Upgrade phone SD card and move data from old memory card to new one the safe and flawless way

I have just purchased a 16GB Class-10 micro-SDHC memory card to replace the existing 8GB Class-4 micro-SDHC memory card that comes with my HTC Incredible S Android smartphone.

The question is: how can I migrate all the data in the existing SD card to the new one, so that when I plug in the new SD card into the phone, all my data will remain there and all the apps continue working as before?

After some trial and error, I have found the following perfect way.

Step 1: Go to Settings > Storage of your phone, and tap on "Umount SD Card".

Step 2: Switch off the phone and take out the SD card from its external memory slot.

Step 3: Slot in the old micro-SD card into an SD card adapter, and slot in the adapter to your computer's card reader.

Step 4: Use XXCOPY to backup all the content in the SD card to your computer storage. You can download XXCOPY for free here.

I use this utility instead of the Windows copy-and-paste method to ensure all the data are copied over, and to preserve the directory date and attributes as before.

In order to use XXCOPY, go to Windows > Run... and key-in "cmd" to go to command console.

Sample command: xxcopy f: c:\backup\sdcard /backup
where f: is the drive where the SD card is mounted, and c:\backup\sdcard is the destination to copy the data over. The "backup" parameter tells XXCOPY to preserve all the dates and attributes of the original files and directories.

Step 5: When the backup is done, safely remove (eject) the SD card adapter from the computer's card reader slot. Take out the micro-SD card from the adapter.

Step 6: Slot in the new micro-SD card into an SD card adapter, and slot in the adapter to your computer's card reader.

Step 7: Format the new micro-SD card.

Go to Windows > Computer, right click on the SD card and select "Format..." from the menu.

Make sure the file system is FAT32 before you start the format action.

Step 8: Use XXCOPY to copy all the content in your backup folder to the new SD card. This is exactly the reverse of Step 4.

Sample command: xxcopy c:\backup\sdcard f: /backup

Step 9: When the copy is done, safely remove (eject) the SD card adapter from the computer's card reader slot. Take out the micro-SD card from the adapter.

Step 10: Slot in the new SD card with data into the phone's external memory slot.

Switch on the phone and you are done.

Creating cool zooming presentation slides with Prezi

Still using your MS PowerPoint or OpenOffice.org Impress to create your presentation slides? Here is something different, something new and cool called Prezi.

Prezi introduced the Zooming User Interface (ZUI) whereby the presentation materials (text, images, videos, etc.) are placed on a big virtual canvas, and it allows you to zoom in and out the area of discussion (i.e. the frame) along the presentation. This makes your presentation standout from the traditional MS PowerPoint or OpenOffice.org Impress presentation slides.

The zoomable canvas makes it fun to explore ideas and the connections between them. It results in visually captivating presentations that lead your audience down a path of discovery.

You can see it in action here:

The tool to make Prezi presentations is available on their website as a kind of Cloud-based SaaS service. The public access license is free, while licenses with additional features are chargeable on subscription basis. There is special discount for educational use.

HTC Android smartphones to get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update soon

HTC has just announced that they are planning to roll out Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update by March/April 2012 for at least the following models:

• Sensation
• Sensation 4G
• Sensation XE
• Sensation XL
• Rezound
• Vivid
• Amaze 4G
• EVO 3D
• EVO Design 4G
• Incredible S
• Desire S
• Desire HD

This is a good news for the users of above HTC Android smartphones.