Help newbie rooting/android upgrade question

[Gavin M]

Sorry to be posting in possibly the wrong spot.

I am pretty good at technical stuff.... computers, phones, tablets, etc. But I am completely new to rooting devices, doing OS updates, or installing new ROMS.

What I am looking to do is update my MEASY U2C from 4.1.1 to kit kat 4.4. I have no idea how to do this. Do I have to root the device? If so, how do I do that? Do I then install some ROM? If so, where do I get it? How do I install it? How do I know it is the correct ROM?


Should I do something with the device before rooting, just in case there is a problem and so I can get it back to where it was?

As you can see, this is all new to me. Can anyone help me?

Thank you.
Gavin

 

[Crashdamage]

If you go to: Settings > About phone > System updates and none is available, then to update Android you will have to root the phone.

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 reduces the security of the phone somewhat.

If you decide you really do need/want to root, first do a LOT of reading. Look in the 'All Things Root' section here and see if there's a subforum for your phone. You should check out the XDA Developer forum for information too, but be sure to read first and post later there as it's not a n00b-friendly site. And as always, Google search is your friend.

It's possible a mistake could 'brick' your phone (make it unusable). Make sure you understand why you're rooting, the exact procedures required and all the terminology. And it's absolutely critical to have a recovery plan and backups in case things go bad.

DO NOT try to install a ROM that is intended for any phone except your exact model! If you have questions post back here before proceeding and someone will help.

Don't forget to do backups!