded to a pc, onto the phone could also fail.

For me, this was an exercise in recycling. So I will look for less important files to put onto the phone.

A £30 USB SSD or a reliable cloud service gives orders of magnitude more certainty.

I did a search on USB SSD, and it seems they need an adapter. So they are not just a larger version of what I know as a memory stick/pen drive?

Can these USB SSD's be bought on the High St?

Copying to a USB stick isn't a problem because Windows works with those all the time.

Is it possible to connect a phone to a USB stick, and so transfer the files via the stick?

If your phone supports "OTG" yes you can connect a USB drive.  OTG = On The Go.  What model is your phone? 

outtatune

A backup solution that you have to do manually, and that you can't be certain works every time, is no solution at all.

Get a Google account with 15Gb free storage, install the app on your computer. Then get one of the many free backup apps and set it to save the backups into the Google Drive folder so they get automatically mirrored into the cloud.

You can then access the backup files using the Google Drive app on your phone.

MyRealNameToo

goodValue said:

I had the idea of using my old mobile to backup my most important files.

There's about 50GB on the Motorola G7 Power. About 11GB of this is inaccessible. Is this the size of the Android system?

My files take up about 5GB, so there's ample space for half a dozen backups.

But when I make a copy to the phone, 2 of the 5 directories don't get copied properly, even though there's no error messages.

One directory is only partially copied, and the other is missing just one file.

I tried the copy of the first of these, a number of times, and it was consistent in the number of files, and the size, that was copied.
I did the same copies to a memory stick, and that worked without a problem. So that makes me think it is a problem with the phone rather than with Win11.

How can I investigate this further?

what risks are you trying to protect against?

If your computer and phone are in the same property and it burns down or is robbed then having a backup will not have helped you at all. Thats why cloud computing is beneficial because it's holding the data in a second location and unlikely a single event will impact both locations. It can also be setup to automatically back up in real time so no risks of you changing a file today and then 2 hrs later the computer being stolen before you've made another backup. 

Mobiles just have more going on and so more points of failure than an external drive so a poor choice in comparison to a pen drive or similar. Given how cheap external drives are even from a reputable brand its hardly money saving to faff trying to use a mobile thats more likely to have a problem than just get a couple of external drives and remember to back up regularly and ideally dont keep pen drive and computer together (though that means its less likely that you back up regularly).

goodValue

It seems like the USB SSD would be a good solution for me.

Is there any point in backing up anything in addition to your personal files?

Doesn't Windows now have a robust system for restoring the operating system if you have a failure?

Doing an online search, a £30 USB SSD has a capacity of 128GB or 256GB.

With important personal files taking up 5 to 10GB, and others taking up say 20GB, even the 128GB seems to be more than enough.

Does an automatic backup system have a great advantage over doing it manually?

It seems to have the disadvantage that it completely takes up one of your USB ports.

debitcardmayhem

goodValue said:

It seems like the USB SSD would be a good solution for me.

Is there any point in backing up anything in addition to your personal files?

Doesn't Windows now have a robust system for restoring the operating system if you have a failure?

Doing an online search, a £30 USB SSD has a capacity of 128GB or 256GB.

With important personal files taking up 5 to 10GB, and others taking up say 20GB, even the 128GB seems to be more than enough.

Does an automatic backup system have a great advantage over doing it manually?

It seems to have the disadvantage that it completely takes up one of your USB ports.

Only takes up a port whilst backing up, leave it in and it can be trashed by the latest ransomeware