Back Up Your Treo to a Memory Card

There is no doubting the importance of backing up your Treo regularly, and there are a few options to consider for performing backups. If you synchronize your device regularly, it's automatically backed up. You can use the Palm Desktop software to completely restore applications and data to your device in the event of an accidental hard reset or some other device problem that erases the memory. However, there are third-party backup options worth considering.

With third-party backup solutions, you have two primary options: Back up to your desktop computer using a desktop backup application, or back up to a memory card using a Treo application. The first approach is similar to synchronizing with the Palm Desktop software, except that third-party backup applications typically offer more advanced features, such as restore points that enable you to restore your device to its state on a particular date and time. A good desktop backup application to check out is BackupBuddy by Blue Nomad (http://www.bluenomad.com/).

The other third-party backup option involves backing up your device directly to a memory card without using your desktop computer at all. In this case, the backup software is either installed on your device or already resident on a memory storage card. Either way, the application runs and backs up your device to the memory card, which can then be removed and stored in a safe place. This backup option is helpful because you can use it while travelingyou don't need access to a desktop computer.

As I explained, the backup software for performing a memory card backup can be located in your Treo's main memory or on the memory card itself. In fact, several manufacturers offer backup cards that are essentially memory cards with preinstalled backup software. If you buy a backup card, you don't need to install anything special on your device. Palm makes a 64MB backup card that's available from the palmOne Store at http://store.palmone.com/.

If you already have a memory card that you want to use for performing backups, you should look into backup software for your device. The same software I mentioned earlier for performing backups to your desktop, BackupBuddy (http://www.bluenomad.com/), is also a good option for performing memory card backups. Figure 4.31 shows the BackupBuddy application, which offers two options via buttons: Backup and Restore.

Figure 4.31. With the Backup Buddy application, you can back up and restore your device to and from a memory card.

To initiate a backup to the memory card using BackupBuddy, just tap the Backup button. The backup proceeds with a gauge showing the progress.

After you've backed up your device to the memory card, you can remove the card and store it away in case you need to restore from it. If you ever need to restore a backup from the memory card, just reinsert the memory card, launch the BackupBuddy application, and tap the Restore button.