Step By Step Backup and Restore Instructions for Factory Reset

We keep hearing that factory resets are what cures everything, but I have yet to see any step by step instructions for non-rooted users on how best to back up everything on your phone in order to make a factory reset as painless as possible.

I've been struggling with freezes since upgrading to 4.1 and want to factory reset, but not if it's going to take hours to restore my phone to its previous state.

Thanks!

No way. Apps will restore but not settings & that's what takes hours. Some apps allow you to backup settings but then you'll need to copy those folders to a computer or sd card then back again in order to restore the settings.... Which might be part of the problem so you really are better off starting from scratch after all.