How do You Backup Your Garmin to the PC?

...the files to a "Garmin Back-up" folder on my PC. I have not backed up the 1GB img file, however. I am guessing that this one is not in danger of being overwritten, unless maybe by a version update.

Can somewone shed some light on the img file?

Certainly an option and you either endure the time required to copy everything or you become selective and hope you get everything.

For me I'd prefer something quicker and easier but fell on Garmins sword due to lack of file timestamps.

Will allow you to de-select on date and you can just keep the file size as the comparison indicator, but that, of course, doesn't necessarily mean the file hasn't changed, although it may be adequate in some situations.

I personally had backup my GPS by copying the entire folder onto DVD as precautionary measure. Otherwise, once in a while I backup my favorite’s using MapSource.

i just coppied and pasted entire fill to my external drive i use for all my backup info

I have been trying to setup a "sync" function using SyncBack and ran into the same problem with the many files that don't have dates.

The Garmin has 827 files, but the resulting copy only has 15 files. All the files with no date never get copied. I was trying to do this to save time by copying everything each time.

Has anyone found a solution to this?

How can I backup just the "FAVORITES" file? Which one is it?

Thx.

Current.gpx is a copy of the actual favorites info.

I backed up the entire contents of my Nuvi to a folder on my computer and then burned a copy of that folder along with any vehicles and csv poi files I have to a DVD for safe keeping.

My Motto, better safe than sorry!

Being a Mac user I use Bobcat as my backup tool. For those not familiar with Bobcat essentialy it is Mapsource for Macs. All my customized POIs such as Best Buy locations I also keep on my Mac in a folder called Garmin POI and of course use POI Loader to download those to my computer.

Every night I plug my Nuvi into my computer and it automatically backs up. I use a bat file and then execute it through schedule tasks. It is a simple bat file that will copy any altered file.

If anyone is interested in how...

Open notepad and paste the following. But take out the comments that are marked wih --comment--. Then save it as NuviBackup.bat

@echo off
echo/
echo Backing up Nuvi to File Server
echo/
xcopy F:\"." --where F is your nuvi--/s/r/y/c/d/k Z:\NuviBackup\
--where Z is where you want to back it up too--
echo/
echo Backup is Complete!!!
echo/
pause

Then add it to schedule tasks

Just out of curiosity, has anyone who backed up their Nuvi this way ever done a complete "restore?" Does it restore correctly and the Nuvi continue to work properly?

The reason I ask is this - when the files are backed up (copied) in this manner, they are given dates by the PC. So now, when they are copied back (restored) to the Nuvi, they will have dates in the Nuvi. Do the files on the Nuvi now having dates cause any problems?

Great minds think alike. I asked the question eariler and at least for a c530, asianfire says it works:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/11265

Admittedly, we don't have a first-hand response from a nuvi owner yet.

Don't know about great minds, but at least 3 of us have been thinking alike. Note that Charlie (Asianfire) said he had restored the files he had backed up -- he didn't say he had restored the entire drive. Charlie, are you there to clarify?

A lot of users backup their PCs, etc. and that's great, but how many have actually tested the restore? I'll bet not many.

I back up my PC HDD regularly. I have a "Restore CD" to boot from, but have I ever actually done it? No, I haven't. Why? I don't want to risk messing up a working system in case the restore doesn't work. I am putting 100% faith & trust in the software company that wrote the program, that the restore will really work as advertised, when I need it. Pretty foolish of me, huh?

Gary,

Funny you should bet that. A few years ago Exabyte (now a part of Tanberg), who is a major player in tape backup libraries did a survey of businesses not using their packet-writing technology, and found (going by memory now) that approximately 50% of all backups could not be fully restored, for a variety of reasons. And as you suspected, most had never previously tried. I run mirrored drives, which protects against a failed drive, but I only backup one financial file against corruption -- too lazy.

One of the things I did over my career, was datacenter backup and redundancy disaster recovery planning. It was amazing how few companies actually had either plan and of those, how few ever tested it.

In some cases the backup that you do and the system restore will only put program back like they were but will not replace some files. Alot depends on the way you do your back-up. I backup my quicken files each month and it will restore back to the last back-up.

I'm also a (long-time) Mac user -- I'll do a search for Bobcat.

When my 660 arrived, I created a disk image of it, and stashed that off on the backup server. I keep POI data and other stuff for the Nuvi in its own folder hierarchy, and that gets taken care of by the normal backup process.

(In a previous life I did backup strategies for large systems. I tell people disk drives are like tires -- the question isn't if they're going to fail, it's what they're going to do when they fail.)

My files got all screwed up, so I formatted the c530 and then loaded the files back from a backup. For whatever reason, it worked ok, but it was a little slower after that.

Taking this backup/restore question one step at a time, I've managed to verify that if date/timestamps are added to all of the files & folders on the Nuvi, it continues to work, with no obvious problems.

I use a backup/sync utility for my PCs and posted this Garmin problem on their forum when the program wouldn't work because there were no timestamps. One of their members pointed me to a 'touch' utilty program. What it does is to just add date/timestamps to files & folders without copying or rewriting the entire file or folder. Here is the link - http://tp.lc.ehu.es/jma/win32/touch.html

My Nuvi had 32 folders & 847 files. After using this program to 'touch' them, they now all have timestamps and the backup/sync utility program now works.

My next step would be to erase everything on the Nuvi and then copy all the files & folders over to it, from my backup. I haven't quite gotten up the nerve yet to do that. There are still a couple of other things I want to check on, first.

Anyone else want to volunteer to wipe out their Nuvi?

NOT ME.

Question? if your garmin is working fine why do you want to erase all of the files just to reload them from backup. I would only want to do this if I was haveing a serious problem with my gps.(are you the inquisitive type always need to know how somethng works)

Many of us back up our GPSr's. But, with the exception of Charley, who restored his c530 and said it ran slower after doing so, no one has tested if restoring all the files & folders will really work.

If restoring the files doesn't work, there's no point in backing them up in the first place. I don't want to erase the Nuvi.

Do a test, move some of the voice files, help files and text of languages other than yours and that you will not longer need, then power up the GPSr and double check that they are no longer there, then move them back to the unit and see if they work again.

sounds good to me I as thinking the same thing if it does't restore everything it may not be worth trying to backup, but if you have a large favorites file it could help from that point. Trying to rebuild a farovrites file from scratch could abe hare if it was large.Not so much for POI's as you can get them from here unless you have speical ones not loaded on the factory.

I would rather have a backup which had a 50% chance of restoring than having no backup which would have a 0% chance of restoring. A full restore would probably seldom be needed; but restoring individual files is pretty common. Restoring (and replacing) sound files is done on a regular basis when modifying sound files.

I use 'Acronis' backup (used to use 'Drive Image' by Powerquest before being sold) to do a computer backup on a regular basis. Everytime I try new software or do a Windows update, I backup first. A restore has been done numerous times.

RT

1. There is no known synchronous backup solution.
2. No one knows if a full backup and restore will work as expected or work at all.
3. If you are modifying files a backup is a good idea.
4. As in other file systems a backup might help to recover from a problem.

I argee with that, I do a hotsync with me pda and was glad i did. i let the battery go dead and when I turned it back on I had lost all lmy address. Just done a hotsync from the desttop and got it all back.

I contacted Garmin support to ask about backing up and restoring individual files as well as restoring a "blanked" or erased GPS. Here is what I was told:

"Thank you for contacting Garmin International. If a file is modified it should show up with a date. Also if you delete everything you will need to have our software department burn a repair DVD to reinstall the functionality of your GPS. You should not delete anything from your unit or it will be BRICKED."

I think I'll take the man at his word.

Well, we know he is not correct in his last sentence. Wikipedia defines a brick, when pertaining to electronics, as a device that cannot function in any capacity. If he had said may instead of will, I'd tend to believe him; but many of us have removed and modified files on our GPS unit and we do not have a brick. Makes me wonder about the creditability of the rest of his statement.

RT

I have deleted and added a considerable number without a hitch...You just need to be careful what files you are deleting....I have backed up all the files on the garmin unit to my pc, copying each folder as they are on the unit. It is true if you delete a file NUVI needs to operate you could run into problems. Some background in file management would also be great.

750

Since using the 'touch' program I mentioned in an earlier post which put timestamps on all files & folders on my Nuvi, I have been able to do a sync (differential) backup several times - like after updating POI files and installing the bluetooth support update. Using the free SyncBack utility program, it works fine.

Not having to needlessly copy files that have not changed, saves a lot of time.

Thanks Gary. I've been following this thread and may try your approach with the touch utility. The only question in my mind is why Garmin doesn't have timestamps on the files.

Timestamps can be a diagnostic tool and is certainly widely used. Garmin's lack of timestamps doesn't seem logical.

I don't enjoy pain and agony, so I'm not going to volunteer.

As several have said, some files can safely be deleted and/or copied back from a backup set, but after reading the reply from Garmin, I'm not going to intentionally erase everything on my Nuvi just to test the ability to restore.

I'll continue to update my backup as I make changes to the Nuvi (updated or new POI files, Garmin system software updates, etc.), just in case. If the worst should happen and I lose everything off my Nuvi, at least I'll have the backup to try and restore. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't.

I have a XPS M1730 Laptop that has 2 hard drives, one is XP Pro and the other has Vista Ultimate. I also use two spare HD's in an external USB cases. I clone both drives once a month, I have tested it once. The only problem is having to re-validate MS Streets & Trips 2008. But other than that, no problem. I use Acronis to clone the drives. Now for those who only have one drive I would recommend Rollback RX. I used it a lot. It works a lot better than windows restore.

I just tested my "Acronis True Image Home". We returned from our winter stay in AZ, fired up my Desktop and 'dead in the water' ... bad hard drive. I make it a point to back up all my partitions at least twice a month. Installed another hard drive, did a restore of all my partitions, and two hours later ... all is well. Thanks Acronis ... without you I'd have lost all of my data and still be installing programs. Best money I've ever spent! There are so many convenient ways to back up there really isn't any reason not to.

RT

The method described here to backup a partition...
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_To_Backup_Operating_Systems

... worked for backing up my Nuvi 350. That method saves all the data and restores it to its original location, unlike merely copying the files, so it should be a complete restore (I didn't test the restore).

I use Acronis all the time at work. I absolutely love it. Works great for full drive backups and partial folders backups too. Working in the computer field, I'm always backing up and restoring people's drives and folders. It even works on "dead" drives where the OS won't boot. I've used this to back up my c550. I do have to say that I've never needed to restore it though.

Kevin

Isn't it possible that the Garmin programmers forsaw hackers trying to clone, copy, or steal their propritatary software by writing specific file data to specific locations as MSDOS did in its operating system files?

This morning I copied all the folders and files from the root of my Garmin 255W drive to a folder in My Documents (including hidden files). Then I formatted my nuvi drive using FAT32 (same as it was originally)

Then I copied all the folders and files back to the root of the Garmin drive.

Everything works same as before the backup – restore.

Now here is a man that is fearless! Great info. Thanks Evert.

test of backing up! I appreciate you trying to do the restore and posting that it worked. I have a copy of all folders and files stored on my PC and backed up just in case. Glad to know if something happens, I can have confidence in restoring the files.

Thanks for all your hard work in completing a restore to your Garmin.

Gosh I never thought about backing mine up....guess I better get busy and do this. Thanks everyone.

I just copy and paste everything.

When you copy and paste make sure your system is set to “Show hidden files and folders”. My 255W has only one hidden file, and it is not very important, but I think other models have more hidden files. Anyway, best to make sure that all files are saved, and all are restored when the time comes to do a restore.

I did a manual copy and paste for the test but I think I will write a batch file and use the robocopy command to do the copying work in the future.

Your right, other models do have other hidden files and folders. The 1xxx models, for example have a hidden .system folder which actually contains many important files, including the map files.

You'll have to set Windows to not only show hidden files and folders but also to show 'all system files' in order to see and copy the .system folder. Windows will ask you if your sure you want to show these hidden system files - just say yes.

I use a free program called SyncBack to back mine up. The first time, it backs up everything which takes a long time (my 660 only has a USB 1.1 port). Subsequent backups only copy the files which have changed which is much quicker - unless you've done a map update in which case the large gmapprom.img file will be copied as well.

http://www.2brightsparks.com/freeware/freeware-hub.html