[MrFister1975]

Hello Folks,

I am a Noob to these forums, but I am maybe a middle of the road S4-wise. I am just looking for a couple answers to some questions I have. I have looked around for the answers to "my" questions, and have not been able to find the right answers. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated, Thanks...

1 - Would preforming a full factory reset on my S4 hurt the phone in any way? My phone does not need to be reset at all. I just know more about how the phone works now, and would like to start over from scratch.

2 - What will backing up my phone help do before I reset it?

3 - What would I back up, and where would I back it up too?

4 - Would I need to re download the Android 4.3 Update once I preformed the reset?

Thanks again for any help you can offer...

Mr. Fister ~ Fûß

[dancing-bass]

I'm going to assume that you have NOT rooted your phone. So:
1) Nope, no hurt or harm to your phone. A factory reset wipes every bit of apps, data, music, saved files, pictures, etc off the phone, uninstalls any updates, etc. Factory reset is just that - it resets the phone (software wise) to how it left the factory. Remember opening the box and turning it on for the very first time? That's what you'll get after a factory reset.
2) Backing up your phone will save your phone in its current state as far as apps and settings. I believe that any data (pictures, music, saved files, etc) will be erased though. I'm not totally familiar with the S4 so someone will have to clarify.
3) Depending on what you want to back up. I use SMS Backup&Restore to automatically backup my texts and save them to Google Drive. Same with photos. Music I keep on my computer, so I can easily transfer those files back, same with any files I might need (although most files are also backed up to Google Drive). I don't play games much (and don't care about loosing data on the few I do play). Someone else will have to give you more guidance on saving game data if you are wanting that. Short version - whatever isn't automatically backed up to cloud storage, I save to my computer before doing any software changes to my phone. Its good idea to do it fairly regularly if there's anything remotely important on there
4) Unless there's a total fluke, yes you will have to re-download 4.3. See my answer in #1 - factory reset wipes everything including updates so that the phone goes back to the way it was when in left the factory (software wise - it won't undo any physical damage/wear and tear obviously!)

Hope this was helpful!

[MrFister1975]

No my phone is not rooted. I do not plan on rooting it until I have a new phone. Thank You for the reply, and yes it was perfect.

Mr. Fister ~ Fûß

[MrFister1975]

What effect if any, will the factory reset have on my SD Card?

Mr. Fister ~ Fûß

[gxgs]

As far as I know and how the android OS works, ROM updates are installed in the system partition, not data, thus, a factory reset will not remove any updates. The system partition is left as it is.

What effect if any, will the factory reset have on my SD Card?

Mr. Fister ~ Fûß

It won't do anything to the external sd card.