Need to know the simplest way to root, backup, recover photos on sm G900T

[laraby]

Hi, I am a novice, for example, I don't know what "flash" means. or "odin".
So, I tried to upload a lot of photos and some short videos from the gallery on my S5 to google photos and it failed. I would like to recover them.

I have researched for hours and am confused. It's hard to tell what is the best[ and simplest way/B] to do this, but I believe I need to root my phone and then install a recovery app, though I'm not clear if I need to install the app on my phone or on my laptop.
And, even though I have now set my photos to upload automatically to google photos, I'm reading that it's a good idea for me to back up my phone to google drive?.

So I need the best apps that are easy for a beginner to use and understand. My phone is out of warranty so rooting is not an issue, but I would like to get OTA updates, which I think will unroot my phone. Is that a problem?
It's very hard to determine the most updated recommendations and good trusted reviews, the options are overwhelming, even just on androidcentral!
I have read this post: http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-rooting-roms-hacks/675253-root-galaxy-s5-marshmallow.html

so - my questions:
1. what is best way to root my smG900T phone?
2. Is there a recovery app that will take care of rooting my phone automatically?
3. What recovery app is best and simplest?
4. I don't think I need to keep my phone rooted for any other purpose and don't want to "notice" the root functions, I just want my phone to look and act like it does now. Should I just leave my phone rooted or wait for an update which unroots it or go ahead and unroot it - maybe from within the root app?
5. I believe that google saves my contacts on drive now. Is that right? If I want to save settings, or anything else, should I install an app that will back-up the phone? Can I set it to do it automatically? I've read about twrp and titanium backup. Are those good? Do they require me to keep my phone rooted?

whew! fingers crossed I get some very simple recommendations and instructions., I don't need choices, just a recommendation on all of the above.

 

[belodion]

Welcome.

Before going any further, what do you mean when you say that the upload failed? Are you sure that the photos are no longer on your device? Did you accidentally delete them or something?

 

[laraby]

Thank you - I uploaded a bunch of pictures to Google Photos, notification said "uploading file" and disappeared so I assumed (I know...) it would be in photos, then deleted image from phone, one by one. When I finished a lot of photos and quit, I saw that "uploading" was in process but looked stalled, I waited for a few hours, still hung so I ended process. And the pictures were not in Photos. Basically I did everything wrong. Yep, now I need the dummies guide to hopefully get my photos back. Thanks.

 

[ironass]

See post #13 of Backup! Backup! Backup! NOW! for some suggestions on retrieving deleted files on unrooted phones. However, if you have been using your phone since deleting the data/photos, you may have overwritten them. If your phone was sync'd to your Google account, they may well be in Google Photos.

 

[laraby]

Hi, Ive used the phone, don't use social media, just text, email and calling. No photos are not in Google Photos or Drive. Yes I know I may not be able to recover all the photos, but I want to try today. From what I'm reading I believe I need to follow directions in the rooting post to root my phone, then get ??? to find and recover what I can. Again my questions, for the most up-to-date apps as of today, what app should I use to root (towelroot? Kingroot?), what app should I use to recover. can/should I unroot my phone, and what app is best to back up phone.
thanks.

 

[ironass]

I would advise trying the unrooted methods of recovering your photos first before embarking on rooting.

You have already linked, in your original post, to the best and easiest method of rooting, using CF-Auto-Root.

To give you a head start, here is the specific CF-Auto-Root kernel that you need to root your phone, G900T, on Marshmallow, Android 6.0.1....

https://download.chainfire.eu/407/CF-Root/CF-Auto-Root/CF-Auto-Root-kltetmo-kltetmo-smg900t.zip

Installation instructions are given in chainfire's thread and the video in my own post. Just download and flash in AF of Odin v3.12.5 with your phone in Download Mode. Ensure that you have enabled USB debugging in Developer Options first.

 

[laraby]

thank you,yes I did read post #13, it lists seven options that may recover photos without rooting, but many of the software descriptions are old - they don't support windows 10, or SM-900T, or marshmellow, and are not free. I'm looking for a recommendation on the best, or maybe the 2 best that are up-todate, so I don't end up spending money and still end up rooting and paying for something else.
Or maybe I should just go root? I've already spent too much time researching . . .
BTW, I have set up USB debugging, and MTP, and I have smart switch installed on my laptop.

 

[laraby]

So, looking at the post about rooting from ironass, for example, I don't understand:

Ensure that you have things like USB Debugging enabled on your phone, in Developer Options (DONE) before ]flashing the unzipped CF kernel .tar file in AP: of Odin that has Re-partition unchecked. (???)
Will this be obvious when I download the zip file?
I'm not comfortable starting this process until I have someone online who can walk me through it. Anyone available to help anytime soon? thanks