File to save to back up all favorites.... Nuvi 660

How do I backup my saved addresses or Favorites on my nuvi, zumo, dezl, or LIVE series device?

Answer:
Our nuvi, zumo, dezl, and LIVE devices allow you the ability to backup the locations saved in the Favorites menu on the device. To backup the Favorites from the Garmin device:

Instructions for a PC:

Connect the Garmin device to a computer using a data transfer USB cable.
Double-click on My Computer or Computer.
Right-click on the Garmin device drive and select Open.
Locate and double-click the GPX Folder.
Some devices require you to open the folder named "Garmin" or "Internal Storage" first, then the GPX Folder.
Right-click and copy the Current.gpx file.
Locate your computer's Desktop.
Right-click and select Paste to save the Current.gpx file onto your Desktop.
To send the file back to the GPS, please follow the steps below:

Right-click on the Current.gpx file on your Desktop and select Rename.
Name the file Current1.gpx and then press Enter.
Right-click on the Current1.gpx file and select Copy.
Connect your device to your computer.
Double-click on My Computer or Computer.
Right-click on the Garmin device drive and select Open.
Locate and double-click the GPX Folder.
Some devices require you to open the folder named "Garmin" or "Internal Storage" first, then the GPX Folder.
Right-click and select Paste.
Disconnect your device from your computer and allow it to boot up. Some devices do not automatically boot up. If your device does not automatically boot up, turn the device on as normal.
Your favorites will now be restored on your device. To transfer the saved Favorites from one mass storage device to another, connect the new device to the computer in Step 4 and then follow the remainder of the steps.

Instructions for a Mac:

Connect the Garmin device to the Mac using a data transfer USB cable.
Double-click on the Garmin device when you see it mounted to the Desktop.
Locate and double-click the GPX Folder.
Some devices require you to open the folder named "Garmin" first, then the GPX Folder.
Right-click1 and copy the Current.gpx file.
Right-click1 on your Mac's Desktop and select Paste to save the Current.gpx file onto the Desktop.
To send the file back to the GPS:

Right-click1 on Current.gpx file on your Desktop and select Get Info.
Under Name & Extension, rename the file Current1.gpx and press Enter.
Right-click1 on the Current1.gpx file and select Copy.
With Garmin device connected to the Mac, double-click on the Garmin Drive.
Locate and double-click the GPX Folder.
Some devices require you to open the folder named "Garmin" first, then the GPX Folder.
Right-click1 and paste the Current1.gpx file into the GPX folder on your Garmin device.
Your favorites will now be restored on your device. To transfer the saved Favorites from one mass storage device to another, connect the new device to the computer in Step 4 and then follow the remainder of the steps.

1If using a Mac with a one button mouse or trackpad, hold the Control button on the keyboard and then click the mouse.

Last modified on: 01/05/2012

Connect Garmin to computer. Open Mapsource on PC. Transfer..Receive from device. Then save the Mapsource file on PC. I use the current date for file name.
To transfer back to Garmin, Transfer..Send to device.

You know, since my first Nuvi in 2005, I've never got the Receive From - Send To thing using Mapsource to work properly. Don't know what I do wrong but simply copying the current.gpx file from the old device, renaming it, and moving it to the new one works 100% of the time, and I don't need to open another piece of software.

Using MapSource I can easily edit the long/lat and add more info to the original favorite.

I agree, I find just renaming the file and copying it to the GPX directory the easiest and fastest way.

@JanJ
Try renaming your backed up favorites file (current.gpx) to temp.gpx. Take the renamed file and copy it into your GPX folder. Reboot the Nuvi and your favorites will be added. You can then delete the temp.gpx from the GPX folder.

@spokybob
I may be wrong but I believe JanJ may only want to have the favorites back and has no need to edit the file.

I have mapsource but don't use it or need it. When you don't need the extra stuff it just easier to copy, rename, and put back on the nuvi.

Lots of info and answers can be found in our Faqs section

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6654

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/36164

I copyied the file... but it is only 33K for about 30 favorites... does that sound about right?

Garmin Nuvi 660

Location was garmin/gpx/current.gpx

I have less favorites on my 660 and the current.gpx file is 18KB

The current also contains your track (where you have been). My current has about 30 favorite and a couple of thousand entries with only Lat&Long.

While it is possible to view current.gpx with MS word (you have to change the file type to "all files (*.*)"), I am going to suggest using "Universal Viewer Free".

This is an open source package which is not "installed" in the typical sense because it does not impact your registry. You download a .zip file and extract the files into a folder of your choice. From that folder you run "viewer.exe". This software is portable (in that it could run from a thumb drive, for example) and "stealth" (in that it leaves no tracks on your computer other than in the folder to which it was extracted)

If you are interested, get a copy from
http://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?q=universal+viewer...

When you look at current.gpx, you find just what David indicated - a bunch of favorites plus "tracks".

Thanks jgermann and others!!
Yes, I was able to see the contents with the viewer you suggested...

Thanks!!

I use EPE to view them.

@David, EPE will let me see my favorites but not get the tracks. Can you see tracks with EPE for your current.gpx?

Oops, sorry. I was using the older POIEdit when I saw the entries, not EPE.

The easy way to save your favorites is to download the free program EasyGPS and send the favorites to it and save them with whatever name you want to give them.

I found that the program: XML NotePad does a great job of examining the "current" file....

De-Mystifies the separation between the waypoinnts, too!!!

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7973

Good Find!

I am a great fan of "Portable" software - that is, software that does not require an "install" (which would usually go into c:\Program Files and make changes to the "registry").

Here is why. Universal Viewer Free (UVF) (since it can be run directly from its own folder) can be placed on a GPS SD card. Then, it you were on vacation and wanted to look at your "current.gpx" file, you could attach to any computer and run UVF from, say in my case, [sd card]:\User\Portable Apps\Universal Viewer Free.

EPE is also portable, by the way.

So are Audacity, ImgBurn, and other software that I have recommended.

Being someone who is asked about software tools a lot, I like to have them with me, so they are on the SD card. I have some 300 portable apps that I might need for some purpose. On vacation, I put a USB SD card reader (with adapters) in my shaving kit so I can use any computer.

You can also get portable versions of many of the free utility programs that normally have to be installed. I have an old 512 Meg stick that I have about twenty portable versions of software that I have on my computer and the stick is less then half full. Some of the programs such as file recovery software it's recommended that you don't run it off the same machine you are trying to recover the files on anyway.

I'm back to this forum after a very long time away. Just got a refurbed 1490LMT which I hope replaces my 760; both models can do up to 10 routes which I use for delivery routes and other things.

When I copied my current.gpx file from the old GPS to the computer to the new GPS, it successfully (so far) copied the favorites as described above and elsewhere. It also copied the routes that I had on the old GPS but although I can view and edit them, I cannot run them, i.e. nowhere is there a green GO button. Any solution to this?

Also, what is Mapsource good for? Is it a free download or what?

Bernie

P.S. If I ever get Captcha answered successfully it will be a miracle since the image is ridiculous.

Regarding my prior post, I have since figured out how to run each route on the 1490, which is not as obvious as on my 760. The green go button is only found by scrolling down the route options (after clicking on the route) to View Map and touching that. Stupid, I would say.

The bottom line is that copying the current.gpx file from the old GPS copied BOTH the favorites and the routes (assuming you have a GPS that can do routes.

Bernie