Backups, file locations, and the 5 stages of grief

[Becho]

A bit ago, the left side of my touchscreen stopped being responsive. Warranty still active, I got a free replacement for it. I had two plans to keep a hold of my old data.

Plan A: Let lookout security's backup function handle it. (Utterly useless, I found out later all they do is back up your contacts list, which google does anyway
Plan B: Connected my phone to my PC, copied all the files shown, and copy back when new phone was made.

Plan B sort of worked, sort of didnt. The apps are all gone, but the data for those apps remains. What I really want however is my old SMS library. Although the data was copied into the new phone, it doesnt seem that the phone is recognizing any old texts. After trying to find out where the file for these texts are on threads like these, Data/File Storage Location for SMS Messages? my best hypothesis now is that most of the data never even transferred to my PC, because I needed to have "rooted" my phone to remove the "less is more" functionality.

Ive kinda gone through the 5 stages of grief already, as there was some important numbers in my SMS. But I wanted to ask the seasoned veterans. Is there some new SMS file location for droids since two years ago, or am I boned, and those texts are lost forever?

 

[Hawaiian Princess]

hmm i dont think root wouldve been the problem. have u used GO SMS pro or SMS backup & restore ? both are found in the market.

 

[Becho]

Had I known those existed before I traded in my phone I would have used them, but I didn't bother looking, I incorrectly assumed that Lookout + a manual drag and drop backup would have backed up everything I would ever need.

Those apps are actually what made me wonder if the SMS data is actually stored in the "administrator" portion of the phone. Some threads hint that you need to root your phone in order to access that folder directly, but SMS backup programs can be used without needing to root your phone? It doesn't add up to me. This makes me doubt that SMS are stored in the secure portion of your phone.

If thats the case, I actually have my SMS files on my PC right now, but I have no way of knowing what file the data is under.