i just bought a new w580i as i put a different GDFS on my old w580i phone and it is now dead.

a few things i want to get clear before i start flashing my new w580i.

my new phone is set to that horrible orange firmware and im going to flash it to MAIN generic LA and europe_1 FS.

Do i have to BKUP my GDFS before or after i flash my new firmware?

also everytime i apply a patch (using SETool) or use XS++ do i have to do a GDFS BKUP everytime or just the once?

plz help

Back it up BEFORE. You don't have to make a GDFS backup after every patch of flash. GDFS doesn't really contain anything related to firmware. It is highly advisable that you make a GDFS backup every so often, or just before you write a new GDFS script. The reason being; GDFS contains your contacts too (On some models) and the timers for calls etc, also a few settings and it can be really annoying to lose these when you restore a very OLD GDFS backup.

k thx very much your help.

just so i got it right... i have to bkup my GDFS before i flash my new firmware and also when i need to apply the quick access patch using SETOOL Lite?

also if i had a problem with my phone and i had to write my GDFS back to the phone does it matter if i use an old GDFS bkup as long as it came from my phone?

Yes, Yes, Yes.