Factory reset vs hard reset

[huevobatido]

Can someone explain what is the difference between factory reset and a hard reset. I have a L920 that is having ma,y problems and was advised to hard reset it, but I found out that you can do a factory reset as well so I wonder what is the difference .

 

[xandros9]

Can someone explain what is the difference between factory reset and a hard reset. I have a L920 that is having ma,y problems and was advised to hard reset it, but I found out that you can do a factory reset as well so I wonder what is the difference .

I don't think there is even a difference

 

[snowmutt]

If I understand, there isn't any real difference. A factory reset, which is an option on your device, and a hard reset, which is accomplished by a combination of volume/power/other physical buttons depending on your make/model, will both wipe out all your data and force you to reenter all your email accounts, apps, contacts, so on so forth. It is just the hard reset is for use when your device crashes or freezes to the point you can't get to your other screen.

I am not putting money on it, but I believe that is accurate.

 

[huevobatido]

Well I found this link that kind of gives a good explanation between these 2 http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-factory-reset-and-hard-reset

But I don't know how accurate it is

 

[dakranii]

If I understand, there isn't any real difference. A factory reset, which is an option on your device, and a hard reset, which is accomplished by a combination of volume/power/other physical buttons depending on your make/model, will both wipe out all your data and force you to reenter all your email accounts, apps, contacts, so on so forth. It is just the hard reset is for use when your device crashes or freezes to the point you can't get to your other screen.

I am not putting money on it, but I believe that is accurate.

I believe the volume down/power button combo is considered a soft reset.

 

[John Lamoureux]

A reset from About in the settings menu, erases all your data and resets the phone to factory settings. The down volume/power/camera button (on a L920) does a hard reboot of the device that does not erase settings. Useful when the phone freezes or is in a funky state.

 

[OzRob]

A reset from About in the settings menu, erases all your data and resets the phone to factory settings. The down volume/power/camera button (on a L920) does a hard reboot of the device that does not erase settings. Useful when the phone freezes or is in a funky state.

Absolutely wrong. The "down volume/power/camera button" combo does the same thing as using the About menu - it resets to factory defaults and clears all settings. It is the "down volume/power" combo does a soft reset that doesn't erase settings.

To the OP, a 'factory reset' and 'hard reset' are just two different names for the same thing, i.e. to reset your phone to the factory shipped state, erasing all settings, downloaded apps and data.

 

[thedarknight68]

Is there any way to recover your apps / games after a reset??

 

[Ashish Saraf1]

Is there any way to recover your apps / games after a reset??

Backup your apps and if you have GDR3 update you can straight away connect ti wifi during initial startup and restore everything.

GDR2 needs cellular data to restore !

sent from my Nokia Lumia 820

 

[Optiplex330]

From my old Symbian experience, while both terms probably indicate the same thing, I find a Factory Reset (aka onsreen menu) seems to do a 'cleaner job' most of the time.

 

[Fuzzy John]

From my old Symbian experience, while both terms probably indicate the same thing, I find a Factory Reset (aka onsreen menu) seems to do a 'cleaner job' most of the time.

On-screen menu or the 3 button combo do the same thing. The 3 button combo comes in handy when the device is so screwed up that you cannot access the on-screen menu.

 

[John Lamoureux]

Absolutely wrong. The "down volume/power/camera button" combo does the same thing as using the About menu - it resets to factory defaults and clears all settings. It is the "down volume/power" combo does a soft reset that doesn't erase settings.

To the OP, a 'factory reset' and 'hard reset' are just two different names for the same thing, i.e. to reset your phone to the factory shipped state, erasing all settings, downloaded apps and data.

Absolutely wrong? What are you smoking? I have used that three-button combo and NEVER, repeat, NEVER, had it reset to factory default settings or erase data.

UPDATE: In fact, I just did it for grins. I stand by my original statement. A reset from the About menu resets the device to factory settings and erases all user data. The "three finger salute" just reboots the device.

 

[ratsttam]

Absolutely wrong? What are you smoking? I have used that three-button combo and NEVER, repeat, NEVER, had it reset to factory default settings or erase data.

UPDATE: In fact, I just did it for grins. I stand by my original statement. A reset from the About menu resets the device to factory settings and erases all user data. The "three finger salute" just reboots the device.

There is a possibly a different key combination for your device. A lot of devices have a hardware combination to "soft reset", or the equivalent of shutting down and turning back on. Another "hard reset" combination will have the same effect as the "factory restore" found in the menu. Not all devices have a hard or soft reset combination, so your mileage may vary.

 

[Eric J F]

OK- What does this do?

VOLUME UP > VOLUME DOWN > POWER > VOLUME DOWN

Somewhere I read it does a factory/hard reset? I don't want to be the guinea pig to prove it!

 

[hopmedic]

The terms soft reset and hard reset mean different things to different people, but most often, you'll find that when they say soft reset they mean to power down the phone (not just turn off the screen) and power it back up, and most often a hard reset refers to setting the phone back to factory new, by going to settings, about, reset my phone. Sometimes people refer to a hard reset as what you get when you hold down the volume down and power buttons (Nokia devices only), but this is just the same result as what I described as a soft reset, when powering down the normal way doesn't work (phone locked up, screen not responsive to touch).

 

[Eric J F]

I found the answer to my question, and did a short summary of hardware soft and hard resets. The procedures are from the WP8 'Help+Tips.' This summary might be useful to others.

Soft reset is rebooting the phone with no loss of settings, data, or apps. Hard or factory reset returns the phone to its original condition, but retains any firmware and OS updates.

REBOOT (Soft Reset):
Press and hold the POWER button for at least 12 seconds.
Or, press and hold POWER and VOLUME DOWN buttons until phone vibrates. Release.
Or, remove and replace the battery (if possible).

FACTORY (Hard) RESET:
1. Turn the power off.
2. Press and hold the VOLUME DOWN button, until you see an exclamation mark. If it doesn't appear push the POWER button briefly while pressing VOLUME DOWN.
3. Then press the following hardware buttons in sequence: VOLUME UP > VOLUME DOWN >POWER > VOLUME DOWN.

Above a post says VOLUME DOWN + POWER + CAMERA BUTTON does a factory reset; has anyone acutally done this?

 

[Blacklac]

That makes it sound like a hard reset would be worthless for attempting to fix odd bugs not caused by downloaded apps. Sounds like a mere data wipe.