I am currently on CM10.1 and have been considering testing other ROMs for the Nexus 4. All ROM flash guidelines ask that I wipe everything and do a factory reset before I flash the ROM.
My question is does doing a data wipe permanently erase all data on the phone? Including installed apps, app data (game saves, whatapp chat logs, etc), SMS and Contact information, gallery files, wifi passwords, etc. Or is it just some ROM specific data. More importantly, if it is more than just ROM data, is this data gone forever or is it synced with the google cloud and is simply synced over the internet once the phone is setup with the correct google account again? If it is synced, what data is synced? I presume at least contact information is synced with the cloud but what about the rest.
I could find any clear information on what exactly wiping data entailed and what could be the expected unrecoverable losses possible. Also can I just take a backup of the data using some app (Titanium backup?)/nandroid backup and restore the data once the new ROM is installed?
Factory reset will, just as the name states, bring it back to the state is was when you first got it.
So yes, every app and data of it will be lost. This includes contacts, wifi passwords etc.
Your contacts, wifi passwords etc will be synced to the google servers, if you chose to do that when you set up your phone for the first time.
However, it will not wipe your sd card, so all your photos and music will be save.
I'd suggest you make a backup of your WhatsApp history, this way when you re-install it you will be prompted if you want to restore the messages from the backup.
Hope this helped!
EDIT: It is not suggested to restore data from a titanium backup, since this can generate problems.
mumaster20 said:
Factory reset will, just as the name states, bring it back to the state is was when you first got it.
So yes, every app and data of it will be lost. This includes contacts, wifi passwords etc.
Your contacts, wifi passwords etc will be synced to the google servers, if you chose to do that when you set up your phone for the first time.
However, it will not wipe your sd card, so all your photos and music will be save.
I'd suggest you make a backup of your WhatsApp history, this way when you re-install it you will be prompted if you want to restore the messages from the backup.
Hope this helped!
EDIT: It is not suggested to restore data from a titanium backup, since this can generate problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there any difference between delete cache and data and doing a factory reset?
While doing a cache wipe, only files from the Cache partition are being deleted. These files were saved by your phone to use as cache. (Think of it as your browser history. if you wipe that, only certain files will be deleted, while the app itself won't be touched)
While doing a factory reset everything will be wiped, including the cache partition. Excluding the sdcard ofcourse.
mumaster20 said:
Factory reset will, just as the name states, bring it back to the state is was when you first got it.
So yes, every app and data of it will be lost. This includes contacts, wifi passwords etc.
Your contacts, wifi passwords etc will be synced to the google servers, if you chose to do that when you set up your phone for the first time.
However, it will not wipe your sd card, so all your photos and music will be save.
I'd suggest you make a backup of your WhatsApp history, this way when you re-install it you will be prompted if you want to restore the messages from the backup.
Hope this helped!
EDIT: It is not suggested to restore data from a titanium backup, since this can generate problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
one we wiped our rom using any tool, is it possible to load the android os without installing any rom?
madhan116 said:
one we wiped our rom using any tool, is it possible to load the android os without installing any rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ooh, old subject haha.
The android OS IS your rom, so to have a full stock android rom, like you had when you first turned on your nexus 4, you need to flash the factory image provided by Google. Link to factory images
If you dont know how to flash these files, efrant has a great guide on how to do this. Link to the guide
thanks for ur info
mumaster20 said:
Ooh, old subject haha.
The android OS IS your rom, so to have a full stock android rom, like you had when you first turned on your nexus 4, you need to flash the factory image provided by Google. Link to factory images
If you dont know how to flash these files, efrant has a great guide on how to do this. Link to the guide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first of all my product is not nexus.. its alwinner a10, i have not installed any custom ROM yet. only the stock ROM remains itself in my tablet now in this situation what will be the result of wiping rom??????? ( As i am a newbie this question arises)
madhan116 said:
first of all my product is not nexus.. its alwinner a10, i have not installed any custom ROM yet. only the stock ROM remains itself in my tablet now in this situation what will be the result of wiping rom??????? ( As i am a newbie this question arises)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By wiping rom, did you mean to wipe system off your device? If that is what you meant there, then your device won't boot after that because there is no OS installed. To clear your confusion factory reset only set your device back to the default settings when you buy it. Means it will wipe your downloaded apps, cache, saved data, contacts, messages etc.. Some stock recovery doesn't wipe your internal sd card when you performed factory reset (means all your pics and music are still there) while in some other erases all and you will be left with nothing..just like how you first received the device from store.
Further down, if you flashed any custom rom on your device and you do a factory reset. It won't wipe away the custom rom that you installed, it will only set it back to the rom default settings. To get it back to the stock manufacturer rom, you must flash the official rom released by your device manufacturer. I hope this will clear your confusion.
thanks
arffrhn said:
By wiping rom, did you mean to wipe system off your device? If that is what you meant there, then your device won't boot after that because there is no OS installed. To clear your confusion factory reset only set your device back to the default settings when you buy it. Means it will wipe your downloaded apps, cache, saved data, contacts, messages etc.. Some stock recovery doesn't wipe your internal sd card when you performed factory reset (means all your pics and music are still there) while in some other erases all and you will be left with nothing..just like how you first received the device from store.
Further down, if you flashed any custom rom on your device and you do a factory reset. It won't wipe away the custom rom that you installed, it will only set it back to the rom default settings. To get it back to the stock manufacturer rom, you must flash the official rom released by your device manufacturer. I hope this will clear your confusion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for ur nice reply.. now it has wiped out my confusion
Anyhow now my problem is regarding flash, i dont know whether i could share here so included a link...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2542145&highlight=live+suit+flash+error
madhan116 said:
thanks for ur nice reply.. now it has wiped out my confusion
Anyhow now my problem is regarding flash, i dont know whether i could share here so included a link...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2542145&highlight=live+suit+flash+error
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome. As for your query, I do not own that particular device so I can't help you with that. Sorry mate..
mumaster20 said:
Factory reset will, just as the name states, bring it back to the state is was when you first got it.
So yes, every app and data of it will be lost. This includes contacts, wifi passwords etc.
Your contacts, wifi passwords etc will be synced to the google servers, if you chose to do that when you set up your phone for the first time.
However, it will not wipe your sd card, so all your photos and music will be save.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am bumping the post instead of openning a new one - because it is the same question.
You wrote that Factory reset will not wipe Photos, Music etc.
Did you mean that if I saved it on external SD? Because in Nexus 4 there is no option to add SD card.
My question:
1. In my nexus 4, when doing factory reset - it erases EVERYTHING include Photos and music. so please help me understand.... cause I am confused. Does it reset everything or not?
2. In nexus 4, where is the option to Wipe data? I see only "Factory reset". In recovery console?
3. Any differences between Factory reset from the settings, to wipe data from Recovery?
thanks!
shakta said:
I am bumping the post instead of openning a new one - because it is the same question.
You wrote that Factory reset will not wipe Photos, Music etc.
Did you mean that if I saved it on external SD? Because in Nexus 4 there is no option to add SD card.
My question:
1. In my nexus 4, when doing factory reset - it erases EVERYTHING include Photos and music. so please help me understand.... cause I am confused. Does it reset everything or not?
2. In nexus 4, where is the option to Wipe data? I see only "Factory reset". In recovery console?
3. Any differences between Factory reset from the settings, to wipe data from Recovery?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. We do not have external sd in nexus 4. There are 2 types of recoveries; stock and custom. Stock recovery is what you get when flashing factory images while custom recoveries are twrp/cwm. In stock recovery, factory reset delete everything on your device. Everything in your internal as well. It will wipe clean your device. For custom recovery, it won't clear your internal sd storage so your photos/music/docs/backups are intact. It will only delete data partition which stores your downloaded apps. I hope you are clear on that now.
2. Factory reset=wipe data. In every recovery, it's the same.
3. No, it uses the same command so basically there is no difference. Depends on the recovery you use, factory reset on stock recovery deletes everything while on custom recovery sd card is still intact.
The answer that explained everything for me - is that there is a different between wiping data from Stock recovery to wiping from Custom, so now i get what you mean!
Error loading
Hi! I recently use CWM and use wipe data/factory rest but now My HTC Salas not loading till standby screen and get stuck in errors not responding and force close option please guide how to rescue my device?
ansarhassan4 said:
Hi! I recently use CWM and use wipe data/factory rest but now My HTC Salas not loading till standby screen and get stuck in errors not responding and force close option please guide how to rescue my device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would start by opening a new thread in the relevant section of this forum. You are hijacking a thread started well over a year ago and your issue has no relevance to the OP's issue.
Start here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/
Flash rom and keep apps and data
Hi. Is it possible not to factory reset/ wipe data when flashing a newer rom? The reason I am asking is because I want to flash Lollipop on my Note 3 as Samsung keeps forgetting to send it to me OTA or via Kies. But I don't want to lose all apps and data. Thanks in advance.
arffrhn said:
By wiping rom, did you mean to wipe system off your device? If that is what you meant there, then your device won't boot after that because there is no OS installed. To clear your confusion factory reset only set your device back to the default settings when you buy it. Means it will wipe your downloaded apps, cache, saved data, contacts, messages etc.. Some stock recovery doesn't wipe your internal sd card when you performed factory reset (means all your pics and music are still there) while in some other erases all and you will be left with nothing..just like how you first received the device from store.
Further down, if you flashed any custom rom on your device and you do a factory reset. It won't wipe away the custom rom that you installed, it will only set it back to the rom default settings. To get it back to the stock manufacturer rom, you must flash the official rom released by your device manufacturer. I hope this will clear your confusion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey. I have 1 question. I have pictures, music and videos on my Internal Memory, and I don't want to lose it (I didn't back it up anywhere and I don't have an SD card). Will Wipe Data/Factory Reset delete those stuff, or just apps, settings, etc?
I'm using S4 Mini i9192. I also have Philz Touch Recovery.
Shawn.Killer said:
Hey. I have 1 question. I have pictures, music and videos on my Internal Memory, and I don't want to lose it (I didn't back it up anywhere and I don't have an SD card). Will Wipe Data/Factory Reset delete those stuff, or just apps, settings, etc?
I'm using S4 Mini i9192. I also have Philz Touch Recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not used Clockwork recovery for a very long time now so I don't know how it works nowadays. But last I used it, factory reset in cwm (philz is a modified version of cwm) does not result in complete wipe. It will leave out the sd card partition. But like I said, it was very long time ago. Make a backup of them if it is really important. Well, in my opinion, everything needs backup. Even things in your computer needs a backup.
p/s: Try to ask this in S4 thread. Here, we (nexus 4 users) mostly use twrp as cwm is discontinued for quite some time now.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
arffrhn said:
I have not used Clockwork recovery for a very long time now so I don't know how it works nowadays. But last I used it, factory reset in cwm (philz is a modified version of cwm) does not result in complete wipe. It will leave out the sd card partition. But like I said, it was very long time ago. Make a backup of them if it is really important. Well, in my opinion, everything needs backup. Even things in your computer needs a backup.
p/s: Try to ask this in S4 thread. Here, we (nexus 4 users) mostly use twrp as cwm is discontinued for quite some time now.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but did it delete your internal memory?
Shawn.Killer said:
Thanks, but did it delete your internal memory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it does not. But that was long before.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Hi guys,
I've flashed the last 4.3 Germany ROM on my i9505 and everithink is ok/official including know (0x0)...
Now I'd like to cleanup and restore to the factory settings my S4 but I'm not sure that "restore to factory setting" in the options will do exactly what I'd like. If I'm not wrong it doesn't delete all my data in the sotrage. Am I wrong?
How can I be sure to had cleand up all my stuff without ODIN reflash and/or modified recopvery? I don't want to trigger the knox....
re: wiping phone
Markino said:
Hi guys,
I've flashed the last 4.3 Germany ROM on my i9505 and everithink is ok/official including know (0x0)...
Now I'd like to cleanup and restore to the factory settings my S4 but I'm not sure that "restore to factory setting" in the options will do exactly what I'd like. If I'm not wrong it doesn't delete all my data in the sotrage. Am I wrong?
How can I be sure to had cleand up all my stuff without ODIN reflash and/or modified recopvery? I don't want to trigger the knox....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First be sure to remove your external sdcard if you have one in the phone.
Then turn the phone on normally (no odin, no recovery and no reflash).
Then go into settings>accounts>backup and reset> then click on the very
last entry on the accounts screen which says: "Factory data reset".
Doing that will wipe EVERYTHING including email accounts/emails
phone numbers, user flashed or installed apps, games and so on.
It will also wipe any pictures, videos, documents, music files and mms.
After doing the above you can be assured that the phone is in stock
condition and has nothing personal in it.
Have a great day!
Misterjunky said:
First be sure to remove your external sdcard if you have one in the phone.
Then turn the phone on normally (no odin, no recovery and no reflash).
Then go into settings>accounts>backup and reset> then click on the very
last entry on the accounts screen which says: "Factory data reset".
Doing that will wipe EVERYTHING including email accounts/emails
phone numbers, user flashed or installed apps, games and so on.
It will also wipe any pictures, videos, documents, music files and mms.
After doing the above you can be assured that the phone is in stock
condition and has nothing personal in it.
Have a great day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
On my last phone I've made it but I've found that on internal sdcard there was still some app data and folder and when I've installed some app the settings was still there..... strange!
Markino said:
Thanks!
On my last phone I've made it but I've found that on internal sdcard there was still some app data and folder and when I've installed some app the settings was still there..... strange!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you will have the same with the method above.
not 100% if stock recovery has this, but besides the factory reset you have to format the internal data. It works from custom recoveries for sure.
as an alternative, you can manually delete all the folders in internal card and do the factory reset again.
of course, the external card you either remove or format aswell (from phone menu or recovery).
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 i9505 (unlocked version). It was using the stock v4.4.2 but it was rooted and the bootloader was unlocked, I also had a different Recovery installed (Can't remember which one but it wasn't Clockwork). I am no longer using the phone so it doesn't contain any data that I need. I was preparing the phone to sell it so I decided to encrypt the storage as I read that that doing this would remove any possibility of old data being taken off.
During encryption setup, I had to enter a PIN before I could have it encrypted so I entered one. Once it finished encrypting (took quite a while), it rebooted and asked me for the PIN to decrypt the device, I entered the PIN. It seemed like it accepted this but then it rebooted. It kept doing this so I thought no big deal as it probably already achieved what I wanted. So I did a factory reset via the Recovery. However, the encrypted partition still persisted after the factory reset.
So then I decided to use Odin (v3.09) along with the latest stock ROM (v4.4.2 I9505XXUGNG8) to write over the whole phone thinking this would reset it. But the encrypted partition still persists and it keeps rebooting after I enter my PIN.
How can I completely factory reset the phone including removing the encrypted storage? I don't need any data on the phone, just need to reset it completely back to factory.
TIA
Probably flash a custom recovery and then:
In TWRP, under "Wipe" menu, there is "Format Data" function, which will effectively remove the encryption from the device
(alongside with all the data of course).
ps the information you had about encrypting your device is wrong. Basically when you delete a file from you phone, there is no way currently possible to get it back. That is caused by TRIM. Not even professional companies can restore it as of yet. So once you delete it, it's really gone.
Lennyz1988 said:
Probably flash a custom recovery and then:
In TWRP, under "Wipe" menu, there is "Format Data" function, which will effectively remove the encryption from the device
(alongside with all the data of course).
ps the information you had about encrypting your device is wrong. Basically when you delete a file from you phone, there is no way currently possible to get it back. That is caused by TRIM. Not even professional companies can restore it as of yet. So once you delete it, it's really gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I'll give that a go.
This is a similar article to what I read about needing to encrypt the device to truly remove your personal data: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/fea...elete-all-data-from-your-android-phone-603731
What about files that haven't been explicitly deleted? Say for example if I left all the files undeleted but I just did a factory reset, will those files be recoverable? That's what I want to protect against.
Techno79 said:
Ok, I'll give that a go.
This is a similar article to what I read about needing to encrypt the device to truly remove your personal data: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/fea...elete-all-data-from-your-android-phone-603731
What about files that haven't been explicitly deleted? Say for example if I left all the files undeleted but I just did a factory reset, will those files be recoverable? That's what I want to protect against.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That articel is mistaken. As of Android 4.3, files that are deleted can't be recovered. A factory reset should be enough. It will also wipe your internal storage.
Thank you. Phone is all sorted now and back to a factory reset
Hello there, i've looked up the forum but havent foung anyone with a similar problem, which I was hopping it was going to be general.
I updated my note 3 from kit kat to lollipop yesterday, which was working just fine after the update. But around 3 hours ago I could not get a signal from my carrier, even though everyone elses phone was working just fine. So i tried rebooting my phone and after it restarted 80% of my apps werent there. I have only a few apps now but most of my downloaded apps are simply not showing, although it looks like from the storage windows that my data was not erased. Even though they are not showing in the "downloaded apps"" section I would have way more free space if they were indeed deleted.
Even stock apps are broken. Like my goodle services are missing and a lot of those stock apps that come with your phone and you cant delete are not there. PLus all my contacts are lost, my messesges are gone, but I have all my photos. This is really weird.
Another informations is that Im currently not using an micro sd memory card, so All my stored information and apps were running on my 32gb memory within the note 3 itself.
Ill reply as soon as I can to any questions or useful information.
I have tried rebooting it a few times and looking up online to see if anyone else has had a similar problem. If anyone can help Ill be very gratefull.
Thank you all in advance !
more information
HI, another usefull information is that whenever i reboot my phone theres a black screen that says "android is upgrading.........starting apps" then after a few seconds it goes to my lock screen but still a lot of my data is missing.
Safe mode maybe?
carloscordeironeto said:
HI, another usefull information is that whenever i reboot my phone theres a black screen that says "android is upgrading.........starting apps" then after a few seconds it goes to my lock screen but still a lot of my data is missing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happened coz you didn't factory reset/Wipe data the phone when you installed Lollipop. Do it and your phone will boot normally.
Joku1981 said:
This happened coz you didn't factory reset/Wipe data the phone when you installed Lollipop. Do it and your phone will boot normally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I should do a factory reset and Install everything back from scratch? apps, contacts, music, photos...? Sorry for being too noob on the subject. And thank you a lot for your reply!
carloscordeironeto said:
So I should do a factory reset and Install everything back from scratch? apps, contacts, music, photos...? Sorry for being too noob on the subject. And thank you a lot for your reply!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah better. Copy all your internal data to your pc (music, photos, contacts are linked to your google account). Factory reset your device (Settings > Accounts > Back Up and Reset > Factory Data Reset > Reset Device > Delete All/Erase Everything) and take a look how your device works.
Joku1981 said:
Yeah better. Copy all your internal data to your pc (music, photos, contacts are linked to your google account). Factory reset your device (Settings > Accounts > Back Up and Reset > Factory Data Reset > Reset Device > Delete All/Erase Everything) and take a look how your device works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appers to have worked! the only part that sucks in having to configure all my apps again and trying to back up everything...but it looks normal =)
thanks for your help ! you have been awesome!