Regain a Dead Smartphone

What should you do when your Smartphone decides to play dead? Resist the urge to throw it against the nearest wall and try one of these techniques instead.

Soft Reset
 

All phones have a soft reset function, which is similar to restarting your computer. Beware that performing a soft reset will cause you to lose any data that isn't saved, but you will retain information previously stored on your smartphone.
 

■ MOTOROLA BACKFLIP. Power the phone off. Remove and reinsert the battery, then power the phone back on.

■ ANDROID (OTHER). All remaining Android models use a simple power cycle to perform a soft reset. Just turn the phone off and then back on again.
 

■ BLACKBERRY (QWERTY KEYBOARD). Press and hold the ALT-CAP-DELETE key combination. The display goes black for a second and your BlackBerry resets.
 

■ BLACKBERRY (SURETYPE KEYBOARD). Press the ALT-CAP and Right Shift-DEL keys. When the screen goes blank, release the keys.
 

■ BLACKBERRY (TOUCHSCREEN). Turn the BlackBerry off and remove the battery for at least 30 seconds. Reinstall the battery and turn the device back on.
 

■ IPHONE (ALL MODELS). Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button on the top of the iPhone and the Home button. Continue to hold both buttons (approximately 10 seconds) until the screen goes blank. You'll see the white Apple logo as the iPhone reboots.
 

■ NOKIA (ALL MODELS). Power the phone off and remove the battery for 30 seconds. Reinstall the battery and power the phone on. Alternately, you can enter the code *#7380# and select Yes.
 

■ PALM PRE. If the phone's menus are still active, select Device Info, Reset Options, then select Soft Reset. If the Palm Pre is locked up or frozen, hold the power button and cycle the ringer button on and off three times. If that doesn't work, press and hold the Orange, Sym, and R keys until the device reboots. Turn the phone off, remove the battery for 10 seconds, reinstall the battery, and power the phone up.

All other smartphones. You can generally perform a soft reset by powering the phone off, removing the battery for 30 seconds, and powering the phone back on.
 

Hard Reset 

A hard reset is a last-ditch option that returns your phone to its factory settings, which means you will lose all data and installed applications. Before you perform a hard reset, remove the memory card from your phone; that way you can recover data from the card later.

AT&T TERRESTAR GENUS. 

With the device turned off, press the red power key. When the TerreStar logo appears, press and hold the E-Power keys until a green checkmark appears in the lower-left corner. Release all keys. The device will power up and perform a factory reset.
 

ANDROID (ALL MODELS WITH FUNCTIONING MENU SYSTEMS).

One of the following menu-based systems for performing a hard reset should work, depending on the phone and version of Android. Open the application menu. Tap Settings, SD and Card Storage, Factory Data Reset, and follow the on-screen instructions.
• From the Home screen, tap Menu, Settings, Privacy, and Factory Data Reset, and then follow the on-screen instructions.
• From the Home screen, tap Menu, Settings, Security, and Factory Data Reset, and then follow the on-screen instructions.
When the menu system isn't functional, follow these phone-specific options to perform a hard reset.

■ DELL VENUE. With the device turned off, press and hold the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. Without releasing the buttons, press and hold the Power button. When the device configuration screen appears, release all buttons. Use the Volume Up or Down button to move the selection to Factory Reset. Press the Camera button to select the Factory Reset option and start the reset process.

■ GOOGLE NEXUS ONE, NEXUS S. Turn the phone off. Press and hold Volume Down while you press and release the Power button. Use the Volume Down button to select Clear Storage from the list of options. Press the Power button, and confirm your selection by pressing the Volume Up button.

■ T-MOBILE COMET. If possible, back up your data to Google's servers by selecting Privacy from the Settings screen. Select the Back Up My Data option. When the backup is complete, return to the Settings screen and select Privacy and Factory Data Reset. When prompted, tap Reset Phone, then tap Erase Everything.

■ T-MOBILE G2X. If possible, back up your data to Google's servers by selecting Privacy from the Settings screen. Select the Back Up My Data option. When the backup is complete, power off the phone. Press and hold the Power/Lock-Volume Down keys for at least 15 seconds. The phone should turn back on and perform a factory reset. If the screen is frozen, or the phone doesn't turn back on, remove the battery, wait 30 seconds, then reinstall the battery and try again.
 

■ MOTOROLA DROID. Turn the phone off. Press and hold the Power-X keys to force the phone into recovery mode. Next, press and hold the Volume Up-Camera key to display the recovery menu. Select Wipe Data/Factory Reset from the menu, and then select Reboot Phone.

■ MOTOROLA DROID PRO, DROID 2 GLOBAL. Select Settings, Privacy, and Factory Data Reset. When prompted, tap Reset Phone to erase all data and return the phone to factory conditions.

■ MOTOROLA BACKFLIP. Power the phone off. Press and hold the Power and Camera buttons. When the phone turns on, release the Power button but continue to hold the camera button until prompted to release it. Next, press the Volume Down button. After 15 seconds, a yellow triangle with an exclamation point will appear. With your phone closed, tap the bottom-right corner of the display and select Wipe Data/Factory Reset. Press OK and follow the on-screen instructions.

■ BLACKBERRY (ALL MODELS). Remove the battery for 30 seconds. Reinstall the battery and turn the phone back on.

■ BLACKBERRY STYLE, BOLD, STORM, CURVE, TOUR, TORCH. Click the Options icon on the Home screen. Select Security and then Security Wipe. Select all three of the available checkboxes to perform a complete wipe and reset the device to factory condition. Type the word BlackBerry and click Wipe.

■ HTC ARRIVE, HD7, SURROUND. Press Start and tap the right-facing arrow. Tap Settings, About, and then tap Reset Your Phone. Tap Yes, and then tap Yes again.
If the screen is frozen, turn the device off. Press and hold the Volume Up-Down buttons and briefly press the Power key. When the screen displays instructions for resetting the device, release the Volume Up-Down buttons.

■ IPHONE (ALL MODELS). From the Home screen, tap Settings, General, Reset, and Reset All Settings. This action resets all preferences but retains applications and data. If that doesn't work, from the Home screen, tap Settings, General, Reset, Erase All Content, and Settings. This will delete all data and applications and return the iPhone to factory conditions.
 

■ NOKIA (ALL MODELS). With your phone powered on or in standby mode, type *#7370# and select Yes, when prompted. You may need your Lock Code for confirmation. The default lock code is 12345. If your phone doesn't turn on, try pressing the On/Off button, *, and 3 simultaneously.

■ MICROSOFT WINDOWS PHONE 7 (ALL MODELS). Press Start and tap the right-facing arrow. Tap Settings, About, and Reset Your Phone. Tap Yes, and then tap Yes again.
 

■ PALM PRE. Open Device Info, tap Phone Reset Options, and then tap Full Erase twice. If your Palm Pre is frozen, and you are unable to use the menus to perform a reset, try running the latest version of webOS Doctor (ws.palm.com/webosdoctor /sorry.htm) to troubleshoot and reset the device. Then follow the on-screen instructions.