How do I change SD card with apps on it

DukeHatz

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Sep 9, 2010
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Ok, I want to upgrade the SD card in my Nexus, problem is that I have moved apps to my current SD card using the normal Froyo method. Do I have to go back into 'Manage Applications' and move them all back to the phone (I probably don't have the room on my phone to do this) or can I just copy the contents of my current SD card to my new SD card and have it work that way?

Thanks
 
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I would just try it first. It can't hurt. Copy the SD card's contents to you computer, then to the new card. Just don't delete anything from the old card. Then just see if apps work with the new one. Everything else should be fine, but I can't find any info regarding apps.
 
Hmmm....that mostly worked. The applications that were on my SD card didn't show up in my launcher once my phone was back on with my new SD card. But I downloaded them from the market and they had all my data from before. So I guess that is the way to do it.
 
Well that's good then. How does you SD card look now? Is it a jumbled mess with duplicated apps or did it just fill in the blanks?
 
I did this when I first got my Nexus. (Still have the original as a fall back).

The problem is that a regular copy will not necessarily put things in the exact same place, and things that run on the desktop have their addresses cached in Android for speed.

If you use windows GUI to copy you can be pretty sure things will be out of the original order. CMD prompt copying can preserver this for you, as can a linux copy. However for very large changes in Card Size the block size will change and then all bets are off.
 
When I first switched I could see the applications in the 'On SD Card' option but again they weren't in the launcher. But after I installed them they seemed to link up fine and found what they needed to. I only have one copy of the application listed in 'manage applications' and it automatically put it in the SD card section like it was before.
 
Ok, I want to upgrade the SD card in my Nexus, problem is that I have moved apps to my current SD card using the normal Froyo method. Do I have to go back into 'Manage Applications' and move them all back to the phone (I probably don't have the room on my phone to do this) or can I just copy the contents of my current SD card to my new SD card and have it work that way?

Thanks

hi can u send to me how can i change the internal memory sdcard in my nexus s
please send to my email zaher@live.no
please i try so mush to do it but i get the answer from u that i can change the internal memory
 
Solved.
Hi, I was experiencing the same problem. The apps that were moved to SD card were not showing up when I used new SD card. Then I realized I had not copied the hidden files from old SD card.
Just in case someone needs this, its in view menu->show hidden files.
 
ClintonMezsAnglin April 29, 2015 7:06:05 PM
There is an issue with copying files from one micro card to another, and that is that there is at least one hidden file (.android_secure) that must be copied in order for the applications that are stored on your current card to work correctly after you move your files to your new card. I tried several different ways that I found on the Internet to do this without any success.

Then I found a similar thread on this site from a couple of years ago (now closed), called “Moving data to a new microsd card on Android smartphone”

In that thread Kris Baudemprez explained how to do it using the xcopy command in the Command Prompt window on your computer. I tried it, and it worked — with two big exceptions: It didn't cooy the needed hidden file(s) and it shortened all my file names to be just 8 characters long! Not good.

However, after a little more searching around on the Internet, I was able to fix both of these problems. Below is my adaptation of Kris’s instructions:

Unmount the storage card from you phone (Settings —> Storage —> Unmount SD card)

Turn off the phone, remove the back cover, and carefully take out your current microSD card.

Slide it into an SD-adapter and then slide the adapter into your PC

Using Windows Explorer find your card listed among the available drives and make a note of the drive letter assigned to it (in my case it was F, but depending on your setup, it could be G or some other letter).

Click on the Start button on your desktop.

In the search window, type: Command Prompt — and then press the Enter key to open the Command Prompt window.

Enter the following commands (pressing the Enter key at the end of each line):

cd /
md sd-card
cd sd-card
xcopy F:\ "*.*" /s /e /v /h

The first command above changes the current directory to your root drive.

The second command creates a new folder (directory) in your root drive named “sd-card”. (You can use any legal file name here, but you must remember to substitute that name in place of “sd-card” in the code below. If you use spaces in your new name, then you must put double-quote marks around the new name.)

The third command changes the current directory to “sd-card”.

The fourth line is the key line. Make sure you type exactly as shown. In this line, I have used the drive letter F, if your system assigned a different drive letter for your card, use that letter instead of the F. (Remember also, if you used a different name than “sd-card” for your folder, you must use the new name here (with quote marks if you have spaces in the name). The quotes marks around the wildcard characters (*.*) is what tells windows to preserve your long file names. (Not that Microsoft bothers to tells you that in any of their documentation that I found.) The letters at the end this line are called switches and tell the system how to copy you files: /s copies folders and subfolders except for empty ones; /e copies any subfolder, even if it is empty; /v verifies the copying; and /h copies hidden files.

It may take several minutes to copy the files from your current card into the sd-card folder (or whatever you have named it).

When the copying is complete the systen will tell you how many files you have copied.

Remove your micro card adapter from the computer and then carefully remove the micro card from the adapter.

Now insert your new micro card into the adapter and insert the adapter into your computer. The system will assign it a drive letter (almost always the same letter as before — but it could be different, so check to be sure).

In the Command Prompt window, type in the following, hitting the Enter key at the end of each line:

cd /
cd sd-card
xcopy "*.*" F:\ /s /e /v /h

As you are typing the above, make the necessary substitutions if you are using a different name for the folder, or your drive letter is different.

After the files have been copied onto you new card, remove the adapter from your computer, and then carefully remove you new card from the adapter.

Carefully insert your new card into your phone, replace the cover, and start your phone.

You will find all your apps, pictures, movies, text messages that were stored on your old card are now on your new card.
 

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