Backup/restore questions

[devis]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

We purchased a few iPads at work to see if we can use them in our environment, not as much for work related purposes for us, the IT department but mostly for support purposes for our users. We support the iPhone and once the floodgates were open, anything iDevice that apple comes out with has now fallen onto us to support.

So, one of these iPads is in my department. I have it currently. It was brand new, OS 3.2.1. I jailbroke it, enabled multitasking, installed a bunch of productivity business related software as well as fun stuff and it runs fantastic. It seems to me that for business purposes, the only way to get it widespread is to jailbreak it.

But I've got a problem. We are 5 people in my group, and everyone will have a go at the iPad for a few days or so to become familiar with it, its options and the like. I'm ready to pass it on to someone else but I will eventually get it back, and when I do I'd like to have the same setup I have currently.

If I restore it, it'll lock itself back. But if I restore from a previous jailbroken backup, that won't jailbreak it, won't it? If that is the case, all of the settings I have there currently, especially Backgrounder, will they still load? And if they do, they won't work, obviously, until I jailbreak it again, correct? And when I do, the settings will automatically apply and work, yes? Of course noone will update the software, i"ll make sure of that.

 

[Andymyrick]

When you restore the iPad you will lose your jailbreak. Restoring the jailbroken backup does not re-jailbreak your iPad and you will also lose the settings for the Cydia Apps.

 

[devis]

thanks. Looks like I'll have to redo it all from the beginning.

How come there's no image capture software for the iDevices? Something that'll get a dump of the entire OS and file system? I know there's a software that'll clone older iPods but that's about it.

 

[MikesTooLz]

Thats just how it is.

And if this is being used in the business you DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT want to Jailbreak it. Jailbreaking opens the device to some major security risks.

Your in the IT department, you should know this already.

 

[RoadPilot]

Your in the IT department, you should know this already.

How, might I ask, should someone coming here asking remedial questions about iPads (e.g., backup/restore questions) who *just* got his hands on an iPad (for the purpose of supporting a user base) know that jailbreaking an iPad creates "major security risks"?

 

[devis]

Fair points, but I've read as much as I could get my hands into as to the jail breaking security risks. The only one I found was that root password thing, which I already changed.

When I bought up the JB topic in a meeting it was as if I had asked my colleagues to quit their jobs and sell drugs instead. My god... Everyone of course had something to say in regards to JB, countering it of course, but with the exception of the password they couldn't make any other points. Frankly it beats the he'll out of me what these other risks could be. Its a unix system, highly crippled at that. Can't even do telnet or lynx on it. Can't even print! It's got no viable BT services aside for a keyboard and a2dp. Yes, there's that hacked driver but if it doesn't get installed, not much else can be done to the iPad.
And cydia can be taken out after backgrounder and a couple of other things are installed.
Truly, the only things I want are multitasking and app switching. That's it. The rest frankly is useless to me.
I think it's the terminology that scares people. Jailbreaking... Wow must be bad. But apple is wrapped around so much secrecy that they won't tell you what's really going on. So as a rational human being I make a decision based in the available information. And that is What we all know... Apple controls the product by way of not releasing information. And of course we're all conspiracy theorists at heart and draw the weird unthinkable conclusions. Hence my coworkers disbelief. Now mind you, mostnof them haven't even used the iPad. The iPhone yes, but since I work in a law firm the structure is such that everyone does what they do without venturing out of their comfort zone.
Yet we have no problems when a worm or a Trojan or a virus enters our network and sends bank account info to Russia. We accept it, fix the patch and move on. Cause it's Windows... And Apple? Well, mother Apple and father Jobs know best. So we blindly believe what they tell us.