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Feel Free to Delete- No longer Needed , Reset on Accident.

you can't command usb debugging thru adb. there is no command for it. have you tried a forget password with google? plus you should have been using goggle photos. i never have to worry about my photos as they are backed up on the cloud. i can even buy a new phone, sign in to my google account and all my photos will be on my phone.

so i'm confused. can you boot the phone up? if the phone is in a bootloop then you will not even get a chance to log into your account. wasn this a random event?
 
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MTP drivers won't help as you have to boot into android and unlock the phone before you can use MTP, and you can't boot it.

ADB can't enable USB debugging because ADB (Android Debug Bridge) is USB debugging: you can't use ADB for anything unless USB debugging has been enabled. Plus ADB requires a process running on the phone to handle the ADB commands, so you have to be able to boot the phone to use ADB.

If you had a custom recovery you could run ADB from recovery mode, but the stock recovery won't have an adb daemon so unless the phone has been rooted this isn't an option either.

So I'd say that attempting to recover your Google password would be the best bet, except that from what you say the phone doesn't boot (gets stuck on carrier logo) so I don't think that will help either. If you were trying to get the phone working again I'd say try a factory reset to see whether that fixes it or whether it's a hardware issue, but of course that would delete the data you are trying to recover (4.1.2 pre-dates encrypted storage being the default, but data recovery from an android phone is a dicey process even so, so I'd keep this as a last resort).
 
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Samsung Galaxy Express ATT Unlocked SGH-I437 . Would you mind laying out how to go about it in a step by step For Dummies Format ? I have only become aware of such terms as ADB through googling recovery .
is the phone rooted? you would need to root the phone and install a custom recovery (twrp being one of them).....but to do all that you will need adb.
 
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Samsung Galaxy Express ATT Unlocked SGH-I437 . Would you mind laying out how to go about it in a step by step For Dummies Format ? I have only become aware of such terms as ADB through googling recovery .
Ok.. go here , you'll find the TWRP involved but you'll also need adb and the correlating ODIN program designed for your phone. I'm not really a Samsung guy so i just know some generalities involved with it. But basically ODIN program allows Windows PC interaction with Sammy devices, which is then used to install TWRP (or the whole stock FirmWares). When that's done, you can directly boot into TWRP and get 100% access to both internal and external storage, plus flash a newer custom OS if ya like.. hopefully you'll be able to access the stuff ya need from there and make whatever decisions needed. But by all means, retrieve all files needed from device before flashing any ROMs. :specsdroid:
 
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Phone isn't rooted to my knowledge - Will that be a problem with any of the listed methods ? When googling the Odin from my phone I came across this https://nerdschalk.com/att-galaxy-express-sgh-i437-philz-touch-advanced-cwm-recovery/ - CWM being the other alternative mentioned in your post. Are they interchangeable as in if i were to follow this guide I could simply boot into the CWM and get access to all my data ? As far as ADB i just downloaded some generic ADB android toolkit sometime back and have no idea how to use it. When I attempted to open it a black command screen prompt flashes for a second then disappears. At this point my priority is salvaging data , I wouldn't be opposed to a factory reset or flashing a ROM (which i've never done before but that seems to be your area of expertise judging by your title (PS just figured out the name too , rock on ) . But yes at this point my main priority is just to have access to my contacts and photos .
I do remember Philz Touch recoveries.. had some on my ZTE Warp Sequent & Warp 4g. They're pretty good. Shouldn't be a problem using the guide you linked, from what I can see. Even has the correct Odin version for your phone, good find! Yes, simply boot into the CWM/Philz Touch and you should certainly have access to everything. If ya don't like Philz Touch, you can use the same methods for TWRP. That info seems legit so far, certainly worth trying.
 
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Awesome ! Just one thing , will being not rooted be an issue ? I'm just being cautious because this territory of "flashing" seems to involve risking bricking the phone . If it is an issue, how do I go about rooting given the only thing I have access to is the Recovery 3e screen ?
Nah! Rooting is Totally your option and certainly not required (Root can also break banking apps and Snapchat stuff). ;) You can even run custom ROMs without Root and still be ok, nothing wrong with just using TWRP/CWM for your recovery purposes.
 
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So Philz supposedly installed as ODIN said pass, but I am unable to boot into it for some reason. Whenever I attempt to it by holding volume up power and home it just takes me back to the default recovery 3e screen with the downed android bot with an opened chest cavity and a large red ! triangle...... I have attempted to look up solutions and alot of people like you had said are suggesting TWRP above all else leading me back to your link. I'm assuming the one I should choose from the topics is the recovery file ? Furthermore if and when I am able to boot into said backup/recovery will I be able to store a copy of things like contacts/photos on my computer as the phone in question didn't have an SD card in it ? If not how do I go about accessing the backup files or where are they stored ?
  • Yes, choose recovery.
  • You're just basically having trouble accessing recovery mode from device, might take some trial & error to just get the button combos correct they need all be pressed simultaneously and held, I think. All else fails, use same process for installing TWRP & try again..
  • Yes, you should/will have total access to all data partitions for everything. It's been soooooo long since I've dealt with JB Android OS but I think the pictures/vids will either be in an "Android" named folder or one named "DCIM".
 
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