Resetting a Blackberry Bold to it's Factory Settings

In a similar manor the iPhone, you can download and install applications for the BlackBerry Bold, either via the BlackBerry App World or directly from the author’s website. Until recently I had been doing the latter, until one download caused an “Unexpected IO Error”.

I was unable to find any additional debugging information on the error, which was also preventing the SMS and MMS application from displaying or even functioning. Any messages that were sent to me didn’t appear to be reaching me, even read receipts were stating that the message had been delivered.

In an attempt to salvage things I attempted to delete the last installed application – no luck. I then attempted a hard reset by pulling off the battery, leaving it for a minute and then replacing it and turning the phone back on – still no luck.

I then decided that it might be a good idea to carry out a factory reset…

Factory Reset Instructions:

I recommend starting the process by backing up any existing data – contacts, photos etc – using the Desktop Manager software.  Now we can move on to the actual reset process.

1. Press the menu key, the button to left of trackball, select the “Options” folder.
2. Scroll down and select “Security Options” then “General Settings“.
3. Press the menu key and select “Wipe Handheld“. A warning box will then appear to tell you that all application data will be lost. Select “Include third party applications” and then “Continue“.
4. Another box will appear asking you to enter the word “blackberry” to confirm the wipe. Doing this will restore the Bold to the factory settings.

If you decided to make a backup earlier, you may want to restore your data at this point.

You can now continue to use your Blackberry as before, without any additional applications installed. Some functionality may however have been lost, for example when trying to use the web browser you may get the error “This is a wi-fi service. Please ensure your device has an active wi-fi connection and try again.“.

This can be resolved by carrying out the following action:

Options > advanced > host routing table > menu (button left of trackball) > click on “Register Now.”

If at this point it is still not working, you should ensure that the default browser is set to “Internet Browser“:

Options > advanced > Browser > Default browser configuration > set to “Internet Browser”.

This process appears to have got everything back on track for me – relief.