LG G3 review: The perfect flagship phone for early adopters
The Good
The
LG G3 has a great camera, a brilliantly sharp display, a snappy
quad-core processor, and a flat UI that makes Android 4.4 look good.
LG's flagship has also improved on the previous model -- the new G3
comes with a removable battery and microSD card slot, both things the G2
lacked.
The Bad
The new
QHD display with its 2,560x1,440-pixel resolution is quite a power-hog,
so the phone will barely last you a day without a charge.
The Bottom Line
Possessing
the right blend of features and design, the G3 finally gives LG the
right phone with which to challenge Korean rival Samsung.
If you need access to programming tools on your Mac, there are several ways to go about installing them.
Part
of OS X is its powerful command-line interface, where a competent or
even novice programmer can make use of a number of tools for configuring
and customizing the system, and make programs and scripts
While OS X ships with a number of common commands, by default Apple
does not include those that are used for checking out, compiling, and
otherwise managing code for developing applications.
If you need these tools for some reason, then there are three ways you can get them on your Mac.
The first is to install Apple's XCode developer suite, which is
available via the Mac App Store for free. However, installing this will
also include XCode itself, and despite its benefits, some people may not
wish to have the entire Xcode suite installed on a system. The command line tools are available as standalone installer packages from the Apple Developer Web site.
Screenshot by Topher Kessler/CNET
The
next option is to download the latest command line tools from Apple's
developer page. To do this, you simply need to log into the downloads section of the Apple developer site using an Apple ID. Here you can search for "Command Line Tools" to view all versions of the tools from Lion through Mavericks. These can then be downloaded as .dmg disk images and mounted, and you can then run the enclosed installer.
The last option is perhaps the easiest, which is to use the system's
ability to install the command line tools on demand. This is done by an
application in the Macintosh HD > System > Library >
CoreServices folder called "Install Command Line Developer Tools."
However, this program cannot be launched independently. To run, this
program must be invoked by a service or application that calls for the
use of the developer tools.
Install command line developer tools in OS X
In
most cases, standard developer commands like "make," "gcc," "cc,"
"svn," "git" or Apple-specific tools like "xcode-select" or "xcodebuild"
or "xcrun" will require these tools, so running these in some form will
spur the system to launch the "Install Command Line Developer Tools"
program.
Therefore, to install these tools, simply open the Terminal, type
"make" or any desired common developer command, and press Enter, and
then when prompted you can install the developer tools (an approximate
100MB download from Apple), and be up and running.
When installed, the developer tools will be placed in the Macintosh
HD > Library > Developer directory, which you can peruse to see
what exactly has been installed. To uninstall these tools, simply remove
the "Developer" folder from the Macintosh HD > Library directory.
If
you need to boot to a secondary hard drive on your Mac, you can do so
using several different means. For most PC systems, you will need to
press F12, or another F-key, or perhaps the Escape or Delete keys when
booting your system in order to select an alternative boot drive. To do
this on a Apple computers, you use the Option key; however, there may be
some constraints.
Generally you can start up or reboot your Mac,
and simply hold the Option key once the screen goes black so that when
it reboots it will show you the boot menu. However, if you do this with a
wireless keyboard you may not see the menu and instead the system boot
normally. This is because holding down the key before the Bluetooth
keyboard on your Mac initializes will prevent it from recognizing the
key as pressed. Bluetooth controllers are initialized once the boot
chimes sound; to ensure your Mac goes to the boot menu, press and hold
the Option key immediately after hearing the boot chimes, not before.
This same approach goes for other boot modes as well (Safe Mode, Single
User mode, Verbose mode, etc.).
When you have invoked the boot menu properly, a gray screen will
display that shows available boot volumes. For systems running OS X 10.7
or later, you should see the default Macintosh HD partition, along with
a Recovery HD volume; for systems running 10.6 or earlier, you should
see only the main boot volume, unless you have multiple valid operating
systems installed.
At this point, you can attach external hard drives, flash drives, or
optical disks that contain valid operating systems, and when recognized
they should appear alongside the current boot options.
You can then boot to the desired disk by selecting it with your mouse
and clicking the arrow button, or by using the arrow keys to navigate
the menu, pressing Enter to select the desired volume.
Any Mac that shipped with an optical drive can boot to a disc in that
drive by holding the "C" key at startup. While most recent Macs
supporting this feature have shipped with DVDdrives, the C stands for
CD-ROM, as it was implemented when Macs came with only CD drives. For
those without optical drives, you can use an external USB DVD drive to
insert a boot DVD and have it appear on the standard boot menu for
access.
For systems configured with OS X 10.7, 10.8, or 10.9, you can boot
directly to the recovery drive by holding Command-R. Additionally, most
systems shipped after 2010 support Internet Recovery, which can be
invoked by holding Option-Command-R. Keep in mind an Internet connection
will be required for this recovery, which will download an
approximately 650MB image file from Apple.
Note that selecting an alternative boot disk from the default one
using this method will only be set for the current boot session.
Restarting the system will revert back to the default boot disk. To
change this, you will need to use the Startup Disk settings that are
available either in System Preferences, in Apple's Boot Camp drivers for
Windows, or in the Recovery partition
Consumers are one tiny step closer to being able to take their phones to another carrier when they switch service providers.
Members
of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously voted to
approve a bill that will make it easier for consumers to unlock their
cell phones. Once unlocked, wireless subscribers can then take those
phones to a different wireless operator.
This bill, along with a bill passed by the House of Representatives in February,
would repeal a 2012 decision by the Library of Congress that made cell
phone unlocking a violation of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright
Act. The DMCA, which prohibits Americans from "circumventing"
technologies that protect copyrighted works, gives the Library of
Congress the authority to grant exemptions. Last year, the Library of
Congress opted not to renew the DMCA exemption for cell phone unlocking,
which it had granted in 2006 and 2010.
The change caused a stir in the wireless community, and an online petition garnered some 114,322 signatures and won approval of President Obama.
"With
today's strong bipartisan vote in the Judiciary Committee, I hope the
full Senate can soon take up this important legislation that supports
consumer rights," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee chairman,
said in a statement.
Unlocking a cell phone is important for consumers who travel abroad
and for those who want to take their devices to other carriers. The
reason why is that most devices sold in the US through wireless
operators have a software lock on them which prohibits them from being
used on another operator's network. The ban on unlocking put a roadblock
in the way for consumers who wanted to use their devices on other
networks.
That said, wireless operators have always unlocked
devices upon request, although in recent years they have gotten more
stringent regarding their requirements. Now most wireless operators
require customers to own their devices outright before they are able to
request an unlock code.
This requirement hasn't gone away in
either bill. Wireless operators are only required to unlock devices that
are fully paid for. In other words, if you are still under contract
with your carrier and you bought a device at a subsidized price, your
wireless operator doesn't have to unlock your phone. And in many
instances, the carrier won't.
The Senate bill that has moved out
of committee is similar to the House bill that passed earlier in the
year. But it has one key difference. The House bill only applies to
individuals looking to unlock a single device. It specifically prohibits
companies from unlocking cell phones in bulk. This is important because
there are many companies that resell cell phones or unlock devices for
consumers that would be protected under the Senate version of the bill.
Consumer
activists said they are pleased that Congress is responding to the
public outcry regarding this issue. And they are happy that the Senate
bill offers more flexibility in unlocking, so that consumers can get
help from third-party "unlocking" sites.
"This is critical for
those who need technical assistance to unlock their device," Laura Moy,
staff attorney for Public Knowledge, said in a statement. "We are also
pleased that a recent amendment to the bill removed language about bulk
unlocking, which -- like individual unlocking -- has nothing to do with
copyright law."
The wireless industry supports both bills. And in December, the Federal Communications Commission reached an agreement with the top five wireless operators in the US regarding unlocking. A new law would ensure that this right is protected.
Even
though operators have agreed to unlock devices and Congress is working
to ensure that right becomes law, other technical roadblocks will keep
most consumers from truly being able to take their devices with them
when they switch carriers.
The reason why is that not all US
wireless operators use the same network technologies or the same radio
frequencies to offer their service. For instance, AT&T and T-Mobile
have built their networks on a technology called GSM. Phones designed
for these networks are the most flexible, because GSM is the same
technology that is used throughout the world. And wireless users can
switch carriers on unlocked GSM devices simply by swapping out a SIM
card.
It's not as simple for wireless customers on Verizon or
Sprint, which use a technology called CDMA for their basic voice
service. This technology does not use a SIM card, so even if the device
is unlocked, a Verizon customer can't slip in a Sprint SIM card and get
voice service on Sprint. The device must still be "provisioned" on the
new carrier.
In a few years, the landscape will hopefully change
as more operators move to the next generation of network technology: 4G
LTE. But even then, the transition may not be completely seamless and
devices made for different carriers may not be interchangeable.
There
are two reasons for this. First, even though all four major US wireless
operators are deploying 4G LTE, the technology is mostly used for data
services. Voice service on these networks still uses the older GSM or
CDMA technology. And second, even though these carriers are all
deploying the same 4G LTE network technology, they're using different
radio frequencies to deploy the service. Until the carriers overlap more
in terms of the spectrum they are using to build the service, we are
still likely to have incompatible devices among carriers.
Wireless
operators are beginning to deploy voice over LTE services, and some are
deploying LTE on the same spectrum bands, which means the future looks
bright for true device interoperability.
And someday if companies
don't put any software locks on devices, then we'll truly be able to
take any mobile device to any wireless carrier. But that's a long way
off. For now, consumers will have to be satisfied with this initial baby
step.
today, I wrote about Memory Diag, a Mac app that helps you optimize system memory to help you through periods of sluggish behavior. Memory Clean
is another such free app that takes a slightly different approach to
monitoring memory resources. If you could combine the two, you might
have the perfect memory optimizer for OS X. But because the technology
does not exist to combine these two apps, let's take a look at how
Memory Clean goes about its business and how it differs from Memory
Diag.
Memory Clean
Like
Memory Diag, Memory Clean installs an icon in the menu bar. By default,
the icon features a small dial graphic showing the amount of free
memory your Mac currently has at its disposal. In preferences, you can
hide the dial graphic while keeping the dynamic free memory figure. You
can also change the number to display as a percentage, and you can add
Memory Clean to the Dock and have it start when you log in.
Advanced
preferences let you set a threshold level for when your free memory
goes into the red. That is, at what point you'd like Memory Clean's
number in the menu bar to turn red to alert you that you are running low
on memory resources. There is also a box to check to have the app
autoclean your Mac's memory when it falls below that threshold.
Memory Clean
I
don't have any scientific or anecdotal evidence to support the
following advice, but I would counsel you against enabling Auto Clean.
Like Memory Diag, Memory Clean is most effective after you close an
intensive app because it cleans up the caches that the application left
littered across your Mac that can fragment your memory and slow down
performance. I would get in the habit of running Memory Clean in such
instances rather than having it automatically kick in when memory
resources are running low and your system is feeling sluggish. When
Memory Clean cleans your memory, your already slow system will proceed
to get even slower. Better to quit any demanding apps to bring your
system back up to something resembling full speed before running Memory
Clean to optimize performance further.
To run Memory Clean, click
its icon in the menu bar. A window will appear to show dynamic figures
of your Mac's current active, wired, inactive, and free memory. Click
the Clean Memory button to initiate a scan to free up more memory. The
scan takes between 15 and 30 seconds to run, in my experience.
Alternatively, you can right-click the menu bar icon to access via a
small pull-down menu the same stats and clean-memory command, along with
the app's preferences. Memory Clean While
both Memory Clean and Memory Diag perform the same service, each boasts
a useful feature the other lacks. Memory Clean keeps me better
informed. It shows me the exact number of MBs of memory I have free at
any given time, turning red to give me a clear warning when memory
resources are scarce. Whereas Memory Diag does a superior job of
diagnosing which apps are memory hogs. It lists the offending app(s) so I
can easily eradicate any problems.
Google Play Edition smartphones
are great but they are limited to certain models and typically sold in
the US. However, you can make your own by installing the Nexus 5Android 4.4 KitKat launcher so here's how to do it. Read: The 28 best smartphones: The best phone you can buy in 2014.
Either you want to make your own Google Play Edition smartphone or
you don't particularly like the software provided on your handset.
Whatever your reasons, you can get the vanilla Android experience
offered on the Nexus 5 by following our guide. For this article we've
used the Huawei Ascend P7 so certain screens may look different on your phone.
How to install the Nexus 5 Android 4.4 KitKat launcher
Step One
In order to install the Nexus 5 launcher, you'll need to tweak a
setting on your phone. In the Security section of the settings menu,
tick the box which says 'Unknown sources'. This allows the installation
of apps not from the Google Play store.
Step Two
Before you download and install the Nexus 5 launcher, check you have
the latest version of Google Search via the Play store. If there's an
available update, download and install it. Step Three
Now you're ready to download the Nexus 5 launcher so head to http://j.mp/1btMZku on your smartphone and select ok on the warning.
Step Four
Once the apk (application package file) has downloaded open/run it by
clicking on the download notification in the drop down bar. Select
'Install' to, er, install the Nexus 5 launcher.
Step Five
You've now got the Nexus 5 launcher and, in a way, your own Google
Play Edition smartphone. Hit the home button and select the Google
launch from the list and click 'always'. Click through the welcome
screens showing you the new interface and you're done.
If you don't like the Nexus 5 launcher, for whatever reason, you can get things back to normal by performing a factory reset.
Google has released a beta version of Android L, the as-yet unnamed next release of the mobile operating system. Anyone can install this on their Nexus 5 or Nexus 7, but it’s unwise to do so if it’s your main smartphone or tablet.
As Google states, “The Android preview system image is not a stable
release, and may contain errors and defects that can result in damage to
your computer systems, devices, and data. The preview Android system
image is not subject to the same testing as the factory OS and can cause
your phone and installed services and applications to stop working.”
So, you have been warned, but the good news is that you can uninstall
the Android L preview and revert to factory settings. Just make sure
you have backed up everything that you can’t afford to lose before you
install Android L, since the process will wipe your device.
We’ll explain step by step how to install the preview on a Nexus 5,
using Windows 7 or 8, and also how to go back to the original software
that your device shipped with.
How to install Android L
Step 1. Download the minimal 2MB installer from this XDA thread this XDA thread which includes the Android ADB and fastboot tools.
You need these to install the Android L image, and this is the
quickest and easiest way to install the tools without downloading the
entire Android SDK, which is huge and contains stuff you don’t need to
get Android L.
Follow the instructions (don’t change the installation path when
asked where to install it) and you should end up with a command prompt
window:
Step 2. Download the appropriate file for your device:
You will also need a utility such as 7-zip which
can extract the files from the .tgz archive. In fact, you’ll need to
unzip the files twice, as there’s a .tar file inside the .tgz file.
Extract the files to the same folder as the Minimal ADB and Fastboot,
which is c:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot.
Once extracted you should have a list of files as per the image below.
Step 3. Head to Settings, and scroll down to About
phone at the bottom. Scroll down to Build number and tap it 7 times.
This unhides the developer options, which aren’t displayed in Android
4.2 and later. In the Developer options menu, enable USB debugging.
Step 4. Download the Google USB driver from here here and extract the zip file somewhere. Step 5. With your Nexus connected via USB and
powered on, go to the Control Panel and click Devices and Printers. You
should see your device in the list. On our Windows 8 machine, it was
listed as ‘MTP’ under Multimedia devices. Right-click on it, and choose
properties. Click on the Hardware tab, then select the Nexus 5 in the
list, and click Properties. Now update the driver, pointing Windows to
the folder where you extracted the Google USB driver. Once done, it
should report the device as Android Composite ADB interface. Plus, you
should get a prompt on your device’s screen asking “Allow USB
debugging?”. Tick Always allow from this computer and tap OK.
Step 6. Now, Power off your device, and leave it
connected to your computer’s USB port. Now start it using the
appropriate key combination to put it in “fastboot” mode.
For the Nexus 5, that’s by holding down the volume up, volume down
and power buttons simultaneously. You should see a screen like the one
below
Alternatively, you can leave your device on and type adb reboot-bootloader to restart in fastboot mode.
Step 7. If the LOCK STATE says locked (which it should) then type
‘fastboot oem unlock’ at the command prompt, without the quotes, and
press Enter. You’ll see a screen like the one below. To change from no
to yes, use the volume rocker, and to select the option, press the power
button.
This WILL erase your device, so make sure you’ve backed everything up first.
Step 8. With the bootloader unlocked, you can now install the Android L firmware. Simply type
flash-all
and the process will begin. You will see alternating downloading… writing…. erasing… on your device’s screen.
Step 9. When the process finished, you should lock
the bootloader again for security. Start the device in fastboot mode (as
in Step 6), and then type fastboot oem lock
Locking the bootloader won’t wipe any data, but if you unlock it again, it will erase the device of all user data and settings.
How to uninstall Android L and return to factory settings
Reverting to the version of Android you had before installing Android
L is pretty much the same process as you’ve just completed.
Step 10. First, download the correct version of Android KitKat for your device from Google's images page
You can choose which version of KitKat you want.
Step 11. Then, extract it as in Step 2 above. You’ll
need to delete the Android L files from the c:\Program Files
(x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot folder before copying the extracted files
there. These are the files to remove (in case you forgot which were
which). Step 12. Repeat step 6 to 8, and you'll have a box fresh Nexus 5 (or 7).
If
someone you know uses his or her Mac regularly, then you can tackle the
system with a quick change that might give you a chuckle or two this
April Fools' day. Simply take a screenshot of the display, and then set
it to be a full-screen image in Apple's Preview program.
Granted this
trick is nothing new, but can easily be done in OS X, in the event you
need to jump in, perform the prank, and jump out without being detected:
Take a full-screen screenshot First, press Shift-Control-Command-3 to save a screenshot of the display to the clipboard.
Make a new image in Preview
Open the Preview application (Press Command-Space and search for it in
Spotlight), and then press Command-N to make a new image.
Set the image to be full-screen Press Control-Command-F to toggle full-screen mode on the current image (the screenshot).
With
this setup, the display will look the way they left it, but nothing on
screen can be clicked or moved. Instead, the mouse cursor will turn into
a crosshair and click-dragging will create a selection box. Of course,
the person will find out the issue when they try to access menus and the
real menu bar drops down from the top of the display, but until then it
may be fun to see the confusion ensue.
If
you have a used Mac, or a newer one, or one that you have serviced to
upgrade its RAM, then it is highly recommended to test the system's RAM
before relying on it for day-to-day activities.
RAM is the active
work-desk that the OS and applications use for running, and if there is a
problem with RAM, then problems stemming from crashes and freezes to
data corruption can occur.
This is similar to having a gaping hole
on your desk, where things you use like pens, rulers (that is,
applications), can fall through and be lost. Alternatively, if you are
writing or drawing and have that same hole under your paper, then when
you get to the irregular surface, you can puncture the paper or
otherwise frustrate your workflow, like data corruption.
To test your Mac's
memory, you can use a number of tools, like the Terminal-based Memtest
suite, or the OS X GUI wrapper for it called Rember. However, these run
within OS X, and having the OS loaded in the background restricts the
memory the OS is using from being tested by these programs. Therefore,
to minimize the amount of RAM used while testing, boot to the Apple Hardware Test suite, and run the memory tests from there.
To
launch the hardware tests, boot your Mac with Option-D held down
immediately after you hear the boot chimes, and the tests will download
from Apple's servers.
If you have a relatively new Mac, then these
tests will run automatically when invoked; however, if not, then you
will have to click the Test button -- but be sure to check the box for
an extended memory test. It may take a few hours to complete the
extended test, but when finished the system will report any errors it
has detected with your RAM.
If you see any errors, then be sure to
address them by replacing your RAM. Often, manufacturers will provide
lifetime warranties for their RAM, so before purchasing new RAM, contact
the manufacturer for its warranty policy.
Today, Apple announced OS X Yosemite
and a healthy list of new features set to make a debut in the upcoming
release. But what Apple didn't say was that a lot of the features are
actually available in OS X right now, just not through Apple's own apps.
That means you'll need to use a third-party app to gain some of the
same functionality.
Case in point, you can already place and receive phone calls on your Mac. And instead of restricting you to only your iPhone, you can also hook up an Android device to place and receive calls through you computer.
The app you'll need to perform such black magic is called Connect.
After
buying Connect, which will set you back $1.99, you will then need to
follow the instructions to pair your device to your Mac.
The app
will live in your Mac's menu bar along the top of your screen. When you
need to place a call, click on the app icon, and then dial the number,
look up your contacts, or direct Siri to place the call for you.
The call itself is broadcast through your Mac's speakers, using the microphone equipped on your Mac.
I
tried connecting an Android device to the app, but didn't have any
luck. With the iPhone connected, though, I was able to place and receive
calls. There was a bit of a delay on my end, but otherwise the app
worked just as advertised.
Tags: Computers, Software, Phones, Mobile, OS X Mountain Lion, OS X Mavericks
Accessing a hidden folder from within an application may be tricky, but can be overcome using a simple Finder trick.
How to save to hidden directories in OS X
While in standard uses there may be little reason to save files to a
hidden directory in OS X, there are sometimes cases when you might want
to do this. The operating system contains numerous hidden directories,
such as the Library folder in your user account, a number of system
folders that contain configuration files and programs, as well as the
ability to manually hide specific folders on your system which, for fun
or otherwise, can be used to keep items relatively hidden.
If you would like to access a hidden folder on your system, you might
find that accessing them can be a bit of a burden. One approach is to
regularly unhide the folders, either by changing their finder flags or
by setting the Finder itself to show hidden directories.
Another approach is to open a program under the root account, since
this account has full access to the entire file system, and should
therefore be able to access any directory. This can be done by opening
Terminal and targeting the desired application's executable using the
"sudo" command, such as the following for TextEdit:
While this might seem logical, unfortunately it will be met with the
same restrictions and you will still not be able to see a hidden folder
in the Finder. This approach is good for editing files that can only be
accessed by root, but will not overcome the inability to see a hidden
folder.
If you would instead like to keep files hidden in the Finder but
still access them in a program you are using (be it run under your
account or under root), then you can use a technique in the Finder to
access it.
Simply choose Go To Folder from the Finder's Go menu, and then enter
the path to the hidden directory in the field (note that this field
supports tab-completion of file and folder names). Then press Enter to
open the folder, which will show in the Finder slightly grayed out. You
can drag this folder to the Open or Save dialogue box in any
application, which will point that application to the contents of this
folder.
From here you can open or save files, and the program will treat the folder as any other you can save files to.
Note that some applications, such as BareBones' TextWrangler, which
are built for viewing and editing hidden directory contents, may have
options in their Open and Save dialogue boxes that allow you to reveal
hidden items. In this cases, these options will be far easier to use.
How to save to hidden directories in OS X
tags: How to save to hidden directories in OS X, ios x, computers, mac, ios
Disk images in OS X are one mode of packaging files for distribution or
storage on external media, and, since they mimic the behaviors of
optical discs like DVDs, they are commonly used by developers to
distribute downloadable installers for their applications.
While
convenient for file distribution, you can also use disk images as
containers to store various files on your system, or on a local network
server, especially if you use their encryption routines to secure them with a password. By doing this, the image contents will only be accessible by you.
Disk Images can be created in Disk Utility,
by clicking the "New Image" button in the Disk Utility toolbar. When
this is done, you can set the image size and optional encryption
options.
When done, the image will create and mount, allowing you
to copy files to it; however, you might notice that by default the image
size is the same as it was when you created it, so if you created an
image that was 1GB in size, then the image file would be 1GB. After
setting the size (arrow), set the image type to "sparse" or
"sparsebundle" with "no partition map," or set the image type to
"compressed."While
this might seem logical, it may not be desired. You may have wanted the
image to contain up to 1GB of data, but not always be 1GB on disk and
instead start smaller and only grow with the size of items you place in
it.Luckily this can be done, using one of two methods:
Sparse or sparsebundle image with no partition scheme
Apple's "sparse" and "sparsebundle" image types are dynamically
resizable images, and if you create one without a partition scheme then
they will start at the size of the files you place in them, and grow as
you add more files, up to the maximum size you set when creating the
image. Simply select either "sparse" or "sparsebundle" from the "Image
Format" menu when creating the image, and then choose "No Partition Map"
from the "Partitions" menu.
Use compressed disk images
Instead of choosing "sparse" or "sparsebundle" for the image type,
choose one of the compressed options. This will not only make the image
size grow with its contents, but could also potentially make it smaller
than the contents you store on it, as they will be compressed. Keep in
mind that compression is dependent on the type of file being compressed,
so if you have a bunch of zip files or mpeg4 movies that are already
highly compressed, then you might not see much benefit; however, if you
have only text files, then you may see these become highly compressed.
Tags: How to create a dynamically resizable disk image in OS X, computer, Computers, Operating Systems, Encryption
Take advantage of your router's USB port with a little trick that lets you share a hard drive with anyone on your Wi-Fi network.
Cloud storage is expensive, but it's not the only way to share a
bunch of files across many devices. Instead, you can use an external
hard drive and your router to create networked storage accessible to
anyone on your Wi-Fi network.
When it's set up, any files stored on that drive can be accessed by all devices on your network -- even phones and tablets. Here's how to set it up on Windows.
Step 1: Choose your drive
The
drive you share can be as small as thumb drive, or as large as a 3TB
external hard drive. Check your router's manual to find out if there are
any storage limitations, since some routers have a storage cap.
Once you've chosen your drive, plug it in.
Step 2: Enable USB drive sharing
On
any computer connected to your Wi-Fi network, launch a browser, and
navigate to your router's IP address. You can find this on the back of
the router, in the device manual, or by searching for it online. In most
cases, it looks like 192.168.X.X.
When the page loads, you'll be
asked to log in with your username and password. If you changed it, you
should know it. If you didn't, it's probably still admin (username),
and admin (password).
Those who fall into the latter category, please change your password as soon as you can, and before proceeding to the next step.
Every router's interface is different, but if yours has a USB port, you'll find a link entitled something like File Sharing
under the Administrator settings. In this window, enable the file
sharing server (also called SAMBA). Apply the settings, and exit.
Step 3: Access the drive
You're now ready to read and write to your attached hard drive. Open a file explorer window, and navigate to the Network folder in the left sidebar. Then, clear out the path at the top of the explorer window, and enter \\[your IP address]. So, for example, it might look like: \\192.168.1.1 With
that, your drive will appear. Open it to access its contents, just like
any other folder. If you're asked to log in, simply use your router's
login credentials (the same one used to log into the Web interface.)
If
you plan on leaving your hard drive attached, so that you can easily
access it from any Explorer window. To do that, right-click the drive
and select "Map network drive..." Give it a name, and the folder will
appear in the sidebar. To access the drive on other computers on the network, repeat step 3.
When you receive your Android Wear watch,
you're bound to be eager to get it up and running as fast as possible.
So for now, while you wait for the shipment notification, familiarize
yourself with the setup process.
In all honesty, the setup process is very simple. You'll need to download the official Android Wear app and any updates available in the Play Store.
An update to Google Play Services is required before your device will
be able to talk to your watch, but that should automatically download in
the background without you doing anything. Both the Android Wear app
and the Play Services update will be made available before the full
launch on July 7.
After installing the Android Wear app, you'll be prompted to turn on your watch and pair it with your device. The Gear Live has a power button on the side, making it easy to power up. The G Watch, however, lacks a physical button of any sort, so you'll need to connect it to the charger to turn it on.
Some screens from the Android Wear setup process
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani
Your watch will display a unique device number, which you'll need to select on your Android smartphone or tablet
as the watch you'd like to connect to. Finally, after pairing, you'll
be asked to grant Android Wear permission to access your device
notifications.
Once notification access is granted, you're all
set up. Any notifications your phone receives will also be displayed on
your watch, along with any timely Google Now cards and activity
progress.
There's plenty more to learn about Android Wear, and
we'll be doing our best to make sure you have a solid understanding
before your watch arrives. Keep checking back for more Android Wear
coverage. In the meantime, here's how to check if your Android device can work with Android Wear.
a limited time, Amazon is giving away 31 Android apps that have a combined value of over $100. And that's on top of the company's daily freebie app.
This being Amazon, though, you no doubt need an Amazon product -- Kindle Fire tablet, Fire Phone, etc. -- to take advantage of these offers, right?
Wrong! Android
apps are Android apps, and you can access the Amazon Appstore via
pretty much any Android-powered device. It just requires a little
tweaking. Here's how (on a device running Android 4.4 -- the process is
virtually identical in earlier versions):
Screenshot by Rick Broida
Step 1:
On your phone or tablet, tap Settings > Security. Scroll down to
"Unknown sources" and tap the check box to enable this feature. (The
"unknown source" in this case is the Amazon Appstore.)
Screenshot by Rick Broida
Step 2: Fire up your mobile browser and head to www.amazon.com/getappstore. Tap the button labeled Download the Amazon Appstore. This will download (but not install) an APK file.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/
Step 3:
Once the download is complete, swipe down from the top of the screen to
open your notifications view, then tap the Amazon Appstore entry to
start the installation. Agree to the conditions by tapping Next or
Install (whichever appears).
And that's it! Now just run the app and browse the Appstore, same as you would Google Play.
How to install Amazon Appstore on your Android device
Step 1: WPA2 I think it's common
networking knowledge that there really is no excuse to not use any
encryption method other than WPA2. In all but the oldest wireless
devices, just about all modern wireless clients support it.
Step 2: Change Default Passwords
You never want
to set up a new router and leave the default password of either the
SSIDs (if the router came preconfigured) or to the admin account, which
gives access to the router's management software. In fact, I like to
change even the Guest Account default settings, if I enabled Guest
Account and the router has guest credentials set up.
Changing the admin password, is usually found in the "System" or
"Administration" areas of the interface. Changing the SSID's passphrase
is typically under "Wireless Settings." By the way, you see the password
I have set in the image below? Don't use that one. That's just a router
for testing, my home router has a much stronger password. For some good
advice on creating passwords, give Password Protection: How to Create Strong Passwords", a read.
Step 3: Change the Default SSID name
I can't
tell you how many times, I'll look at wireless networks in range and see
SSIDs such as "NETGEAR095," essentially, SSIDs that are preconfigured
and easily give away the make of the router. When I see this, I also
think perhaps the person who set up the router left the default admin
credentials to the router's software. Someone with strong intent could
access an unsecured network, and with a quick web search, discover the
default password to the admin account just by knowing the type of
router. Give your network a name that does not reveal the make or model
of your router.
Step 4: Device Lists
Most routers have a device
list that shows the wired and wireless clients currently connected. It
pays to periodically take a look and familiarize yourself with your
router's device listing. Years ago, you would only see a list showing a
connected client's IP address, MAC address, and maybe the hostname.
Newer router interfaces are getting fancier. The most recent
interface on the Cisco Linksys routers shows all of this information
plus an icon of the type of client that's connected ( a picture of a
bridge, a NAS, a computer…and so on). I've met with vendors who are also
releasing cloud and mobile apps that let you remotely see what or who
is connected to your network and alert you when a device connects. If
this is an important feature for you, you can expect to see a lot
innovation in intrusion detection and home networks soon.
Step 5: Turn off Guest Networking
I've never
tested a router out-of-the box that had guest networking on by default.
If I did—that router would not get a very high review rating. Guest
networking allows others to access your routers, and by default it's
usually unsecure access (although you can typically add security). That
said, if you inherited your router from someone else, it pays to make
sure guest networking is turned off (or at least secured) when you set
the router up for your use. Doing so, requires usually nothing more than
ticking off a checkbox in the router's interface.
Step 6: Enable MAC Address Filtering
Creating a filter by MAC address allows you to grant or deny access to
your wireless network based on the specific device being connected. A
common scenario for good security is to only grant access to the MAC
addresses of only your own devices. You have to enter the MAC address
manually for each client in just about any router I've tested, so you'll
need to gather that information first. Of course, you can also get the
MAC addresses from the device list as mentioned earlier, if they are
connected.
Step 7: Use WPS With Caution
Personally, I don't
use WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) on my home network. I find it does not
work consistently across wireless devices. Add to the fact that a
security issue was discovered with the PIN method of connecting via WPS,
and it makes me want to stay far from the feature (for more on the
security issue check out "Wi-Fi's Protected Setup Woes".
To their credit, router manufacturers have been doing a good job of
securing WPS on their equipment; however, I would still use it
sparingly. Some wireless extenders I've tested can really only connect
to a router via WPS, but for other devices; connect them manually.
Step 8: Keep Your Firmware Up to Date
I think a
lot of users can forget about this one. Periodically, router vendors
will create and post new firmware for their products to their sites.
Sometimes, this firmware can patch security holes. Routers keep getting
easier and easier to update; newer ones will notify you when new
firmware is available and some will allow you to do the entire firmware
update without leaving the router's interface—a feature that always gets
a favorable rating from me. Don't forget to keep client wireless
adapters patched for the same reason, as well.
Step 9: Use Firewall Settings
Most routers have
some sort of firewall or WAN protection to guard the device from
Internet threats. Higher-end dual-band routers tend to have more
advanced firewall and security features (though you can throw a
third-party, open-source software tool like Tomato on an old cheap
router, which can add advanced functionality, too.) For example, the
Cisco Linksys AC1750 has settings that allow you to enable firewall
protection for both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, as well as filter potential
threats such as anonymous Internet requests.
One caution though, if you use port forwarding to set up remote
access back into your home LAN, enabling some WAN filtering, may cause
problems with the remote access—as I discovered once. Still, that should
not discourage most users to use the SPI
firewall capabilities and WAN threat security features found in most
wireless routers. Many of these security features can be enabled with a
click. Advanced users can even use a feature found in lots of
routers—setting up firewall rules to block specific types of services
such as IDENT or Telnet from coming through your router.
Step 10: Hide the SSID
Hiding the name of your
wireless network (the SSID) is also referred to as preventing the SSID
from broadcasting. Now, hiding the SSID is not in and of itself, a
security measure. Snoopers still have ways to detect wireless signals in
a given area. However for most other would-be leeches, not having your
Wi-Fi network's name broadcasted, is a good way to prevent anyone from
jumping on. The downside, is you will have to manually type in the name
when you want to connect a device—especially tedious for friends who
drop by and want to connect to your Wi-Fi.
With these settings, you really don't need to be well-versed in
networking. You just need to get familiar with the features and
interface in your router to create a more secure network.
The instructions found on this page will only fix software related
issues (how the phone thinks, its brains), NOT hardware (its body and
parts). If your phone is suffering from a hardware or physical issue
then read Tips on how to fix a broken phone. If your phones not responsive or you are unable to navigate at all then click here for specialized instructions. Otherwise proceed to step 2.
Step 2: Saving your Information
The first thing that you are going to want to do before resetting
your Android phone is to make sure that the important information that’s
currently saved on the phone is backed up to a place other than the
phone. That way, once you reset the unit, you can put your information
back onto your phone and you won’t lose anything. If you have already
saved everything on your mobile or don’t need anything to be saved then
proceed to step 7.
If you have a Memory Card go to step 3, if you don’t have a memory card go to step 4.
If you’re not sure if you have a memory card, here is how you can check.
Go to your home page, the main screen when you 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)
Tap on your menu key, (it’s one of the four buttons too, usually on the far left.)
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.)
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.
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.
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 etc. Some phones come with them some
don’t. If you got one proceed to step 3, if not step 4.
How to Backup and Reset an Android Phone?
Step 3: Saving Information to SD Card
Good you have a memory card! Great investment, you never know if and
when your phone is going to stop powering on or give you a white screen
of death and you won’t be able to save or transfer your info then.
Saving your information to your memory card is going to be different
depending on who made your phone. Select the manufacturer below, it will
take you to those instructions. Once you backup your photos, videos,
music, etc. come back to this page and proceed to step 5. If you want to back up your information to other places other than your SD card you can go to step 4.
Samsung
HTC
LG
Motorola
Pantech
Sony
Other
Step 4: Other Ways to Save Information
No Memory card? Bummer, you should get one after we fix your phone,
they make your life so much easier and help your phone run smoother too.
Do some shopping online for some good deals on memory cards, or read
this page on what memory card is right for you.
It’s never a bad investment and if you get another phone it will make
transferring your information to that other phone a lot easier on you.
But I digress; here are a few ways that you can backup your info.
Method 1 - Computer Backup
Your best bet is to backup your information to a computer. I’m going to briefly outline how to do that below. Connect your phone to the computer – your charging cable that
came with the mobile and your data cable are one in the same. Simply,
gently, pull on the cable part and the part that actually plugs into the
wall outlet. It should separate into 2 different pieces. If your cable
was damaged or no longer available you’re going to need to get another
one, click here
to get the best deal on one. I recommend you have one, one way or the
other, so that you can get into the good habit of backing up your phone
on a regular basis.
Once you plug the phone into the computer, the computer should
recognize the phone and a pop-up will show on your computer screen
giving you some options. You want to select the last option. You want to
select the option that says something like “open folders to view
files”. If nothing pops up on your computer then look at your phone. If
you have an option that says “mass storage” you want to click that, it
might also have“transfer information”, “connect to computer”, etc. mass
storage is most common, once you click on that then wait a min and the
“open folder to view files” option should pop up.
Once you click on the “open folder to view files” on the computer,
it’s going to show you a few manila envelope looking folders. Look for
the one that says “DCIM”. That DCIM folder is where all the pictures and
videos that were taken and are saved onto your phone are located. If
you want, you can click on that DCIM then click on Camera and you should
see all your pictures.
What you need to do is right click that DCIM folder (right click on
your mouse not left click) then select “copy” (left click the mouse on
copy). After you click copy, you need to minimize (not close) that
window on the computer (look in the upper right hand corner, click on
the box that looks like a minus sign “_” not the close “X”.
Once that screen is minimized, right click on an empty spot on your
desktop (the screen you see when you first turn on your computer), then
tap on “Paste”. That will paste a copy of all your pictures/videos from
your phone onto your computer. You should see a new file/folder on your
desktop that says DCIM, go ahead and open it, make sure all your
pictures are there.
It’s as easy as that. You’re going to want to open that window that
has all your phones folders back up and repeat the process for any other
information you’re going to want to save from your phone. That might
include a music folder, maybe an app folder, etc the main thing is your
pictures. Don’t worry about saving your names and phone numbers. We’ll
get to saving your contacts in a minute. Just save any other files from
your phone onto your computer.
Once everything is saved onto your computer you can close that window
that shows your phones files, and go into my computer, right click on
the drive that’s showing your phone, and selecting unmount/safely
remove/eject etc. if you don’t see that, or that steps to complicated
just unplug your phone from the computer. Once it’s unplugged go into
your computer and make sure you can open those files/folders you saved
onto your computer, just to double check. Then if everything is saved
proceed to step 5 below.
Method 2 - Google Drive
It’s ok if you don’t have a computer or memory card, there are a few
other options, just a little more involved. What I would recommend is to
(if your phone will allow you) go to the app marketplace and download
the app named Google Drive, it’s made by Google Inc. Just go to the
marketplace and do a search for Google Drive, it will be the first
option that pops up. It’s actually an app written by Google designed to
backup info and from what I have seen, it’s pretty slick. What it does
is actually allows you to backup up to 5GB worth of information onto
Google’s online server. Don’t worry no one else can see your stuff. Best
part is that you get 5GB FREE! I don’t know about you but free is
always in my price range. 5GB should be more than enough space for the
average user.
Once downloaded and installed then go into your pictures, tap the
menu key, tap share, then share to Drive. This will upload your pictures
online where they will be nice and safe.
Note: this WILL use up data from your data plan if you’re not
connected to WiFi (wireless internet). I always recommend that if you
can use a wireless internet then use it! It’s usually cheaper and
faster.
Method 4 - Text or Email
A little more tedious but doable – is to send your info via
text or email. Just open a message, attach file, select a file like a
picture, type in person’s cell phone number or better yet email address,
and send the file that way. Again, Tedious but doable. I would also
check where ever you are sending your information just to make sure that
it send and received correctly.
Note: when sending pictures through text messaging there is often a
loss of quality. It’s not an incredible difference in resolution but
just FYI.
Method 5 - Bluetooth Transfer
Bluetooth the information to another device – most of the time
when we think of Bluetooth we think of our phone connecting to a
headset or the Bluetooth in our car but Bluetooth can be used to
transfer your information as well. The simplest way to Bluetooth info is
to download an app to help you. Go to the marketplace aka Play Store
and search for “Bluetooth File Transfer”. It pretty much streamlines the
entire process. Great app and again free.
Step 5: Saving Contacts
I have talked about pictures and videos and thrown around the word
information but one of the most important things that are found on a
mobile phone is its contacts! Well, when it comes to your address book
the android phones got you covered. Your android phone automatically
backs up your contacts for you. All you will need to do to get your
contacts back after a reset, or if you get another phone, as long as
it’s an android phone, is log into your Gmail account again. Gmail not
only backs up your contacts and calendar but it’s also your online
signature. When you buy an app the marketplace remembers your Gmail
account and if you need to download it again then guess what… you won’t
have to pay for it again. Another great idea by the all powerful GOOGLE! Important Note: While a primary Google account can
and should provide you with a backup of your phones Contacts (aka it’s
Phone Book, Address Book, Telephone numbers, etc.) I highly suggest that
you have at least one other backup available should your Google account
not re-sync your Contacts as it should. This is uncommon of course but
better safe than sorry when it comes to something as important as your
Contacts.
Check your Google Account
Checking your Gmail account (the basics) - first let’s make
sure you know your Gmail account. Many people set and forget, don’t fret
if you don’t know it. To check your Gmail account, go into your
settings and open the option that says accounts (it might say “accounts
and sync”), under accounts it will show all the accounts that you have
associated with your mobile device (like email accounts Facebook
accounts etc). Look for the option that has an account that ends in
@gmail.com for example it might look something like thisismygmailaccount@gmail.com.
That is going to be your Gmail account (unless you have two Gmails, if
you have two Gmail accounts then the Gmail that’s synced to your phone
is the 1st one you added to the phone).
Note: you can check if it’s your Gmail account by actually clicking
on the account and at the bottom it will have a remove account option.
If you click it, your phone WILL NOT let you remove your Gmail account, a
primary Gmail account is that important. In fact, the only way to
remove a primary Gmail, once it’s on your phone, is to erase everything
from the phone, which coincidently is what we want to do. --UPDATE:
newer Android phones that run on Android Version 4.0 or later may allow
you to remove your primary Gmail account without having to factory data
reset your device --.
Make sure you know that Gmail account, write it down if you need to,
we are going to need it later. After you have it written down then click
on your Gmail account (click on that email on your accounts page that
you’re still on). Once you open it up it will have a few items that the
phone is syncing. This list gets bigger and bigger, but the list should
have sync contacts, sync Google, sync calendar, etc. on many phones (HTC
can be so user friendly) there is a sync now option. Click on that,
once you click “sync now” it’s going to put some spinning circles next
to those options letting you know that its syncing. Once those spinning
circles disappear it should show the days date next to the options in
that list. If the spinning circle stops spinning, especially on the
calendar option, just give it a minute or sync it again. Sometimes the
calendar ones stubborn, unless you have really important information on
your calendar and the date next to it is way off then don’t worry if
that circle won’t disappear. It happens and is not a big deal in the
slightest.
After your phone is synced to Gmail make sure to actually check andverify that your contacts are saved to your Gmail account properly.
Note: If you don’t have a “sync now” option then just click on the
list item itself. So for example click “sync contacts” if it deselects
then reselect it and it will manually sync. As long as the date next to
sync contacts is showing the days date then you’re address book is
synced to your Gmail and you’re good to go.
Note: you can check to make sure you know your Gmail accounts
password by getting on a computer, going to mail.google.com and signing
in. If you can sign in on a computer you can sign in on your phone. You
can also reset your password on that website if you need to. Important Update (June 2014): If you want to know
unequivocally that your contacts are synced to your Gmail account and
want to try and avoid any re-syncing issues that can occur then you
should go to www.google.com/contacts
and log into your Google account. It will list all of the contacts that
are synced to your Gmail and this list of contacts is what will re-sync
to your cell phone once you log back into your Google account after the
factory reset. If you visit that webpage and it does not show any of
your names or phone numbers from your cell phones address book or the
list of telephone numbers that are shown on that webpage is incomplete
and doesn’t match the contacts currently saved to your Android cell
phone (minus the contacts which your Android may have synced from social
media sites such as Facebook) then your contacts are not synced to your
Google account properly for whatever reason and you should try to back
them up using one of the other contact backup methods listed below.
Saving your contacts on something other than your Gmail
If you have confirmed that your contacts are synced to your Gmail
then you shouldn’t NEED to do the following and can proceed to step 6.
However it would be a good idea to back your contacts up to a place
other than your Gmail. Having a hard copy rather than it stored only in
cyberspace can be a real lifesaver, especially if you’re not sure what
your Gmail account password is. Better to be safe than sorry, and having
multiple copies is a GOOD IDEA.
Saving contacts to your SIM card
Some phones do not have SIM Cards; it depends on what wireless
carrier you use. Wireless providers that use phones that run on GSM
technology require SIM Cards to function. AT&T and T-Mobile both use
SIM Cards in their wireless devices. Verizon and Sprint phones don’t
have SIM Cards. If you use a phone that has a SIM Card then backing up
your contacts to that SIM can be one of the best choices available.
A SIM card, its official name being subscriber identity module
if you ever have to answer a trivia question, will allow you to save
250-300 contacts onto it, usually 250. Sims will usually only hold names
and phone numbers, sorry it won’t hold your pictures, and it will not
hold fax number street addresses etc. so when you’re saving contacts to
your SIM if you get an “Some information might be lost” message, that’s
what its letting you know, only names and phone numbers.
The backup process varies depending on the device your using. On some
phones you have to back up your contacts one at a time and it’s just
torture, I’m having flashes of the ATT HTC Inspire, where to save on the
SIM you have to do it one contact at a time, and a business phone can
have a thousand contacts and its painful, luckily that phone comes with a
memory card and you can import/export the contacts to the SD card from
the phone in a matter of seconds. It just saves it as a v-card file. But
I digress again.
Typically to back up your contacts from your phone to your SIM card
you go into your contacts/people, tap your menu key, tap More, select
SIM Management, tap Copy Contacts to SIM, select all, copy/export, tap
ok, and your done. If you don’t see a SIM management option then look
for an Import/Export option and Export/Copy to SIM.
Now you have a hard copy of your contacts as well as your Gmail. If you don’t have a memory card proceed to step 6, if you do, you’re in luck you can save way more than 250 contacts to your SD card.
Saving contacts to your SD card
This varies depending on the phone as well, so I will list a few of the common methods.
Method 1 (usual HTC method)
Go to your people, press your menu key, select import/export, select
export to SD card, it will ask you where you want export from, select
Phone, press ok. And you’re done.
Method 2 (usual Samsung method)
Go into your contacts, tap your menu key, tap Import/export, and
export to SD card, if it asks you “are you sure you want to copy your
contacts to your memory card” you press ok. And then you’re done.
Method 3
The Method 1 and 2 pretty much sum up most phones. You might have to
poke around a bit on your phone but you just want to export your
contacts to your memory card (also shown as SD Card on most phones).
Note: If you need to pull contacts onto your phone from a memory card
then go to import/export again and select Import this time. Then Import
the contacts to the phone (not Gmail). It’s as easy as pie.
Note: saving contacts to a memory card is a lot faster than saving
them onto a SIM card; it’s probably going to finish very fast and might
not show you a “processing” message. Once you go through method 1 or 2
it should take you back to your contact list and be done. You can back
them up twice to make sure that it really saved if you worry as I
sometimes do. It won’t hurt it or anything and you won’t get duplicate
contacts if you need to import them back onto your phone. If/when you
import them just don’t chose “import all files” you need to select the
file with the most resent date on it.
Step 6: Check your Apps and Texts
Go through your phone and check you’re saved text messages, and check
you’re apps. Your applications are going to need to be re-downloaded
onto your phone after the reset (most of the time, the newest phones
running the 4.x.x Ice Cream Sandwich or higher often sync your apps too,
but that’s something you don’t need to worry about). Some people have a
lot of apps on their phone and when they do a reset and go to
re-download their apps they say to themselves “what apps did I have
again?” Just write down the apps you don’t think you will be able to
remember so that you can find and re-download them again if you need to.
As for your texts messages, make sure to record those as well.
There’s not really any default way to save texts, even if you have a
memory card. HOWEVER someone did recognize the need to save texts
messages and there is a trick to it. If you absolutely need to save your
text messages then you can look into the options mentioned in How to backup and save text messages on an Android phone.
Note: If your phone is capable of taking screenshots (most current
Android phones running on Android 4.0 or higher allow you to take
screenshots) then instead of writing this information down you can
simply take a screenshot of it, move the screenshot(s) from the phones
storage to an SD card or computer, and you will have a copy of your
message. ~**Suggestion submitted by Ruairí O'Neill on 12/03/2013 click here to read his comment**~
You can also use this screenshot trick to help you remember how you
customized your phone after you bought it. If you added or moved icons
to or from the phones desktop then when you reset the phone these icons
may not appear in the same places that you put them, as they return to
their default locations. By taking screenshots of the changes that you
made to your desktop, apps, messages, or other parts of your phone you
can save yourself the headache of trying to remember where you had
everything before you performed the reset. This is just a cool little
tip that you should consider when performing a hard reset on an Android
phone.
When you have your texts and apps recorded proceed to step 7.
Step 7: Proceed with Reset
Your phone is completely backed up and we are ready to proceed with
the reset. What we need to do is find the option to do a Factory Data
Reset. This too depends on the make, model and software currently on
your phone. Here are two of the most common methods on how to perform a
factory data reset through the settings of an android phone. IMORTANT
NOTE: if there is an option to erase your memory card, make sure that
that option is NOT selected, you do NOT want to erase/format your memory
card.
Method 1
Home key > Menu key > Settings > Privacy > Factory Data
Reset, when on the reset page you’re going to get a big warning that
you’re about to erase the information on your phone and that you should
know your Gmail account and backup your phone (pretty much what we went
over and have already done in these instructions). Click on Reset phone,
and then click Erase Everything. The phone will power itself off all by
its self and then power itself back on all by itself. It can take a few
minutes to boot back up. Once it does proceed to step 8.
Method 2
Home key > Menu key > Settings > SD and Phone Storage >
Factory Data Reset >you’ll see the same warning showed in method 1
> Reset Phone > Erase Everything. After it reboots go to step 8.
Method 3
If you’re on the 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Operating System or later then try this method.
Drag down the Notification Bar (the black bar on the top of the
screen where the signal strength bars, battery life, and clock is
located), and then tap the settings icon (the icon that looks like a
little white gear). Or to get to the settings you can go to the home
page, press the Menu key, and then tap Settings.
Once in the Settings scroll down and tap the “Back up and reset” option.
Tap Factory data reset > Reset device > Delete all. After it reboots go to step 8.
Step 8: Setup the Phone
Congratulations, you made it through my lengthy instruction manual on
how to backup, reset, and hopefully more importantly, fix your android
phone. Now what you need to do is setup your android phone like you did
when you first purchased it. Go through those settings and when it asks
or prompts you to log into your Gmail account make sure you, add a Gmail
account, and then Sign in, NOT sign up. You want to sign into an
existing account (the one we checked earlier in step 5) you don’t want to create a new account.
Log into your Gmail account, if it doesn’t ask you to log into one
during the phone setup then go to Settings > Accounts (or Accounts
and Sync) > Add Account > Sign In. If you’re Mobile asks if you
want to sync your phone to your Gmail then select yes, you’re going to
want to sync your phone with your Gmail account.
Step 9: Enjoy your Working Phone
Your phone should now be working correctly, so enjoy.
Thank you for reading
Thank you for reading this guide on how to backup and reset an
Android cell phone. If you found this article helpful, or informative
and would like to show your gratitude then please don’t forget to show
me you liked it by pressing the Facebook Like and Google + buttons or by
sharing it through any of the social sites shown at the bottom of this
guide. I’d really appreciate it. If you would like then don’t hesitate
to also leave a friendly remark, suggestion, or comment below.
Thanks again for reading and visiting the site don’t be afraid to
visit some of the other articles, guides and post on this website to
learn even more about your Android smartphone. Enjoy.
Step 10: Additional Suggestions/Advice
I recommend that you try your phone without any apps on it, and as a
clean installation for a couple days, just to make sure everything is
working correctly. After a couple days, if your phones still working
fine, then start re-downloading your applications, one at a time.
Download an app try it out for a day or two, download another app try it
out. If you download an app and your phone starts acting funny, then
it’s probably that app and you should uninstall it and not use it any
more.
Step 11: Still Having Problems
If for some reason this troubleshooting didn’t fix your issues, I can’t fix my phone, now what should I do?might be of some use.
This is similar to having a gaping hole
on your desk, where things you use like pens, rulers (that is,
applications), can fall through and be lost. Alternatively, if you are
writing or drawing and have that same hole under your paper, then when
you get to the irregular surface, you can puncture the paper or
otherwise frustrate your workflow, like data corruption.
