This article is aimed at rooted Android users using ROM Manager - if you are one of them, you should definitely consider looking into it; otherwise move right along, as this info will not apply to you. To see what ROM Manager can do for you, check out our guides here:

When was the last time you did a Nandroid backup? Was it this week? This month? Three months ago? Do you perform one every time you flash an update, even a minor one? I know I don't. Sometimes I forget, and other times I know it'll take too long and I don't want to wait - who has the time to manage these routine things nowadays?

One day, however, this negligence bit me in the a$$, and I ended up with Android that wouldn't boot (after flashing Fresh ROM 3.2 -> 3.3). Not to worry, I thought, I'll just restore to a previous backup. Dum, dum, dummmm - it turned out that my previous backup was over a month old and wasn't even running the same ROM. Crap.

Scheduled Backups

Today, I saw this tweet by my buddy simms22:

I think its time for YOU to make a CURRENT nandroid backup. When was the last time you backed up? #android #CyanogenMod #NexusOne

Having read that, I yet again, realized that my last backup was over a month old. However, it also triggered something in my memory that I thought I saw announced briefly and quietly a short time ago. I rushed to my ROM Manager settings, and indeed - there it was: Automatic Backup, aka a backup that runs on a predefined schedule. That is exactly what I wanted! The option is present only in the premium version of the app, so cough up the $4 - Koushik Dutta, ROM Manager's developer, definitely deserves it.

In order to enable scheduled backups, fire up ROM Manager Premium, go to Menu > Settings and tap Automatic Backup. After that, enter the time and frequency of the backup, and you're done. The program will even tell you what the next backup date will be.

If you're a ROM Manager user, there is no reason you shouldn't be automatically backing up - go enable it now, so you don't regret it later.

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