How to: Prepare for and do a Hard Reset

It’s happened to me and, sadly, if it hasn't happened to you it may just be a matter of time. I'm not just talking about a strange pause, or the spinny beach ball. These can be handled by a typical soft reset -- just pull the battery (or hold down the End key) to shut'er down and then boot it up again. Sometimes, though, often after installing some software that's not technically compatible, a reboot doesn't fix things. Your phone is seriously busted up. Now what?

The first thing is to hook it up to a computer and see if you can uninstall the offending software via Active Sync or Mobile Device Manager. The second thing: the dreaded hard reset. "Dreaded" because, if you haven't properly prepared for this moment, your data is going to be lost forever.

Read on to find out how to deal with this stuck situation.

Types of resets

Now when we say reset we don’t mean the one on the old Nintendo. We mean a way to sort of kick your phone back into gear. Much like restarting your computer, we can restart our phones. When doing resets you want to be very careful in which one you choose, because one will just slap you phone back into shape while the other gives it a knockout and original makeover. There’s a soft reset and a hard rest.

Soft reset

When doing a soft reset you’re pretty much giving your phone a break and saying “Lets try this again”. By this we mean you give your phone a quick power off and on. This can be done is several different ways. One way is to simply power the phone off via whatever method your phone uses for that (often holding down the End key) -- or our preferred method, just pull the battery. Some phones like the Treo 750 even have a button titled reset allowing you to push it for convenience.

Power it on again and then see what you've got. If everything seems fine, no worries, you just needed a reboot. If you go through all this and your phone still stares at you with a blank screen or is misfiring then it might be time for the hard reset.

Hard reset

A hard reset is essentially erasing the non-volatile memory. What this means is that all the programs, phone numbers, calendar items, and games you had will be gone. Your phone will be set back to its original state like when you first bought it. Awe how cute, a new born. Brand new, and much like a new born it will drive you crazy if you didn’t prepare for this day.

Hard reset preparation: Backup, Backup, Backup!

Some things to consider before you have to get to this point. The first is that you should do a back up of your data. I will outline three different ways to do this because it is critical prior to you hard reset. You can back up your data through your computer via Outlook, to a memory card, or "to the cloud."

With most Windows Mobile phones they will come with a getting started cd. Load that into your computer and follow the step by step process to sync your contacts calendar and email to Outlook. Now in the event something does happen, you computer can act as a back up for you PIM.

Even with a standard computer sync set it, it's a good idea to have a backup to a memory card handy. There are three popular backup software titles we like: Sprite, SPB Backup, and newcomer Resco Backup.

A majority of the time we want more that just PIM restored. We want all our favorites, and programs set how we like them. So what these titles do is essentially make a copy of your phones “as is” state and save it to you memory card. Then if something goes wrong you can simply restore you phone how it was at a certain place and time. You can also set up a nightly backup too if you want to be super safe (ultra-super-safe: nightly backup that leaves the last 3 on the card and you put an extra card with a backup on it someplace safe in case you lose your phone).

Lastly we have the "cloud sync" -- which for the moment will mostly just handle keeping your PIM data safe and sound on a server somewhere. The most popular option is, of course, Microsoft Exchange. If your company has an exchange server - pow, you're set. If not, you can sign up for a for-pay exchange server such as 1and1.com. If you're not a believer in Exchange, there's also options for over-the-air syncing of your PIM to other services via Yahoo Go, GooSync (for Google), and more.

Ok, you have a reliable and tested backup solution now. So when the time comes, you're ready for a hart reset. Here we go...

Do the Hard reset

Models vary greatly but in order to do a hard reset on a Treo 750 you will want to open the latch where the memory card is and push the little button that says reset. Once the screen goes black you will want to hold down the red End key until you see the Palm logo on the screen. Once you see the logo let go of the End key and you will be asked to press up to restore or down to disregard. Press up and viola. New Treo.

In order to do a hard reset a Black Jack II you will want to turn the phone off....hold directional pad UP while turning the phone back on. Then follow directions on screen in order to do a hard rest.

In order to do a hard reset on a Tilt you will want to hold the two soft keys (the two with the "-" dash on them) while pressing the reset button (hole on the bottom.) In other words when it’s reset if you're holding those two buttons you'll initiate a hard reset. It'll ask you to confirm by pressing the green phone button (the send button.)

In order to do a hard reset on a Dash you must turn the handheld off, hold the two soft keys (the dashes to the left and right of the phone buttons) hold the power button for 1-2 seconds and then release the soft keys. It should prompt you to clear storage. The “send” button is considered as the green phone button.

Other phones have other methods -- a look through your manual or a hunt with Google for "Hard Reset" and your device's name should yield you the answer.

After your reset, restore your device from a back up, and get back to work.

Let us know of any stories where resetting or backing up has saved your day in the comments. Happy resetting.