For these reasons ContactsEx provides a backup and recovery utility that is guaranteed to recover every piece of data that the program uses. Besides the contacts database, this also includes your settings, Number Formats, Name ID database, and all Fullscreen Picture ID images and thumbnails.

When a backup is performed, ContactsEx looks for the most convenient type of memory to store it in. If your phone has a removable memory card (with or without permanently-installed mass storage), then the backups will be stored on the removable card. If you phone has permanently-installed mass storage, but no removable storage (like the N95 8GB), then the backups will be stored in the mass storage. Finally, if your phone has no memory other than phone memory, the backups will be stored in the publicly-accessible C:\Data folder.

In all cases, backup sets are created in the form of a sub-folders within a folder named ContactsEx Backup. Each backup set folder is given a name synthesized from the current and time. For example, if the time is 3:25 PM on January 10th, 2010, then the folder name for the backup set will be 10-Jan-2010 at 1525. Within each backup set folder will be a series of files and two sub-folders named PictureID Images and PictureID Thumbnails.

Once a backup is created it is recommended that you copy the entire backup set folder from the phone to your PC for safe-keeping. You can also leave the backup sets on the phone as well to give you immediate access to them if you ever need to restore from them.

To perform a backup, go to the Names Tab and press the Option softkey. From the resulting menu, choose Archive, followed by Backup from the secondary menu. As the backup progresses, you'll be informed of how many contacts have been saves and how many there are in total.

When it comes time to restore data from a backup set, you have three choices. You can restore everything, which means you'll replace all of your contacts and all of your program settings so that by the time the recovery is complete ContactsEx should be identical to the way it was when the backup was performed. You can also choose to restore only the contacts, in which case all of the contacts and only program settings crucial to the contacts will be restored. Finally, you can choose to restore selected contacts from a backup set, in which case none of your program settings are disturbed and only the contacts you explicitly select are restored to your phone.

To use either of the above three restoration options go to the Names tab and press the Options softkey. From the resulting menu choose Archive and the one of the following:

- Restore Selected Names
- Restore Contacts
- Restore All

Regardless of which sub-option you choose, the program will search all of the possible valid memory locations for backup sets and display a list of them for you to select from. By default the files are displayed by date in descending order, which means the backup set at the top of the list is the most recent. Find the backup set you wish to use and then click the SELECT key.

If you chose the Restore Contacts or Restore All options, then the restoration will begin immediately. However, if you selected the Restore Select Names option, then the backup file will be loaded and you'll be presented with a list of all the contact names found in that backup.

To select contacts to restore, move around using the cursor up and cursor down keys and press the SELECT button to select or deselect a name. A checkmark will appear on the far right of each selected name. You can move one screenful at a time by holding down the shift key while you press up or down. On non-QWERTY phones, the shift key is the one with a pencil marked on it, and on phones without a pencil key, the # acts as the shift key.

Using the Options softkey you can choose to select all the names, deselect all the names, or begin the restoration. Note that at least one name must be checked before you'll be allowed to continue with the restoration.

When selected names are restored, the old contacts bearing the names of those selected will be deleted and replaced by the corresponding contacts from the backup set. If any of the selected names were associated with a Group that no longer exists, that Group will be recreated.

When all of the contacts are restored the phonebook database will first be completely erased (including all Group names and all Fullscreen ID images) before the data is recovered from the backup set.

Erasing Backup Sets

If you wish to erase backup sets from the phone, you can so directly from your PC by deleting the backup set folders that you don't want. You can also delete them from the phone. To do this, choose Restore Select Names to bring up the list of backup sets (you could also choose one of the other two types of recovery, but this one is the safest, because if you accidentally press the SELECT key you'll only be taken to the dialog to select names, which you can then abort).

To remove a single backup set, move to that appropriate name and choose Delete Backup from the Options menu (or press the CLEAR key). To remove multiple backup sets simultaneously, hold down the shift key (see above) and press cursor down. Doing so will select names as you move down. To deselect, hold down shift and press cursor up. Each selected backup set will have a checkmark on the far right side. Once you've selected the sets you want, choose Delete Backup the Options menu (or press the CLEAR key).