Although we have posted guides on how to keep the N97 running great, preserving free space on your C: drive and how to remove any useless apps, the best way to get the device running just like it did when you first took it out of the box (minus the v10.x.xxx firmware of course) is to perform a hard reset. Anyone who has followed my 4 months with the N97 knows that I am frequently performing factory resets on the device. So many in fact that I can reset the device and have everything I need restored within 15 minutes…even if I’m mobile. It sounds pretty daunting but in putting together this guide, I found that there really isn’t much to it. Now before you all go run out and hit *#7370# then say that Blaxx told you to, I have to give a word of caution. Neither I nor N97Fanatics.com is responsible to anything that happens to you phone if you do a hard reset and you don’t completely understand what it is that you’re doing. This includes the loss of built in applications, the loss of any of your sensitive data (contacts, calendar, notes, emails, text messages, what have you), or in rare cases, bricking your phone. This is not me telling you to reset your device, this is just a rundown of how I go about it.
I decided around noon that I was going to reset my N97 tonight so the first thing I did was uninstall all of the applications that I don’t use on a daily basis and remove any hacks I currently have employed. The only reason I do this is because I install everything to E: Mass memory and after a hard reset, not everything is available in your Applications menu. Rather than worry about whether or not a particular app is going to be available after the reset is complete, I’d rather just reinstall them myself. The hacks are self-explanatory, they aren’t going to work after the reset anyway so why bother leave em there. Keep in mind that if you haven’t reset your N97 yet, you may lose a preinstalled widget or two (Amazon widget almost always bites the dust). I believe we’ve already shown you how to uninstall all the preinstalled widgets from your C: drive and reinstall them on E: so this shouldn’t be of any concern to you but if this kinda thing is important to you, stop reading here.
Among the other things you’ll lose are your contacts, your calendar entries and your notes. Text messages and emails are entirely dependent on which storage location you’ve selected and/or which email solution you’re using. I’ve found that the fastest way to back up my contacts is with Ovi Sync which is already built into the device. You just need to head over to http://contacts.ovi.com, log into your Ovi account (if you have one that is, you really should y’know) and add your device. Follow the instructions and you should be ready to sync in 90 seconds or less.
It's a good idea to sync those Contacts
Contacts on Ovi can also sync your Calendar but ignore the other options on the screenshot above, they apply to PC Suite but not to Ovi.com.
If you’re anything like me, all you need to do is back up your Contacts and you’re good to go, more or less. I will sometimes connect to my PC and backup my Bookmarks, Notes and Text Messages (If you have Map Favourites, they should already be synced to your Ovi Maps account) using Nokia Content Copier (your phone already has a PC Suite sync profile built in but it will only allow you to sync over Bluetooth).
Ready to hit that # key
Once my device is all fresh and new again, the first thing I do after completing the Setup Wizard is reinstall Handy Taskman, Best ScreenSnap, Y-Browser and one theme (whichever theme I’m currently using at the moment). Nokia Messaging, Gravity, Shazam, Ovi Contacts, Handy Blacklist and re-adding my podcast subscriptions can wait until I’m done reconfiguring my settings (Display, Phone, Admin, Security, Call, Bluetooth, Clock, Destinations).
Just to show you the benefits of doing a hard reset, I’ve prepared 2 screenshots for you. One are my system conditions before the reset, and one of after.
Before
After
That’s all there is to it. I’ve regained almost 37MB of free space on C: that would be otherwise lost in just 15 minutes. If you have any questions, comments, concerns or you’re just unclear about something I’ve done here, I strongly encourage you to post them in the Comments section below.
-Blaxx
Related Articles:
- Syncing with Ovi on the N97
- How To Sync Your N97 With Google Contacts & Calendar
- The Nokia N97 Q&A Page – Further Questions Are Answered
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