My phone 'bricked' over the weekend. I went to start it up and it never turned on. Suspiciously, I had the new phone page from my service provider open before turning on my phone. Inquiring minds *cough Google tracking cough* and all that. Could there be a connection? Nahhh!
...To Save, There Is No Question
I had the old phone for almost 5 years, well protected in a slimline Otter Box case with a Gorilla Glass screen cover. It was never dropped more than 3 feet on a hard surface (4 times) or wet to the point of needing to take the case off. Prior to this, I went through 2 iPhones in 5 years. Nothing against Apple; I just beat them up because my job was very different.
I spent a large part of Saturday afternoon at my service provider, working my way through their staff until I finally talked to their 'techie' guy. I had already done everything listed on several websites and in YouTube videos, and the first 2 employees tried the same things I just tried, but hey, they need to qualify the damage before passing everything up to the next person. I didn't have anything else to do, so there I was.
Nothing worked.
Now while my core data like Phone List, Contacts, Email, Calendar and other programs were saved in a backup, I didn't have EVERYTHING set to copy over, such as all the pictures on my phone. Yes, I know it's stupid, but I always dumped them on my computer before this. My (poor) excuse is I've moved twice in 3 months and I don't have a desk with enough room for a mid-tower and the other things I need out of boxes, but it's still all my fault. IBacking up a phone is really simple to do, whether it's Android or Apple. Cnet is a wonderful source of info for techno dorks like myself, which is where I found one of many 'how to' guides. Here is a Cnet link to what needs to be done BEFORE you have problems.
How to back up your iPhone or Android phoneFrom the Cnet article linked above, here are the steps to save data from an Android phone:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap the search engine bar at the top and search for "Back up" (two words).
- Choose the first option that shows up -- it varies depending on what type of Android phone you have.
- If your phone shows "Back up to Google Drive" at the top of the screen, make sure it's toggled on, OR
- If your phone shows "Back up my data" and "Automatic restore," make sure both are toggled on.
For an iPhone the steps are very similar:
- Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.
- Go to Settings > [your name], and tap iCloud. If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings, then scroll down and tap iCloud.
- Tap iCloud Backup. If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, tap Backup. Make sure that iCloud Backup is turned on.
- Tap Back Up Now. Stay connected to your Wi-Fi network until the process completes.
Several tech savvy people said that there may be a way to see if my pictures are salvageable, but I should be ready to spend some money. I'm afraid those pictures are gone.
Now get up and do it yourself! Don't be like me and lose graduation pictures, birthday party shots and saved pictured from years ago.
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NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.
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