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Help Does doing a factory reset do any harm to the long-term performance of the device?

N

newtoandroid11

Lurker
Hi, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is my first android phone.

I've been playing around, downloading some apps and messing with all the settings for a day or two now and trying out a couple of things. I don't know why, but now I've got to grips with everything I'd like to start afresh and carry out a factory reset, returning everything to default setting and undoing anything I might have done.

I was wondering if carrying out a factory reset will have any implications on the reebooted system (will there be stuff that won't be removed, slowing down the system after a factory reset).

I don't care about losing any contact information or anything as I haven't transferred it from my old phone yet anyway, I'm just concerned that doing a reset won't do the device any good.. do you advise I that I should avoid a factory reset, or are my concerns unwarranted?

Many thanks.
 
There are some hidden settings on your device that may not be changed by a factory reset. All it does is basically reinstall your base OS and wipes out all the apps and data on your device (not the sd card). It's good for clearing out the gunk and to speed things up from time to time. No negative impact on longevity of your device as far as I know.

It's akin to reinstalling Windows on your home PC every few years to clear out the registry and speed up your system. That doesn't hurt your PC, in fact it boosts performance.
 
No worries at all so long as you are certain you have nothing that needs to be backed up before you do it.

Without installing a better recovery (the issues involved and doing it are both something you may want to take a look at later but should probably skip for now) the best procedure is to stop all running apps on the phone. Plug into your computer and delete everything on the phone. Make sure you are deleting the phone and not the sd card if you have one mounted. Do not worry about losing anything, this is all stuff that was installed by apps or that will be reinstalled when you do the reset if its something android needs. Go ahead and unplug and navigate directly through the main menu to factory reset and perform the reset without opening any other apps.

Do not be alarmed when it takes much longer than normal to boot, this is expected and will happen. Its a good idea to be where wifi is available to get yourself up and running faster.
 
bobby2478 said:
There are some hidden settings on your device that may not be changed by a factory reset. All it does is basically reinstall your base OS and wipes out all the apps and data on your device (not the sd card). It's good for clearing out the gunk and to speed things up from time to time. No negative impact on longevity of your device as far as I know.

It's akin to reinstalling Windows on your home PC every few years to clear out the registry and speed up your system. That doesn't hurt your PC, in fact it boosts performance.
Click to expand...

It doesnt actually reinstall anything, it just wipes the caches and data
 
Hi guys, just wanted to say a quick thanks for your input! I did the factory reset and I've ended up doing a lot of things differently this time (for the better)! I'm now happier than ever with my S4 :)
 
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