by Dave Moore, 01/24/2021
What would you do if you lost your cell phone, or if it was somehow destroyed? Studies have shown that millions of cell phones are lost, stolen, or broken every year. Sometimes, cell phones can be repaired, sometimes, not.
I actually repaired a phone once which had been rendered inoperable after it fell in a toilet. Fortunately, the toilet was clean, but it took forever to disassemble the phone and all of its teeny, tiny connectors and doodads. After a long session under a hair dryer, the phone, miraculously, lived. A few months later I had the privilege of repairing the same phone after it went through the clothes washer. The screen never looked quite the same, though; I was glad it never made it into the dryer.
Have you thought about what you would do if you lost all of the data on your cell phone? How many phone numbers do you have memorized? Are they recorded anywhere other than in your phone? These tiny, portable computers are often being used to store important, hard-to-replace information, such as business contacts, text messages, financial files and memos, as well as non-critical items such as songs and videos. I hope you are not using your cell phone as your only storage device for precious family photos.
For many people, it’s just as important to back up cell phones as it is to back up desktop and laptop computers. Cell phone backup methods can be different from those used with conventional computers, so it pays to know your phone and how to back it up.
Backup methods vary between cell phone carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.) and cell phone manufacturers (Samsung, Apple, LG, Motorola, etc.). You will probably want to investigate both options before deciding which way to go. The major choices involve backing up your phones data to be stored for future use (usually to a laptop or desktop computer), backing up to an online cloud service (like Google Drive or Apple’s iCloud), or using one of these methods for immediate transfer of your data to a new phone.
For example, AT&T has various backup choices for Android and iPhones listed at www.att.com/features/data-backup-transfer.html. The procedures, which include transferring your existing data to a new phone, are fairly easy to follow, as long as you pay attention to detail.
Alternately, you can use software from your phone’s manufacturer to backup data directly to your computer for storage. With my Samsung Galaxy Note phone, I use software from Samsung called Smart Switch. This allows me to connect to a computer using the same USB cable that charges the phone. I then use the Smart Switch software to copy the phones data to the computer.
The best way to find methods apropos to your situation is to do a Google search. Go to google.com and search for “backup [name of phone carrier] [model of phone].” Examples of such a search would be, “backup AT&T iPhone 6,” and, “backup T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy 8.”
Whatever you do, backup your cell phone data and do it today. Recovering lost cell phone data is a real hassle.
Dave Moore, CISSP has been fixing computers in Oklahoma since 1984. Founder of the non-profit Internet Safety Group Ltd., he also teaches Internet safety community training workshops. He can be reached at 405-919-9901 or www.internetsafetygroup.com