some useful and interesting smartphone codes

Some Useful and Interesting Codes for Smartphones

This page contains a list of codes that can be entered into most Smartphones to retrieve important information run diagnostics and test the functionality of the device.

The codes below are primarily for Smartphones running on the Android Operating System but some codes listed will also work on basic phones and Smartphones that might not be built on the Android OS such as iPhones (iOS), Windows Phones, Nokia Phones (Symbian), etc. Some codes only work for specific manufacturers, some for specific versions of the operating system, some makes and models of phones just don’t like to work at all.

Disclaimer: This page is for educational and informative purposes only, and a few of these codes I wouldn’t recommend a basic or novice phone user to perform. Some of these codes can clear important information from your device if not already saved properly. So all in all, read the description of what the code is intended to do and perform these codes at your own risk because I will not be held responsible or accountable. Otherwise enjoy the codes and enjoy the article.

To input these codes on your phone all you have to do is open up your dialer as though you’re dialing a telephone number and then enter the code. After typing in the code the phone should pull up whatever option you’re testing. Some of these codes you might need to enter the code and then call/dial it.

*#*#4636#*#* or *#*#INFO#*#* can be used to check a lot of things on most Android Smartphones. Including:

Phone information -allows you to run a ping test, and shows a ton of interesting information about the phone.

Battery Information – now you can remove that power app you installed on your phone, all the common information you need about your battery and charging is here.

• Battery Status: Shows whether the device is charging or if the battery is full.
• Power Plug: Shows how the device is charging, AC (wall charger), USB (computer) etc.
• Battery level: at what Percent the battery is charged.
• Battery scale: should read “100”.
• Battery Health: should say “Good”. If it shows “unknown” or “unknown error” then you should power cycle (turn the phone off than on) and check again. If it still doesn’t say good. Then the battery itself is likely defective.
• Battery Voltage: really isn’t something the average phone user is going to need to worry about.
• Battery Temperature: if your phones getting HOT you can check and see if it’s your battery that’s heating up or the phone itself.
• Battery technology: usually just shows Li ion (because of the common Lithium Ion batteries found in the majority of these devices).
• Time since boot: shows the amount of time since you last booted up or turned on the phone.

Battery History

Usage Statistics – shows the apps and programs that have been running on the device and can show how often they’re being opened and used.

*#7353# will access the Device Diagnostic Tool on Samsung phones and some other Smartphones excluding the HTC.

*#*#3424#*#* is how to open the Device Diagnostic Tool on an HTC Android phone.

*#06# shows the IMEI number of your phone. The IMEI is a unique 15 digit number for your specific phone, basically the Social Security number of your phone. Sometimes when typing in *#06# it will add an additional 2 digits at the end. The first 15 digits shown before any space or dash is your IMEI.

*2767*3855# is a code to perform a VERY THOROUGH complete wipe on a Samsung phone. Never type in this code until you backup your entire phone, it will not erase your Operating System or preinstalled applications. It will erase all personal data and settings. If you have tried to perform a Factory Data Reset on your Smartphone and it didn’t solve your issue then this code might be exactly what you’re looking for. PS also remove your SD card or Memory card from the phone before using this code.

*983*57# can be used to Factory Data Reset some Android devices, ZTE phones especially.

*#0*# will pull up the Device Diagnostic Tool on a Motorola Atrix that’s still using the Android 2.1 OS (Operating System).

#3282 or #DATA should show the data usage for Verizon phones.

*4 then hit 4 again to get to the menu for Sprint Customers.

 *3282# or *DATA# to check data usage on AT&T phones.

*646# or *MIN# to check minutes on an AT&T cell phone.

#646 or #MIN Checks the current month's unbilled airtime usage on Verizon phones.

*225# Shows Bill Balance on AT&T mobile phones.

*729# accesses a Bill Pay option on AT&T Phones.

*639# can be used to check upgrade eligibility on an AT&T phone.

*#*#7780#*#* is an alternate code to perform a Factory Data reset on some Android Smartphones. Don’t do this unless you’ve backed up your phone so you don’t lose anything. Once you type in this code the phone will show the option to erase the memory on the device and provide the option to format the SD card as well. Note: In order to finish the reset you will have to tap the “Reset phone” button shown on the screen.

*#7380# is a soft reset code to restore the phones original factory default settings (just settings not a full clear) on Nokia mobile phones.

*#7370# is a hard reset on Nokia phones, this restores the whole phone, not just the settings, so make sure you do a backup first, if possible.

*#*#34971539#*#* this code can be used to get information about your phone’s camera. It shows following:

Update camera firmware in image (Don't try this option because it will most likely break your phone)

Get firmware update count

Get camera firmware version

Update camera firmware in SD card

*#1234# displays software/firmware information.

*#*#7594#*#* this code can be used to change the "End Call/Power" option on your phone. So instead of having to select the Silent mode, Air Plane mode or Power off, you can just use the power key to power the phone right off.

*#*#232339#*#* or *#*#526#*#* or *#*#528#*#* - Wireless LAN (WLAN) test. Just use the phones "Menu" button to start the various tests).

*#*#232338#*#* Shows the Wireless LAN (WLAN) MAC address WiFi and can show “power save mode Settings”.

*#*#273283*255*663282*#*#* will open a file manager of sorts where you can backup your media files such as Images, M3 (Sound), Video and Voice memos.

*#*#197328640#*#* opens a Service Mode where you can run various tests such as debugging the screen, gather version information etc.

*#*#1472365#*#* or *#*#1575#*#* will allow you to access a GPS test.

*#*#232331#*#* pulls up a Bluetooth test screen.

*#*#232337#*# Shows the Bluetooth Device Address.

*#*#7378423#*#* or *#*#SERVICE#*#* Sony Battery Health test

*#*#4986*2650468#*#* - PDA, Phone, H/W, RFCallDate.

*#*#1234#*#* - PDA and Phone.

*#*#44336#*#* - PDA, Phone, CSC, Build Time, Changelist number.

*#*#3264#*#* pulls up the RAM version.

*#*#2222#*#* shows the FTA HW Version.

*#*#1111#*#* shows the FTA SW Version.

##21# will cancel your phones registration from your service provider and should allow you to connect to the closest tower in your area. Once you type in the code you will have to actually call it, it will show a message and then go through… try and make a call or two and see if the service has improved. If yes enjoy, if not then power cycle your phone (turn it off and then back on). I don’t usually recommend this code be used unless you’re having pretty constant network related issues. If for some reason you have minimal service after entering this code and you have tried restarting your phone then you might have to contact your wireless provider to get them to reconnect you to the network (which power cycling should do for you), just call in and let them know that you suddenly had no service, should be one of the standard things they check for service related issues, just have them send an OTA (Over The Air Activation) to your phone (so far only confirmed on AT&T phones).

*#*#0283#*#* can check the Packet Loopback for networking.

*#*#0*#*#* - run a LCD test on your screen.

*#*#0673#*#* OR *#*#0289#*#* is how you run a Melody test for checking the sound. I believe this one is for the external speaker (the speaker that plays music on the phone).

*#*#0842#*#* Device test (vibration test and back light test).

*#*#2664#*#* Touch Screen test for if you think you might have dead spots or areas that don’t respond on the screen.

*#*#2663#*#* to show the Touch Screen version.

*#*#0588#*#* is a Proximity Sensor Test. The proximity sensor is a small little sensor, usually on the top of the phone next the logo or speaker you hold up to your ear, and its purpose is to know when you put your phone to your ear, so that the phone will lock, and you won’t accidently press keys when talking to other people. It then is supposed to realize when you’re removing your phone from your ear so that it can show the display again. If your phone is remaining on a black screen and you’re having issues ending calls then it could be your proximity sensor.

*3001#12345#* opens a Field Test on iPhones. You’ll have to press dial/call for this code to go through. This code opens a lot of different options to go through and see how well or efficiently your iPhone is working. One such future shown includes your phones signal. After typing this code into the phone the signal bars actually turn into a number. The lower the number the worse your signal strength is. Remember the number is a negative so -90 is a worse signal strength on your phone than a -80. Using this code can access a ton of technical information on an iphone, once done going through what you want then just press your home key to exit the Field Test.

*777# then call/dial, should open the account balance on a prepaid iPhone.

*#61# can be used to check the number for unanswered calls on iPhone. Use the code *#62# if you don’t have any service currently available. *#67# if the iPhone is busy.

*#21# provides information on call forwarding options.

*#119# or #*119# is supposed to help take a phone out of Emergency Mode. (submitted by a Sprint employee)

*#30# should show whether the phone has the setting to display its caller ID field enabled or disabled (I have yet to confirm this code. I think it is primarily for iPhones). *#76# is a similar code.

*#33# can be used to check for call control bars on an iPhone.

*#43# shows whether call waiting is enabled or disabled on iPhone.

I hope you enjoyed the article and saw some interesting codes that you can use on your phone. If you didn’t see any that you know of and have tried and confirmed yourself then let me know in the comments below. Don’t forget to include the Star Code and what the code actually does in the comment.

I look forword to hearing what you have to say. And don’t forget to check the site for other fun and interesting articles. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you.

Tags: Smartphone, Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Star Codes, Secret Codes, Phone Codes, Keypad Codes, Mobile Phone Codes, Phone Testing, Phone Information, Device Diagnostic Tool, IMEI, Checking Data, Checking Minutes, Factory Data Reset, Master Clear, Master Reset, Camera, Phone Settings, Device Test, Proximity Sensor, Tools, Battery Information, Battery Health, Samsung, HTC, LG, Nokia, Testing

saving pictures samsung android smartphone to memory card

Saving Pictures from a Samsung Android Smartphone to an SD Card

Wondering how to save your pictures and videos from your android phone onto a memory card? These step by step instructions will show you how to copy all of the pictures from a Samsung Smartphone running on the Android Operating System and how to successfully paste those pictures and videos onto your memory card so they will be nice and safe from any resets or phone issues. It will also allow you to easily transport your pictures from one phone to another if you ever get a replacement.

This article will go over what you need to know for a successful backup of your Samsungs content and I recommend you look over it. If however you would like to skip right to the transfer process and procedure then you can click here to go to that section of the article.

First let’s start with the basics and go from there:

Do you have a memory card?

If you don’t have a memory card then you won’t be able to save your information to one, simple as that. If you don’t have one then you should do some research as to what memory card would be right for you and get one, they are usually pretty affordable and make your life so much easier.

If you’re not sure if you have a memory card, here is how you can check.

Quick Instructions:

Settings > Storage > Unmount SD = You have a Memory Card, Mount SD = No Memory card

Detailed Instructions:

1. Go to your home page, the screen you see when you first turn on your phone (tap the home key, it’s one of the 4 physical buttons on the bottom underneath the phones display, usually looks like a house)
2. Tap on your menu key, (it’s one of the four buttons too, usually on the far left.)
3. Tap settings, (once you tap on the menu key, the phone should show a few options on its screen, one of those options is settings, select settings.)
4. Scroll to and select Storage, (It should give you a list of options to choose from. Scroll down and select the option that has the word storage in it. This option will be different depending on what type of phone you have; it will say either “Storage” or “SD and Phone Storage”, etc. click on that storage option.)**UPDATE: If your phone is running on Android version 4.0 or later then after tapping on Settings you might have to then select the More option in the upper right hand corner of the screen in order to see this Storage option.**
5. Look for an option that says “Mount SD card” or “Unmount SD card”, if the phone is reading a memory card then it will say “Unmount SD card”, the phones basically saying I see a memory card in me, do you want me to unmount it so you can take it out without having to power me off first? If it says “mount”, then the phone is not reading a memory card and it will probably be grayed out not even letting you click it.
6. Don’t click it! If you clicked it, don’t worry it won’t hurt it, just click it again. It needs to read unmount if you want to save stuff to your memory card.

Mount SD = No Memory card

Unmount SD = You have a Memory Card

If that’s too complicated, didn’t make sense, or the issue on your phone won’t let you do that than just look for a physical chip that plugs into your phone, different phones have them in different places, sometimes you have to pull the battery out of the phone to get to it, sometimes it plugs into the side or the bottom, it just depends on the phone. Remember it’s NOT your SIM card that you’re looking for. SD or Memory cards usually say SanDisk on them and often a size like 2GB (two gigabytes) 4GB, 6GB, 8GB, 16GB and up. Some phones come with them some don’t.

If you have a memory card then proceed to the next part of the article, if not click here. If you need to know other methods to save your pictures you can check here. Other methods include computer, Bluetooth, online backups etc.

Is your phone Samsung?

How the phone will allow you to save transfer and manage information will depend on what manufacture made the device. These instructions are for an android Smartphone manufactured by Samsung. If you need instructions on how to backup your android phone and it’s not made by Samsung than you can check out this page. Your device should show “Samsung” branded somewhere onto the phones exterior and should also show the Samsung logo when powering on the phone.

What is your OS?

The Android OS (Operating System) that you’re using will also affect how you manage your information. As newer versions of OS are released it should become easier to transfer and save information. The basic procedure of these instructions should work for most current operating systems 2.3 (Gingerbread) and higher. If you ever want to check your OS on an Android Smartphone then all you need to do is go into your “settings” and click “about phone”. Once you’re in “about phone” then scroll down to where you can see the Android Version… 1.5 is called Cupcake, 1.6 is the Donut, 2.0 and 2.1 are Éclair, 2.2 Froyo, 2.3.x Gingerbread, 3.x.x Honeycomb, 4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.1.x and 4.2.x Jelly Bean, etc. I love computer nerds, look at the version release names, there all alphabetical.

Checking your media

If your information is already saved onto your memory card then you won’t need to save or move anything, the works done. Here is how you can check the information saved onto an SD card

Quick Instructions:.

Applications > My Files > External SD > DCIM > Camera, then check and make sure you can see all your pictures there. If not proceed to the next step.

Detailed Instructions:

1. Go to your home page – go to your home page. You can get there by pressing your home key.
2. Go to Applications – tap on and go into your applications. If you see a list of options like manage apps etc then you’re in the wrong applications. You need to go to the applications that show a bunch of icons. For example it’s where you would go to access your picture gallery, downloaded apps, camera etc.
3. Select My Files – look for the icon that says “My Files”, it might even just say “Files”, and then click and open it. Sometimes it likes to hide out in the open. It’s there under your applications though, so find it and open it.
4. Select External SD – you might have to scroll down a bit to select External SD. Once you have it open it will show the files and information currently saved to your memory card. If your pictures are saved to the memory card already then you might be able to see them on that window, if not then you might have to go deeper into the files. Sometimes it will show a DCIM folder. This is usually where pictures and videos are saved.
5. If you see a DCIM folder click it – the DCIM folder might show your pictures directly but often just contains a camera folder and sometimes a thumbnails folder.
6. Tap Camera – here’s what you’re looking for, your pictures should be shown here in the camera folder.

If you don’t see your pictures saved in your External SD then they are going to be saved on your phone. The pictures are most likely going to be on your phone because that is the default storage location on most Samsung phones, but we’ll get to that later in this article.

Locating and copying your media

Alright here is the meat and potatoes, how to backup your pictures and videos to your memory card.

**UPDATE: If you have a Samsung phone running on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, or greater, then How to move pictures and videos to an SD card on a Samsung Android 4.2 smartphone is also a great guide, with pictures, on how to backup files from a Samsung phone to its memory card. If the Android version on your Samsung phone is before the Jelly Bean then feel free to keep reading and enjoy the guide.**

Quick Instructions:

Applications > My Files > DCIM > Camera > Menu key > More > Copy > Select All > Copy > External SD > Paste… Processing… Done.

Detailed Instructions:

1. Select Applications – just like you did when you were checking to see if your information was already saved to the memory card. You’re going to want to go in to the applications in which you see a bunch of icons. It’s usually found on an androids default home page, but can sometimes be moved.
2. Tap My Files – again just like you did in the previous step, and it too might just say “Files” instead of “My Files”.
3. Select DCIM – don’t go into your SD card again, this time you’re looking for the DCIM folder that’s on your phone, not your memory card. So “My Files” then directly to “DCIM”.
4. Tap Camera – Now you should see all the pictures and videos that you have taken.
5. Press the Menu Key – usually the physical key below the phones display. On Samsung phones it’s often the far left key that looks like a partial box with a couple horizontal lines in it. Once you press the menu key some options should pop up.
6. Tap More – this is one of the options that is shown once tapping the menu key. Go ahead and click more.
7. Tap Copy - just select the option that says copy to let your phone know that you want to copy files from this location.
8. Tap Select All – A very important step is making sure that all the photos you want to copy are actually selected. You can go through one at a time and make single selections but if you have a lot of pictures, which many people do, I would just select them all. If you don’t see the “Select All” option then you might have to tap on your menu key again. I have yet to see a Samsung phone that didn’t allow the user to select all in one way shape or form.
9. Hit Copy – once all the media files are selected then tap on copy again, to let the phone know that these are the files you wish to copy. Once you tap on copy the second time the phone should present you with the option to select where you want to actually copy these files to.
10. Select External SD – you might have to scroll down to see the option to select External SD. Once you do select it.
11. Paste – once you have selected your External SD you should have the option to “Paste” or “Paste Here” click that. The phone will then start transferring your media files to your external SD card. It might take a few minutes depending on how many pictures and videos you have on your phone. Note: If you don’t see a Paste option then you might have to click the DCIM folder on the External SD page then hit paste. Maybe even External SD then DCIM then Camera, probably not though it should let you paste directly into External SD.

Check the OS

If the steps mentioned above didn’t look quite right for your phone then you might be on a more recent Operating System like the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as opposed to the 2.3 Gingerbread (as mentioned earlier in the article) and the process of moving media will be a little different. To backup pictures on a Samsung Android 4.0 smartphone try this instead:

Applications > My Files > SD card > DCIM > Camera > Menu > Select All > Copy/Move (I myself prefer the copy option when it’s available) > EXT SD card (going to be selecting the external SD card) > DCIM (there is usually a DCIM folder on the memory card as well as the phone) > Camera > Paste (you might have to create a folder to paste or move your content to, but typically you can paste just your pictures if they were all selected from the Camera folder located on the phone itself).

Double checking your information

Once your information is copied onto your memory card you might want to make sure that everything transferred correctly. It’s fairly easy to do because you’ve already done it. Just go back to “Checking your media” in the beginning of the article, and follow the steps.

Once you have checked your files here is how you can make sure they are saved without a doubt.

Go and tap on the “Unmount SD card” (also mentioned earlier when we were checking to see if you even had a memory card). Once the SD card is unmounted it will often give you a confirmation screen stating SD card safe to remove, or the option would have changed from “Unmount SD card” to “Mount SD card”. In any case, once it’s unmounted go back and check your pictures on the SD card again. You should not be able to see them after unmounting the SD.

What you’re basically doing is tricking your phone into not being able to see the memory card, therefore once its unmounted all your pictures stored on the memory card should vanish. Along with any other files on your memory card for that matter.

AND YOU’RE DONE

You have successfully saved all of your pictures and videos to your memory card. Congratulations now they are nice and safe, should you ever need to reset your phone, or if something unexpected happens to your phone and it malfunctions, or if you just get a new phone and want to transfer your stuff over to it. Just pull the SD card out of the phone and put it into the replacement. The new phone should automatically recognize the files and put them on your new phone.

Setting up the phone for the future

Now that you have your files saved from your phone to your memory card you should setup your phone so that when you take a picture or record a video it saves directly to your memory card. Then you don’t have to worry about transferring the information again, it will just get automatically saved to you SD card, which should make your life a bit easier.

The exact process varies from phone to phone but here is the process on the typical android Smartphone.

Quick Instructions:

Camera > Settings > Storage > Memory Card

Detailed Instructions:

1. Go into Camera – as though you would I you were going to take a picture or record a video.
2. Tap Settings – it’s often an icon that looks like a little gear.
3. Tap Storage – to set the location you want your pictures and videos to save to.
4. Select Memory Card – the phone option is probably the one selected. You don’t want your pictures saved to your phone any more; you want to select SD card or Memory card that way they get saved to it instead.

Then you’re done and you won’t have to worry about your personal media files any more.

Moving other files the same way

The same process we used to backup your pictures can be used to backup other information from the phone onto your memory card. Just copy the file from the phone and paste it onto the memory card. For example if you have a music folder you want to copy over, you can copy and paste it in the same fashion.

Note: you can save contacts to your memory card as well as your SIM card. If you’re doing a full backup on your phone and need to know how to do that as well you can read the article How to Save Contacts on a Samsung Android Phone.

Other Methods of Managing Files

If you want another way to save your files to a memory card you can download an app to help you. The best one I have seen thus far is the ASTRO File Manager application. Just go to the Play Store and do a search for “File Manager” and you can see many free apps to choose from. And free is always in my price range.

Enjoy

I hope you enjoyed the article and the new found knowledge that your information is now safe on your SD card. If you have any questions or comments or suggestions don’t hesitate to leave them down below. I look forward to reading what you have to say, otherwise enjoy.

Tags: Saving Pictures, Memory Card, Instructions, SD Card, Unmount SD Card, Mount SD Card, Samsung, Android, Media Backup, Saving Information, Moving Files, Moving Pictures, Smartphone

difference between windows phone and smartphone

What is the difference between a Windows Phone and a Smartphone?

Are you in the market for a new smartphone? Are you curious to know more about smartphones and Windows mobile phones? Then look no further this guide is exactly what you have been searching for.

If you are shopping for a new smartphone, especially if you are choosing your first smartphone, then you might have many different questions regarding smartphones and how Windows phones play a part in this selection.

You might even be asking yourself… What is a smartphone? What is a Windows phone? Are all smartphones Windows phones? Are all Windows phones smartphones? Listed below are the answers to these questions.

What is a Smartphone?

A smartphone is basically a wireless computer that can make calls and fit in your pocket. Smartphones are slowly replacing their basic predecessors which were usually limited to sending and receiving text messages, making and receiving calls and depending on the phone you may even have the option of playing a few basic games that came pre-installed on the device. A Smartphone can do all of these things and a whole lot more.

A smartphone can access and search the internet, it can connect to email and social networking sites, it can record videos, take pictures, give precise driving directions using a built in GPS, etc. and if you need or want it to do something else in addition to these things most smartphones have access to thousands of free applications which can be downloaded to extend the phones functionality.

What is a Windows Phone?

A Windows phone is a smartphone that utilizes the Windows Phone Operating System and as such its software is developed and maintained by Microsoft. Windows phones are one of the more popular smartphones available in the world today and are one of the top competitors in the smartphone market share.

Are all Smartphones Windows Phones?

Nope. Windows phones are amongst the more popular types of smartphones available today but not every smartphone utilizes the Windows Operating System.

At the moment some of the most popular and successful OS (Operating Systems) in this very competitive market is the Apple OS which is utilized by Apples ever popular iPhone, Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS which can be found on smartphones produced by many different manufacturers and is the primary smartphone platform for smartphones created by Nokia, the Android OS by Google (also available on many different types of manufactures), and the Blackberry OS for Research In Motion (RIM)’s Blackberry smartphones.

Are all Windows Phones Smartphones?

You can probably answer this question by now… are all Windows phones smartphones? The answer is yes! All phones that currently run on the Windows Phone Operating System (formerly Windows Mobile and PocketPC 2000) are considered smartphones.

So if you are in the process of choosing your first smartphone or choosing a smartphone Operating System a smartphone utilizing the Widows Phone Operating System will be among the smartphones available to choose from.

Thanks for reading

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How to Hard Reset an Android Phone

How to Hard Reset an Android Phone

Is your Android Smartphone slow, freezing, not responsive, responding incorrectly, or you can’t remember the phones password? You’re in luck! There is still a pretty powerful option available, and that is to perform a hard reset, also known as an alternate reset, on the device.

Before we begin… If you are still able to access the setting on your device and navigate the phone then you might be more interested in reading How to backup and reset an Android phone, which goes through the process of doing a full backup and then performing a Factory Data Reset through the phones settings.

If you’re having problems accessing your factory data reset options through the settings then you can still perform a factory reset on your Android Smartphone and this article will show you how to do it. This is the perfect solution if you’re having problems with your touch screen, or you can’t navigate correctly on your phone. It’s also an option if you can’t get your device to power on all the way or when your phone won’t power on at all.

If you’re seeking to do a reset on your Android Smartphone then you most likely know how effective a reset can be at solving issues on phones. Through this article I am going to go over multiple ways to perform resets on your phone without actually having to navigate through the touch screen. Your phone doesn’t even need to be on in order to do it in most instances!

Make sure the device is powered off

Most of these hard resets require that your phone is completely powered off, so make sure that your phone is powered off all the way not just locked. If you’re phone isn’t responding and you can’t power off the phone with the power button, then you might need to pull the battery out, count to ten, and then put the battery back in. Just don’t power the phone back on if you have to reinsert the battery. Keep the device powered off.

Also make sure that your phone is not plugged into a charger. If the phone is plugged into a charger or if the device is not fully powered off, the reset is not going to work.

Hard reset methods and procedures may differ

Alternate resets also usually involve performing a series of key combinations which we’ll get to in a minute. The key combination you have to perform will highly depend on the specific make and model of the phone and what version of Android OS (Operating System) is currently running on the device. For example you might be able to perform a reset on a phone one way if it’s running the 2.2 (Froyo) OS, then you upgrade your phone to the 2.3 (Gingerbread) OS and the method no longer works, causing you to use a different method (I have an example of this in method 6 and 7 below). When you upgrade again to the 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS you might have to use a different method and different key combination to perform the same alternate reset. So just beware of this.

You might also need to attempt the reset a couple times for it to go through correctly.

Disclaimer: Remember that a reset is permanent and cannot be undone. It will erase all personal data and downloaded content on the phone, don’t worry it will not affect or erase your memory card or anything saved on your SIM card. This includes content such as pictures, ringtones, texts, apps, etc. and will usually fix software glitches, bugs, viruses, etc as well. Try if at all possible, to perform a backup first. Usually when you need to perform an alternate reset on your mobile phone you might not be able to do a backup.

Preparation for a hard reset on an Android phone

Just a minor side note, on a typical alternate reset so that you know what to expect. You’re going to power the phone off, hold a specific set of key combinations (shown below), access a fastboot/testing/recovery/etc screen, select reset, and then the phone is going to power itself off, all by itself, then it’s going to power itself back on, all by itself. This can take a few minutes, some phones can take up to 15 min to reboot (pretty uncommon though, the average phone probably takes 3-5 min). Once it reboots the phone is going to think its brand new right off the shelf. So go ahead and set it up again like you did when you first got it.

If you own an Android Smartphone manufactured by Pantech then unfortunately you cannot perform an alternative reset on your device. Pantech Smartphones currently do not have a hard reset feature; the only reset available on Pantech phones is through the settings.

Let’s start with the most common Hard Reset methods and go from there:

Note: the different types of methods are numbered, method 1, method 2, method 3, etc.

1. When the phone is powered off, press and hold the Volume Up and the Volume Down keys both at the same time, then press and hold the Power key until a test screen that shows some available options appears, usually takes about 15-20 seconds. When that screen pops up you can let go of the keys.

Press the Volume Down key to navigate down through the options until it highlights FACTORY RESET then press the Power key to select it.

2. Power the phone off all the way, press and hold the Volume Down key and press than release the Power key, still holding the volume down key for about 10-15 seconds. When you see some additional options pop up on the screen you can let go of the keys.

Press the Volume Down key to navigate down through the options until it highlights the reset option; it usually says FACTORY RESET, then press the Power key to make the selection.

3. While powered off, press and hold the Home key, while continuing to hold the home key power the device on by pressing the Power key.

Once the Android Recovery screen appears release the Home key, then while on the Android Recovery screen, press the Volume Up and Volume Down keys both at the same time.

If/when you’re on the Android System Recovery screen release all the keys, and then use the Volume down key to navigate down to the “wipe date/factory reset” option. Once it’s highlighted press the Power key to select it.

Once you see the “Confirm wipe of all user data?” Press the Volume down key to highlight “Yes—delete all user data”, then press the Power key to select it.

4. Power the device off, then press and hold the Home key and press and release the Power key (while still holding the Home key).

From the Android Recovery screen, press the Search key.

Tap to select wipe data/factory reset then select Ok (located in the lower left of the screen). Note: if screen is not responsive use the Volume keys to scroll and the Camera key to select.

Select Yes – delete all user data, and then select OK (again lower left).

Select “reboot system now” and press OK.

5. This is becoming a common hard reset method and can be used to factory reset Samsung’s more recent Galaxy smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S III, the Samsung Galaxy S4, the S5, the Samsung Galaxy Note the Note II and Note 3, etc.

With the device powered off press and hold the Volume Up key the Home key and the Power key all at the same time.

When the phone vibrates (or you see the GALAXY Logo) release the Power key but continue to hold the Volume Up and Home key.

Continue holding the Volume up and Home key until the “Android system recovery” screen appears.

Use the Volume buttons to scroll to and highlight the “wipe data/factory reset” option, and then use the Power key to make the selection.

Once the factory reset is finished you may use the Volume and Power keys to highlight and select the “Reboot system now” option and the hard reset will be complete and your cell phone will be nice and squeaky clean.

6. Here is an alternate reset for a Motorola Atrix still running on the 2.2 Android OS…

While the phones power is off, press and hold the Volume down button and press and release the power button (note: if it doesn’t work after all the steps listed try holding down the power button along with the volume down button in this first step).

A "Fastboot" screen should pop up, press the Volume down key to cycle through the choices until you get to "Android Recovery", then press the Volume up key.

Wait for the "triangle!/Android". Once it pops up you’ll need to tap on the bottom right corner of the screen (note: it may take a few attempts). A menu should pop up.

Tap on "wipe data/factory reset", and then tap OK. Another confirmation screen will appear. Tap Yes and then OK.

After the data is cleared the "reboot system now" option should appear and is highlighted by Default. Tap OK.

Note: this type of reset is common on the 2.2 (Froyo) before the tech geeks wised up and removed the need to use the touch screen.

7. This reset is for the same phone, the Motorola Atrix, but one that’s running on the 2.3 OS.

Power off the phone, press and hold the Volume down button and Power button simultaneously while powering on the unit.

The "Fastboot" screen should pop up. When it does press the Volume down key to cycle through the choices until you get to "Android Recovery", and then press the Volume up key to boot in this mode.

Wait for the "triangle!/Android" screen to pop up. Once it does press both the Volume up and Volume down keys simultaneously. A Recovery Menu should pop up.

Tap on the Volume down key until "wipe data/factory reset" is highlighted, and then tap the Power button. Another Confirmation screen will come up. Tap on the Volume down key until it highlights “Yes” and then tap the Power button to make the selection.

After it’s done make sure "reboot system now" is highlighted and then tap the Power button.

In this method you don’t have to use the touch screen any more. So let’s say your touch screen isn’t responding therefore you can’t navigate the phone or go into your settings and do a regular factory data reset. Well now on the 2.3 there is hope. Just power off the phone and perform these steps and the reset should go through.

8. Here is a hard reset for a Sharp Android Smartphone.

While the device is off, hold the Sym button (it’s located on the keyboard) and the Power button simultaneously.

Once the Android boot screen appears highlight the Wipe data/factory reset option by using the volume buttons. Then use the Return key (on the keyboard) to actually make the selection.

Scroll down to Yes - delete all user data and then press the Power key to confirm.

Once it is done select reboot system now and press the Power key to confirm and reboot your handset.

Important Note: On some Sharp models (such as the Sharp FX Plus ADS1) if holding the Sym button and Power key simultaneously doesn’t take you directly to the Android system recovery screen you might have to do one additional step. If using this hard reset key combination takes you to a screen which shows an exclamation mark within a triangle, then press the Home key (while on that exclamation mark screen) and this should take you to your Sharps Android system recovery options.

9. Here is a common method used to hard reset an LG Android smartphone. So if you need to hard reset an LG Optimus this is the hard reset key combination to try first.

After the LG phone has been powered off, press and hold the Volume Down button. While holding the Volume Down button, press and hold the Home button. While holding both the Volume Down button and Home button, press and hold the Power button.

Continue holding these three keys down simultaneously until the LG logo appears.

Once the LG Logo appears release all of the keys. This will complete the reset on many LG phones; you will be given the option to “Select your language” and can proceed with setting up your device as if you were setting up the phone for the first time.

If however, you are taken to a fastboot screen or a screen with additional options then use the Volume Down key to scroll to and highlight the wipe data/factory reset option and then press the Menu key to make the selection.

The phone might give you a confirmation screen in which you can use the Volume Down key to scroll to and highlight Yes -- delete all user data and then press the Menu key to make the selection.

If you get an option to reboot system now then select that option with the Menu key. The phone will reboot, which can take a couple of minutes, and the hard reset will be complete.

10. A less common method to hard reset an Android smartphone, but the following key combination can be used to reset some cell phones including the Samsung Gio (GT-S5660).

Power the phone off, by using the power button or by removing and then reinserting the battery (when possible).

While the phone is off press and hold the Home button and the Power key at the same time (the Home key is typically the big button on the bottom center of the phone under the display/touch screen).

When the phone starts to power on and you see the phones logo you can release the power button but keep pressing the Home button until the Android system recover screen appears. Once it pops up you can release the Key(s).

Use the Volume keys to highlight the “wipe data/factory reset” option, and then use the Home key to make the selection. Scroll down using the Volume keys again until the “Yes—delete all user data” option is highlighted and then press the Home key to select that as well.

The system recover screen should pop back up and when it does make sure that “reboot system now” is highlighted and press the Home key to make the selection. The phone will restart and the hard reset will be done.

11. Another uncommon hard reset technique but similar to the one used in method #2. This process can be used to hard reset T-mobiles Prism and Prism II as well as AT&Ts Huawei Fusion (U8652).

Turn off the phone and then press and hold the Volume Up key and Power key simultaneously until the Android system recover screen appears.

Use the Volume Down key to highlight the “wipe data/factory reset” option and then use the Power button to make the selection.

Use the Volume Down key to highlight “Yes -- delete all user data” and use the power key to proceed with the reset.

Once the reset is complete the phone may return to the Android system recover screen. If it does then use the Volume Down button to highlight “reboot system now” and press the Power key to confirm the action.

The phone will restart and the hard reset will be complete.

Now you know how to hard reset an Android Smartphone and the next time your touch screen stops responding, your phone freezes, your phones power cycling, you forget your password, or pretty much any reason you wouldn’t be able to perform a reset through the settings, you’ll be set.

If I have forgotten any key combos that you know of, leave the method in the comments below so that I can add it to the list. Don’t forget to check out some of our many other popular posts and don’t forget to power your phone off every couple of days and watch what applications you choose to download onto your device that way you can keep your phone healthy and efficient. Hope you enjoyed the article, have a fantastic day, and enjoy your phone.

Tags: Hard Reset, Alternate Reset, Master Clear, Master Reset, Fix, Instructions, Navigation Issues, Factory Data Reset, Wipe Data, Fastboot, Android Recovery, Buttons, Android, Smartphone, Phone, Mobile Phone, Pantech, Samsung, LG, HTC

How To Unblock Websites in Quick Time

How To Unblock Blocked Websites in Quick Time

Learn how to unblock websites in quick time with just a few simple steps. Here is a complete guide to unblock and access any website.

Some of your favorite websites may be blocked by your school or company for reasons such as saving the bandwidth or improving productivity during work hours. Sometimes a government or ISP may suddenly block websites to impose Internet censorship resulting in real pain and inconvenience for the users. If you are an individual facing such inconvenience and want to unblock websites to bypass restrictions this article can help you out.

Ways to Unblock Websites

There exists several ways to unblock websites where some are easy and some are difficult to implement. Also, there are many obsolete methods that will not work in the present day scenario. Therefore, I am presenting only those methods that I have tested and found to be working as listed below:

1. Using a VPN Proxy – The Best Way

Using a VPN proxy is one of the easiest and best method to unblock any website in quick time. It is fast, secure and extremely reliable during all times of usage. Since it acts as an intermediary between your computer and the websites you browse your real identity such as location and IP address remain obscured to the outside world. Some of the popular VPN proxies are listed below:

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1. Hide My Ass VPN – Hide My Ass is one of the most popular VPN service for unblocking any website with ease.

Download Hide My Ass VPN

2. VyprVPN – VyprVPN offers the world’s fastest VPN services backed by 30-day money back guarantee.

Download VyprVPN

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How VPN Work?

VPN proxies will hide your IP address by replacing it with a new IP that is tied to a different physical location from where the restricted website is available. In other words, if a website you are trying to access is not available from your network or country, a VPN proxy will assign you an IP from a different country thereby unblocking the website for you.

You can select your origin to be from any country of your choice so that you can easily bypass restrictive censorship and unblock websites with ease.

2. Using Web Based Proxies

Web based proxies can be handy for users looking for a simple and free solution to unblock websites. As most of these are available for free you need not pay for them to use. However, this advantage comes with a catch: many of these free services are slow, user privacy and security is questionable and users do not have a wide range of choice to select their desired IP location.

The following are some of the web based proxy sites that you can try:

• Anonymouse
• EnglandProxy
• FilterBypass
• NewIPNow

3. Using a Translator Service

Translator services such as Google Translator and Microsoft Translator can help you unblock your desired websites. These services act similar to proxy sites wherein they fetch the target site from within their own sites and display them on your screen.

In our case Microsoft Translator is more easy to use and suitable for unblocking websites. All you need to do is just visit the Microsoft Translator and type in the URL of the target site you want to unblock in the left text box. Select ‘English’ as your target language and click on Translate. This should unblock the restricted website and load it from within the Microsoft Translator’s website.

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How To Bypass Right Click Block on Any Website

How To Bypass Right Click Block on Any Website

You might remember an experience where you tried to right-click on a web page but got a pop-up message saying that the “right-click functionality has been disabled”. Sometimes you may be trying to copy an image or view the source of a web page but when the right-click is disabled, these things would seem impossible. Bank websites and other sites that require a secure transaction such as a payment gateway are the ones to impose this kind of limited functionality on their pages. In this post, I will show you the ways by which you can easily bypass right-click block feature on any website.

In order to block the right-click activity, most websites make use of JavaScript which is one of the popular scripting languages used to enhance functionality, improve user experience and provide rich interactive features. In addition to this, it can also be used to strengthen the website’s security by adding some of the simple security features such as disabling right-click, protecting images, hiding or masking parts of a web page and so on.

How JavaScript Works?

Before you proceed to the next part which tells you how to disable the JavaScript functionality and bypass any of the restrictions imposed by it, it would be worthwhile for you to take up a minute to understand how JavaScript works.

JavaScript is a client side scripting language (in most cases), which means when loaded it runs from your own web browser. Most modern browsers including IE, Firefox, Chrome and others support JavaScript so that they can interpret the code and carry out actions that are defined in the script. In other words, it is your browser which is acting upon the instruction of JavaScript to carry out the defined actions such as blocking the right-click activity. So, disabling the JavaScript support on your browser can be a simple solution to bypass all the restrictions imposed by the website.

How to Disable the JavaScript?

Here is a step-by-step procedure to disable JavaScript on different browsers:

For Internet Explorer:

If you are using IE, just follow the steps below:

1. From the menu bar, go to Tools -> Internet Options.
2. In the “Internet Options” window, switch to Security tab and click on the button Custom level…
3. From the Security Settings, look for the option Active scripting and select the Disable radio button as shown above and click on “OK”.
4. You may even select the Prompt radio button, so that each time a page is loaded, you will have the option to either enable or disable the scripting.

For Google Chrome:

If you are using Chrome, you can disable the JavaScript by following the steps below:

1. Click on the Chrome “menu” button (on the top right corner) and select Tools.
2. From the “Settings” page, click on Show advanced settings…
3. Now under Privacy, click on the button Content settings…
4. Under the JavaScript, select the radio button which says “Do not allow any site to run JavaScript” and click on “Done”.

For Mozilla Firefox:

Steps to disable JavaScript on Firefox:

1. From the menu bar, click on Tools -> Options.
2. From the Options window, switch to Content tab, uncheck the option which says “Enable JavaScript” and click on “OK”.

How to Bypass the Right Click Block?

In order to bypass the right-click block or any other restriction imposed by JavaScript, all you need to do is just disable it in the browser and refresh the same page, so that it now reloads without JavaScript functionality. You are now free to right-click on the page, view its source or even copy any of the images that you may want to. Don’t forget to re-enable the JavaScript once again when your job is over. Otherwise lack of JavaScript support may result in unusual rendering of web pages.

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