# Questions about wiping and restoring



## NYJets0319 (Sep 30, 2011)

I just recently starting rooting and trying out new ROMs and I've been switching around a bunch to try different ones out. When using CWM I always wipe everything that needs to be wiped, but when I get to a new ROM certain things are still retained.

Like flashing between different Gummy ROMs my wallpaper choice stays the same (and its not the default one). Also, I was getting force closes when trying to pick music for a ringtone, so I used RingDroid to have the file put in the "ringtone" data folder. This doesn't get wiped either, as my files are still there after switching ROMs. I want to make sure I am truly doing a "clean" wipe, so is there any way to fix this (or is it even a problem)?

Also how do I back stuff up? I know there is Titanium Backup and Nandroid but I can't find too much info on how they actually work. I guess it can save apps, but can it also save my icons/home screen settings/other settings?


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## landshark (Aug 6, 2011)

NYJets0319 said:


> I just recently starting rooting and trying out new ROMs and I've been switching around a bunch to try different ones out. When using CWM I always wipe everything that needs to be wiped, but when I get to a new ROM certain things are still retained.
> 
> Like flashing between different Gummy ROMs my wallpaper choice stays the same (and its not the default one). Also, I was getting force closes when trying to pick music for a ringtone, so I used RingDroid to have the file put in the "ringtone" data folder. This doesn't get wiped either, as my files are still there after switching ROMs. I want to make sure I am truly doing a "clean" wipe, so is there any way to fix this (or is it even a problem)?
> 
> Also how do I back stuff up? I know there is Titanium Backup and Nandroid but I can't find too much info on how they actually work. I guess it can save apps, but can it also save my icons/home screen settings/other settings?


Your wallpapers and ringtones are stored on your sd card, which does not get wiped or touched during an ODIN flash or CWM wipe. The data wipes that are done wipe personal data such as contacts, apps, text messages, and call logs. When you flash a new ROM you should see the default background for that ROM on first boot up. But as soon as the phone scans the sd card, your chosen wallpaper will be used. You are doing a "clean" wipe when you use an ODIN package that wipes or when you do a wipe in CWM. Imagine how much of a pain it would be to have to transfer the entire contents of your sd card to your computer before wiping and flashing, then transfer it all back after flashing.

There are many ways to backup. You can backup your contacts to verizon's backup assistant, export them to the sd card or sim card, and sync them with your google account. Apps and app data (like progress in games) are saved through Titanium Backup. It will not save your icons/homescreen settings. Those are saved through various third party launchers such as launcher pro, adw, or go launcher. I don't think icon/homescreen settings can be backed up with the stock touchwiz launcher. Nandroid basically takes a snapshot of your phone at that particular time. It's basically like creating a restore point on your computer. When you restore a nandroid backup, it restores your phone to the state it was in except for the modem and kernel. So any new information, apps, data added to the phone between the time of the backup and the time of the restore will not be there.


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## kvswim (Aug 20, 2011)

The wallpaper and tones are saved to your SD card, which is not wiped between flashes (which isn't a problem at all).


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## NYJets0319 (Sep 30, 2011)

Thanks for the responses, that makes everything much clearer (and means I've been doing things the right way, so that's good).


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