[quote name='seanr1221']So I'll lose all the save data on my games, right? Or can I do a restore after the backup?[/QUOTE]
[quote name='Richlough']I found this ...
Restore a backup to my phone
Each time you update your phone using the Zune software, a complete backup of your phone is automatically created on your primary computer (the one that you first connected your phone to, linking your phone to the Zune software on that computer).
If your phone has problems after an update, you can restore the phone to its pre-update version and state. This topic describes what happens if you choose to restore your phone.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/basics/restore-a-backup-to-my-phone.aspx[/QUOTE]
[quote name='eastx']I believe you can back up your phone to the PC using the Zune software prior to resetting the phone..[/QUOTE]
Sadly, backups are only made right before you do an update to your phone (for example, the forthcoming NoDo update that should hit in a week or two). So for right now, we can't manually initiate a backup for our own purposes.
What's also currently unknown is that even if you had a backup, would you even be able to use it on a modified phone. If you put in a new microSD card, it forces you to reset your phone because it has to recreate the phone's file system so it can use it. This means that it will create a brand new, secure file system with your new microSD in there, different from your previous one, and because the file systems (being the one from your backup and your new one) are not the same, it may not allow you to restore your backup. In other words, the backup is unique to your phone itself, and if you change the hardware (such as the microSD card), it is no longer the same phone and thus your backup is rather useless. It's a security/privacy precaution. The nature of the phone's file system allows for this kind of protection, but since there is no procedure to backup/restore, no one has been able to test if these security measures are in place for such a unique situtation. Unique situation because technically, microSD cards were never intended to be removed and are essentially a hard-wired componenet part of your phone.
That being said, any progress you made with achievements are saved. I recently reset my phone so I could update it, and while playing Fruit Ninja for a little bit after the fact, I was able to unlock the "Kill 150 fruit" achievement even though I only killed a few fruit. So i guess that's a start.
I did try and play Katamari, and I have to say, I couldn't get the controls. I thought they were rather horrible. I wish there were a different way to control the game, then I'd probaly buy it. At least the music was nostalgically pleasing.
