Help Factory reset via settings or recovery mode

[alscott]

About to install gingerbread and I have read many people in the forum advising a factory reset before and after installing which I plan to do.
My quick question is, is there a difference between factory reseting via the settings menu and factory reseting via recovery mode (ie holding a combo of buttons whilst turning on) which I have seen described as a "hard reset". Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[lunatic59]

No, they are the same. The "hard reset" using buttons is for semi-bricked phones that can't access the menus.

 

[goyal.sanchit]

I cant be very sure but I have read elsewhere that they are different and it should preferably be done via recovery mode. When I upgraded to Froyo after Eclair I did a factory reset via settings.

I had to deal with lots of force closes etc and then someone said that I should have done reset via recovery mode. But that was too late since I had already installed all the applications etc so when I upgraded to 2.3.3 I did it via recovery mode and it worked flawlessly.

They might be the same but I prefer the recovery mode.

 

[lunatic59]

I cant be very sure but I have read elsewhere that they are different and it should preferably be done via recovery mode. When I upgraded to Froyo after Eclair I did a factory reset via settings.

I had to deal with lots of force closes etc and then someone said that I should have done reset via recovery mode. But that was too late since I had already installed all the applications etc so when I upgraded to 2.3.3 I did it via recovery mode and it worked flawlessly.

They might be the same but I prefer the recovery mode.

What you probably didn't do is remove user data. Performing a reset without first removing user data will indeed cause problems with apps.

 

[alscott]

What you probably didn't do is remove user data. Performing a reset without first removing user data will indeed cause problems with apps.

Ok so how do I remove my user data . Is this simply a case of deleting pictures/docs/music or is there more to it

 

[goyal.sanchit]

I dont know what you meant by user data but I had also formatted the memory card after reset if you meant that.

 

[lunatic59]

Ok so how do I remove my user data . Is this simply a case of deleting pictures/docs/music or is there more to it

If you perform a hard reset with the buttons, that's part of the process. If you choose to reset from the menu, clear user data is the menu option right before reset the phone. You do not have to reformat or erase the sd card, although it might cause problems with apps if they stored data on the sd card. Backup all files from the sd card and then format it for the cleanest install.