How do I zero an S3 with a dead screen?

[grandroutesj]

how to zero an S3 with a dead screen?

My SO dropped her AT&T Galaxy S3 and broke the glass and the display screen. So she got an S5 and has a buyer for her old phone. How can I erase all of her personal information, etc., without visual? All of the buttons works, and it will interface with Kies via USB.

 

[Rukbat]

Re: how to zero an S3 with a dead screen?

Unless USB debugging is enabled, or you have a spare S3 to practice on (boot into recovery, use the volume buttons to get to Factory Reset, then press Power - once you have that mastered [don't actually press the power button on the practice phone unless you want to wipe all personal data from it], you can do it on her phone), or you have a good relationship with a local repair shop (so they can connect a temporary screen), you can't delete your information and still have a working phone. (Crushing the phone into tiny pieces, then heating the remains to white heat, will make it impossible for even the NSA to recover any data, but that kind of eliminates the possibility of selling the phone.)

BTW, resetting the phone still leaves it vulnerable to a determined thief. A good motherboard analyzer and some good software can recover deleted data. The normal buyer wouldn't have access to anything like that, but I still change a few passwords if I sell a phone that had critical ones, or links to critical ones, on it, even after a factory reset, loading it up with garbage apps and data and resetting it again.

 

[AZgl1500]

Re: how to zero an S3 with a dead screen?

If you have an old copy of a Kies backup, then use that to overwrite what is on the phone.

One thing you can try is to simply make sure it is OFF, then power it on in Recovery Mode.
On a Samsung phone that is usually Volume Up and Power Button held until the screen shows the menu.

For you, you will have to look at another S3 to watch that phone's screen and make a note of how many seconds it takes for the different menu options to appear.

Now, turn it on Vol Up/Power on together. count the seconds requred and then release.

observe the other S3's menu to see if you need to use the Vol button to go Up or Dn and how many steps.

select Factory Erase or words to that effect.

 

[grandroutesj]

I do have another S3

Thanks. I will practice on the other S3. Carefully...

 

[AZgl1500]

Re: I do have another S3

Please report back with your success story.