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I'm migrating to a larger SD Card and I'm wondering if it is just a straightforward copy of the data from one card to the other in Windows? Specifically, can I just copy the card using Windows Explorer and paste to a temporary folder, then copy the contents of that temporary folder to the new card and have the phone be non-the-wiser (so long as I preserve the directory structure)?

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Joel,

I've done this before, and I've had mixed results. Make sure you have Windows set to see hidden files and folders, then drag everything over. Your phone may refuse to remember the SD card-stored apps you have (as in, you've moved an app to run off the SD card), but it may also work. App settings, as far as I remember, seem to come over. I'd say it wouldn't hurt trying.

I know it'll preserve the link to Gallery pictures and videos and music and such.

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If the phone is off before you take out the original card and until you insert the new one, and the cards have the same filesystem format, it seems strange that it might not remember apps. Then again I don't know whether Android might have some sort of SD filetable backup on internal storage that would allow it to detect a change. I had no problems moving to a bigger card so it must not be size-based. – Matthew Read♦ Sep 19 '11 at 21:17
It must have something to do with the way Android stores apps that were moved to SD Card (native implementation, not the hacky ext partitions.) Windows doesn't seem to be able to access anything stored in /sdcard/.android_secure/ folder. @Joel B, you might have better luck either copying the SD Card's contents on a Linux machine, or using some Windows utility that copies the card's structure, as opposed to simply moving the files. – Chahk Sep 20 '11 at 4:43

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