Factory Reset - BEST WAY!

[bricon123]

All tips and tricks to do a FACTORY RESET (un-rooted) with least amount of collateral damage and time to set my Thunderbolt back up.
ICS got me with one particular problem (mic dead, see other thread) but it seems from all of you great "Super Users" (thanks Mightyfacundo and Unobtanium and many others) that the best solution for alot of problems is to do a FACTORY RESET. I have never done one, heard horror stories about doing one, and don?t want to screw up my phone and take forever setting it back up. ( and yes, I know, go to settings-storage-factory data reset-reset phone-erase everything, please don?t tell me what buttons to hit, even Verizon can do that) I have googled now, for hours trying to learn the best way and all of the tricks and hints on how to do it right!
What me and many others would really appreciate is all of the really cool hints and ways to prepare for a factory reset with the most minimal amount of damage and reset up time. So far I've found some really good ones like:
1. Get MyBackup Pro to save text messages,
2.take screen shots to remember my screen settings and other screens that have settings I want to remember,
3. back up my SD card (yes I know, Reset doesn?t hurt it, but a good idea anyway),
4. reload apps by going to Play Store and go to MY ORDERS & SETTINGS to find them.
All great ideas, but I bet there?s more. If we get enough, I think it would make a really great "sticky" for future reference. You know the next update's going to goof up something (insert rant here) and other guys like me are going to be asking this again.
This forum for the TB is my life blood. I want to thank all of you guys for all of the help thru the years for all of the really "what cool things can my TB do", "How to survive updates (Gingerbread reboots!), how to make my TB battery last more than 20 seconds (1st problem I faced, this forum saved the day!) and all of the other things I learned hear for my 1st day Thunderbolt. You guys are great! (ok, shameless sucking up, sorry)
Please no flaming about how ignorant I am, or "root your phone you lazy idiot" or "Just go get Brand X, it's better". I know rooting makes all of this moot, I know there's more up-to-date phones, I know I'm lazy and ignorant, but I didn?t buy this phone to play with for hours or try cool ROM's, I bought it to work and make my life and job more productive. It does that, very well. I love my TB (and grandfathered Unlimited Data Plan). Right now, I just want to make a phone call and have the other person hear me. Since it seems a Factory Reset is the only way to make this happen, I need to be rescued, again, by the Androidcentral ThunderBolt Forum.
Let the fun begin!

 

[mightyfacundo]

Mightyfanundo: between you and Unobtainium, and a LOT of looking on Google, it seems all Super Users say the factory reset is the answer. Both of you have given good advice on some steps to make it less painful (You = save txt use MyBackup Pro and Play store "My Apps" reload"Unobtanium = screen shots to remember screen layouts AND another MyBackup Pro recommendation)and I thank you both. BUT my research has found some other good advice, a whole list of what BAD things happen when you do (lose email accounts that have to be reset up, all tweaks back to 1st day, Go kill bloat ware again, remember and rework any app settings, etc) So.... because I don?t want to hijack my own thread looking for solutions to my dead mic issue, I'm going to start a new thread for "How to do a Factory Reset with the least amount of collateral damage and restore hassle/time involved". I know a lot of other guys like me who just want to have the phone work, just want to get it done and move on with life and are willing to do what it takes, will REALLY appreciate tapping the knowledge base you and others provide with great knowledge and patience for us. Please join that thread with your comments and methods. I would appreciate it, and REALLY appreciate the help so far.

Yes, you will have to re-set up your email accounts, remember your tweaks and settings, and disable bloat, but the tradeoff is you will have a working phone again. I can't give you a shortcut for doing these things, but it really doesn't take very long to do. If you can't remember how to do something cause the last time you did it was 18 months ago, no worries; just ask and I'll refresh your memory.

 

[757Dave]

This forum for the TB is my life blood. I want to thank all of you guys for all of the help thru the years for all of the really "what cool things can my TB do", "How to survive updates (Gingerbread reboots!), how to make my TB battery last more than 20 seconds (1st problem I faced, this forum saved the day!) and all of the other things I learned hear for my 1st day Thunderbolt. You guys are great! (ok, shameless sucking up, sorry)
Please no flaming about how ignorant I am, or "root your phone you lazy idiot" or "Just go get Brand X, it's better". I know rooting makes all of this moot, I know there's more up-to-date phones, I know I'm lazy and ignorant, but I didn?t buy this phone to play with for hours or try cool ROM's, I bought it to work and make my life and job more productive. It does that, very well. I love my TB (and grandfathered Unlimited Data Plan). Right now, I just want to make a phone call and have the other person hear me. Since it seems a Factory Reset is the only way to make this happen, I need to be rescued, again, by the Androidcentral ThunderBolt Forum.
Let the fun begin!

Very well stated. All of us are not super users. We just want a working device. If a little tweaking is required, so be it. And most everyone on this forum has been more helpful than I think they know. I couldn't have said it any better. Thanks.

 

[braxtoq]

If you backup your apps and app data to Mybackup Pro, you don't need to go through downloading them again via Google play. Just restore them from Mybackup Pro! Also, I usually restore my text and call data.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[757Dave]

Did just as you said and worked like a charm. Phone's touch screen is much more responsive now. Thanks for all your suggestions about the factory reset and using Mybackup Pro.

 

[adamhach]

What are the general thoughts on Mybackup Pro vs. Carbon?