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Resetting to factory settings problem

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Fujiama

Lurker
A couple of months ago I got a new job, and I could finally afford to replace my old phone with a new, and so I bought the Samsung Nexus S, and I've been insanely happy with it. Now, a little time ago, I got laid off the job.

My problem is that I registered the phone in my work-email, and that email has now been deleted by my former boss, and I can no longer use my phone properly. It says that I have to make a reset to factory settings. Now I'm a bit scared of what will happen if I do that, what will happen to my contacts, apps, settings of apps and all that. I'm a person who plays stuff on my phone, like Angry Birds or Jewels and like that, and I've spent reeeally much time on it, makes me really sad if I have to just give all that up and start from scrap again.

So, my question is; Can I "save" or "backup" all my apps, contacts and settings/progress of apps in any way?

On forehand, thank you.
 
Hi, a factory reset is not cool. But in the settings there should be a option to back up my settings. This should restore alot of your settings after you do a factory reset. Specially the apps it could take 10 mins or more for all the apps to download again so be patient and dont visit the marketplace until its finished.
And things like photos and videos, I would save to you pc/mac before hand then just transfer back. And finally save your contacts to your memory card.:D

I hope this helps, if so please thank.
 
I'm going to go ahead and try that. Thanks a bunch :-)

With the contacts, will they be backed up as well? Or do I have to copy them to min SIM-card and back or something?
 
That's a tough one with the contacts. If ever I have done it I just back my contacts up on a memory card its the safest option. You could risk it, but I wouldn't. One other thing to consider is, i'm on orange and I know they back things up for you it could be worth getting in touch with your network provider.

p.s I'm not sure if there is actually a memory card slot on the nexus s?
 
The problem is that I have 2 gmail accounts, the one was linked to my old job, and that email is now deleted, so I can't get access to that.

I'm guessing it's impossible to backup all apps, settings and that to the other gmail account?
 
It shouldn't be. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work with just the one google account. My advice would be to back the data up on the google account and then log in and check what data has been saved.
 
Desire HD Eli said:
It shouldn't be. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work with just the one google account. My advice would be to back the data up on the google account and then log in and check what data has been saved.
Click to expand...

That sounds very reasonable, and it would seem like a great idea, but I have no idea how to set it to put the backup thingies on the other email account instead of the one that doesn't exist anymore. If I try to delete the first email account that was deleted, it says that I have to do the factory reset before I can change the mail mail that the device is connected to.

If I log in on google.com with the second gmail-account, that isn't the one deleted, I'm not entirely sure where to look for the data that has been (if any) backed up.
 
Fujiama said:
That sounds very reasonable, and it would seem like a great idea, but I have no idea how to set it to put the backup thingies on the other email account instead of the one that doesn't exist anymore. If I try to delete the first email account that was deleted, it says that I have to do the factory reset before I can change the mail mail that the device is connected to.

If I log in on google.com with the second gmail-account, that isn't the one deleted, I'm not entirely sure where to look for the data that has been (if any) backed up.
Click to expand...

Hi to see what data has been saved to an account, go to google and log into your gmail account. Then in the top right click on your email address. Then click on account settings. On this new screen now there should be a heading saying personal settings. Under this a smaller bold dashboard title. Next to this it says view data stored with this account. From here now you can see which contacts and other data will be backed up to the email address of your choice and reset to your phone. you can also add data here if its not there.
I really hope this helps.
 
Desire HD Eli said:
Hi to see what data has been saved to an account, go to google and log into your gmail account. Then in the top right click on your email address. Then click on account settings. On this new screen now there should be a heading saying personal settings. Under this a smaller bold dashboard title. Next to this it says view data stored with this account. From here now you can see which contacts and other data will be backed up to the email address of your choice and reset to your phone. you can also add data here if its not there.
I really hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I want to thank you really really much for helping me out with this, you're a great help.

I found the page on google where it shows the data that is backed up, like contacts and that. The bad news is, that there are no contacts there at all.

The one last thing I need to know is if I can make things be backed up on my personal gmail account instead of the primary email account on the phone, and if it IS possible, how to do it. If anyone can help me figure that out, it would be absolutely awesome.
 
Here's a post on another forum where someone reports success changing account associated with phone using method a little less drastic than factory reset. Post is a couple years old, I don't know for sure that it will work, but might be worth a try. In just a few words, poster cleared data in Gmail and other Google apps.
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f8/change-default-google-account-solved-10584/

Before trying this though, I'd do one thing first to preserve Contacts currently stored on device. Use Listables application, available in Market, to export them in CSV format. I believe you can import this format, but double check.

If you do have to factory reset, rooting and using Titanium Backup application allows you to save an application's data (like game progress).

If you don't want to root, maybe e-mail dev to see to see if there might be a way for you to save game progress. I think a way to sync between devices is coming to AB. Maybe you could be a beta tester. :-)

If you want, you can recover call logs and text messages using applications like Call Log Backup & Restore and SMS Backup & Restore. Both worked well for me when a bad thing happened.
 
gadzooks said:
Here's a post on another forum where someone reports success changing account associated with phone using method a little less drastic than factory reset. Post is a couple years old, I don't know for sure that it will work, but might be worth a try. In just a few words, poster cleared data in Gmail and other Google apps.
Change default Google account [SOLVED]

Before trying this though, I'd do one thing first to preserve Contacts currently stored on device. Use Listables application, available in Market, to export them in CSV format. I believe you can import this format, but double check.

If you do have to factory reset, rooting and using Titanium Backup application allows you to save an application's data (like game progress).

If you don't want to root, maybe e-mail dev to see to see if there might be a way for you to save game progress. I think a way to sync between devices is coming to AB. Maybe you could be a beta tester. :-)

If you want, you can recover call logs and text messages using applications like Call Log Backup & Restore and SMS Backup & Restore. Both worked well for me when a bad thing happened.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for everyones help.

I reset my phone to factory settngs today. I have all my contacts back, and manually installed all the old apps and set them up.

As to the game progress, I have lost it. Well, I'll be alright :P

Same with the phone/message logs. It's alright though :)
 
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