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Help What is "rooting"?

H

hrabbit

Newbie
Hello group,

I am new to Android, and I keep encountering the words "root" or "rooting." Would someone tell me what this means?

Thank you
 
In simple words, rooting means to take control of system files and make changes in system files. You can't make changes to system files without root privileges. Once you have root privileges, you install clockwork mod recovery and then you can install any custom ROMs or any application which need root privilege to function like Titanium backup etc etc.
 
Rooting grants full administrator permissions to the user, rather than limited user permissions. The good is that this allows you to do basically anything to any files on the device. It allows full control of everything on the device. The bad is that it also means you have full permission to muck up anything on the device. It also carries some security risk.

If you decide you really do need/want to root, look in the 'All Things Root' section of your phone's subforum. Plenty of info is available. Also, Google search is your friend. Do a LOT of reading. It's possible a mistake could 'brick' your phone (make it unusable). Make sure you understand why you're doing it, the exact steps required and all the terminology, and have a recovery plan and backups in case things go bad.
 
Last edited:
Crashdamage said:
Rooting grants full administrator permissions to the user, rather than limited user permissions. The good is that this allows you to do basically anything to any files on the device. It allows full control of everything on the device. The bad is that it also means you have full permission to muck up anything on the device. It also carries some security risk.

If you decide you really do need/want to root, look in the 'All Things Root' section of your phone's subforum. Plenty of info is available. Also, Google search is your friend. Do a LOT of reading. It's possible a mistake could 'brick' your phone (make it unusable). Make sure you understand why you're doing it, the exact steps required and all the terminology, and have a recovery plan and backups in case things go bad.
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Thanks for the help. I don't think rooting is something I want to get involved with right now, though.
 
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