[Windows Central Question]

I just purchased a Lumia 550 and completed preliminary set up and customized my front screens, ringtones etc to my preferences. The message appeared that an update was necessary which I allowed it do as I thought this is not unusual for a new phone straight out of the box. After leaving the phone for an hour, I came back to a blank screen and when I turn it on I now have just have the 3 button navigation bar at the bottom and top indicators (service, wi-fi connection, battery charge indicator) but otherwise a black screen - no home screens. I have tried restarting (holding on button down for 10 secs) which appears to show the phone starting normally - ie, mircosoft logo, windows logo, then day and time screen, but no ability to get to my functional screens rendering the phone totally unusable! (tried swiping up, down, sideways!)Anyone who can give me an idea of what to do? thanks so much in advance.

[ven07]

So what you're saying is that the phone does not respond to any touch input once fully turned on?

Mostly I would suggest doing a hard reset, but your model does not have all the hardware buttons required. The next best thing is to download the recovery tool/install it on pc/follow command prompts > https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...overy-tool-faq

If you simply meant that your homescreen suddenly seems blank whereas previously it was populated with livetiles then do the following:

(btw this should not happen after an update) swipe to the right to access the all apps list > long tap on any app you would want on your startscreen > pin to start

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[shmsnh]

Do a factory reset using the hardware key combo.

[ven07]

Do a factory reset using the hardware key combo.

afaik the 550 does not have a camera button so your hard reset is impossible

[shmsnh]

afaik the 550 does not have a camera button so your hard reset is impossible

I do believe the camera button is not a part of the combo.

[kev0200]

I thought it was volume keys and on/off key?

[ven07]

Soft Reset

The soft reset is the same thing as pulling your battery (on devices where that is possible). This method will not remove anything at all from your phone and is completely safe to attempt in any problem situation.
You perform the soft reset by having your phone turned on. Then press and hold the volume down + power buttons until your phone vibrates and restarts. Note that you should not touch the device screen during the process (not even when the 'slide down to power off' prompt appears).

Hard Reset

The hard reset will bring your phone back to factory settings, the same state as when the device was first turned on. All apps, messages, media, personal settings, etc will be removed from the phone. If backup is turned on under Settings, you can restore your apps and settings after performing a hard reset (as long as you initialize the phone with the same Microsoft Account). Note that resetting your device will not remove any OS or firmware updates. You will remain on the same version of Windows Phone after the reset.
If you can TURN ON your device you can reset your phone under Settings: Settings > about > reset your phone

If you can't open your device because of a forgotten PIN (or similar), you can use the button method: Press and hold the power-, volume-down- and camera buttons until the phone vibrates. Then release the power-button and keep the other two buttons pressed for another five seconds. The phone should reset to factory settings.

If both of these options failed there is one more alternative. Use the Windows Device Recovery Tool to reset your device. This will take you back to the OS version which originally came with the phone. So for phones that did not ship with W10M, the WDRT will take it back to 8.0. If the phone was shipped with W10M, the tool will take it back to a version of W10M

Follow this link for instructions and download: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile/support/faq/?action=singleTopic&topic=FA142987

[shmsnh]

Press and hold the power-, volume-down- and camera buttons until the phone vibrates. Then release the power-button and keep the other two buttons pressed for another five seconds. The phone should reset to factory settings.

Sorry again, but this is old. Since WP8, the method has not required the camera button.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/...nd-as-expected

[MDK22]

Just pin apps (long press on app, pin to start) to START screen - that's all that's missing.

It had to do w difference in backups between versions of WM10.

BTW - now when you take an update, it'll restore (again) your Start screen (going forward).

... and that w/b HOME page (singular), this isn't ANDROID ...

[ven07]

Sorry again, but this is old. Since WP8, the method has not required the camera button.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/...nd-as-expected

Ah I see your point :) I mostly avoid that because people who've never done it before tend to panic lol

Edit: Haven't done the hard reset button combo for awhile, but phones with a camera button should still be able to use it..