Help Factory reset - what do I need to backup and how?

[Geejay]

I'm holding out for the official 3 Mobile 2.1 upgrade, but I was surprised to find that as part of the process - when it eventually arrives! - the phone will do a factory reset. I'm pretty sure that other carriers didn't force a hard reset, but hey ho, cest la vie.

Anyway, could anyone post me an idiot's guide to what I need to back up, and how I go about it? With regard to contacts everything's Gmail and there are no contacts stored on the phone.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Xyro]

Well, all the non-3UK firmware updates haven't done a factory reset. But just in case....

Stuff on the SD card, SIM card or backed up to google is safe. Everything on the phone is lost. So that includes apps (+ the apps data & market link), texts and your settings.

Some apps you might want to investigate: SMS Backup & Restore, Astro (a file manager that backs up apps (but not their data or market links) and MyBackupPro (Which comes with a free 30 day trial and can backup apps, app data and market links.

But I wouldn't try to backup and restore your settings, since you're switching android versions and they may not be compatible. Also, some apps may not be restorable for this reason too.

 

[Geejay]

Thanks for that, that's helpful. I was surprised about the need for a reset as well, like you say none of the other operators have required one during the upgrade process. This exchange of posts on the Three forum alerted me to the possibility though....

@ Moderator
Will the 2.1 upgrade require 3 users to

 

[Xyro]

That may just be the 3 employees covering themselves just in case.

The fact that Cupcake to Eclair is such a big jump hasn't stopped any other OTA update, like we've said. So unless 3 have actually somehow made the update worse....

 

[Geejay]

.....So unless 3 have actually somehow made the update worse....

I think that's what we're all slightly concerned about. This is 3 we're talking about after all

 

[EarlyMon]

This may be too little info too late, but just in case, here's some good info on backup/restore surrounding a factory reset (from the EVO forum, but it may well be applicable here) -

http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-support-troubleshooting/141369-how-fix-froyo.html

 

[Slug]

This may be too little info too late...

Good info is never too little or too late, Early. Thanks for dropping by.... good to see you.

 

[rwloos]

I'm a new Hero user, and it's my first "smart"?? phone ... I'm reviewing this thread for a possible fix to my launcher stopped problem, but want to let you all know that I think this was caused by a bar code app for frequent shopper type key chain tags. I can't remember the exact name of the app [I could get it if I could open my home screen].

When I downloaded it last week [freebie] nothing messed up. But this morning when I scanned about 4 different key tags into the phone, suddenly I began getting the "launcher stopped ... force close" response.

I've been trying to make sense of all the responses on this thread, but I'm thinking I'll have to take the phone in to the Sprint store to have an expert look at it.

Any other suggestions?

 

[EarlyMon]

I've been trying to make sense of all the responses on this thread, but I'm thinking I'll have to take the phone in to the Sprint store to have an expert look at it.

Any other suggestions?

Here's the reported fix (read that as: seemed to work for a lot of people, but no 100% guarantee):

FIX: “The Application HTC Sense (process com.htc.launcher) has stopped unexpectedly”

The "How to fix Froyo" link above (post#6 on this page) goes into slathering detail on full backups, and the dreaded factory reset.

While daunting at first, it is step by step, and speaking for me personally - I'd make double-sure that you followed the backup advice in that thread because if the Sprint guys decide to just do a reset, it'll be too late.

Make sense?