Need help with back-up, factory reset, restore....

[Ms.O]

phone: galaxy note
os: jelly bean

i'm trying to do a factory reset on my phone. the reason being is that i heard that after the jelly bean update, the phone will function alot better if you do a factory reset...which i want, cuz my phone is slower on jb than it was on ics!

however, before i do that, i want to back-up my stuff. i'm having a hard time understanding how to do that, or in what order, and what method i should be using to do it. i'm almost to the point where i'm not even sure what a back-up/restore is...ha! i'd assume that it backs-up and restores *everything* that is not the operating system. but i've been doing some online reading and i'm more confused than ever.

options:
1) kies: i read that if i back-up/restore thru kies, the apps aren't restored. would that mean that i'd have to install them again one by one? :'( is there anything else that isn't restored by this method?

2) my phone has a back-up/reset option...but a) what all does that back-up? and where to? the apps too? and b) it looks like it resets (factory reset?), but does it restore everything? if not, how do i restore everything using this option?

why is this so confusing!! can anyone help me understand better what to do and then how to do it?

all i want to do is back-up everything, factory reset the device, and retore all my stuff (pictures, app-specific settings, video, etc.) with the minimum of hassle.

thanks.

 

[friedtators]

The play store has a list of the apps installed so all you gotta do is sign back in and it will reinstall them. It also has your settings and passwords backed up. Use kies to back your stuff up like pics. Do the factory reset

 

[Ms.O]

thank you! thank you!

so once you back-up everything with kies, you do the factory reset then restore with kies, right? and i don't even mess around with the back-up/reset in my settings.

also, i read that you should take your SIM card and external SD card out before doing the reset....does that sound right? or does it matter?

 

[leathernuts#WP]

Im new, just picked up a S4. Have to excahange and was wondering if apps are backed up on the google play, contacts is on my gmail, and I really havent took any pics and the ones I want are on my SD, then I really dont need to do anything else-right? Oh and my calendar of course is google calendar. So when I exchange the device I just pop the SD card back in and sign in and I should be good to go? AM I missing anything? Thanks

 

[vichetlovekhmer]

I wantreore

 

[tube517]

I wantreore

???