- Aug 6, 2016
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A lot of people recommend to reset their phones after a major update, such as AU. I'm just wondering why most of them recommend hard reset instead soft? Doesn't soft reset do the same thing?
YesOK, so if I go to Settings ... System ... About and click on "Reset your phone" I'm doing the hard reset, correct?
OK, so if I go to Settings ... System ... About and click on "Reset your phone" I'm doing the hard reset, correct?
Yes and no.
IMHO the terminology on this board needs to be firmed up:
- Soft Reset - reboots the phone and clears the cache and RAM. This is a button push method using either the Volume Down + Power (older phones) or just the Power Button (newer models) and holding the relevant buttons until the phone vibrates and reboots (about 10 seconds). Use this to solve minor glitches that may crop up.
- Hard Reset - another button push method, but used to reflash the last OS version used which is stored in the recovery partition. Power off the phone > hold Volume Down > press Power > keep holding Volume Down until you see the exclamation (!) screen, then immediately release the Volume Down... Now tap Volume Up / Volume Down / Power / Volume Down... You should see the spinning gears and your phone will reflash the last OS version held in recovery. You do loose data, but get your phone back. Sign into your Microsoft Account and restore your backup during the set up.
- Factory Reset - this is a software method. It will reflash the last OS version used which is stored in the recovery partition. Access this through Settings > System > About > Reset your phone. You should see the spinning gears and your phone will reflash the last OS version held in recovery. You do loose data, but get your phone back. Sign into your Microsoft Account and restore your backup during the set up.
- Recovery - this is another software method and is done using the Windows Device Recovery Tool (WDRT) and requires a USB connection to desktop. It will return your device to a predesignated point of stability selected by Microsoft (and or the OEM partner). It may be the version on release of the device or at a predesignated Update point since release. This tool gets updated regularly and is an essential source of Firmware that may have been missed due to using Insider Rings or to revert from Insider builds. This is a tried and true method of getting a "clean install" as a bad entry in the device recovery partition may just perpetuate errors even through Hard Reset or Factory Reset.
For reasons I can't explain, Hard Reset is used interchangeably for the (true) Hard Reset button push method and the Factory Reset software method. Likely this is due to the fact that they achieve the same result. I believe they are different methods and are deserving of a distinction.
Consider a hard reset the same as doing a reformat/reinstall of your operating system. You'll lose everything and must start fresh from the OOBE (Out-Of-Box-Experience).
There is no relevant difference between a factory-reset and a hard-reset. Those are just two different ways of triggering the exact same restoration process. In either case the restoration process commences from the shutdown state.
I don't think your cause for concern is justified.I'm still not convinced that Hard Rest will provide the system with the proper and safe shutdown sequences in every instance. If the system is in an unresponsive and distressed state, where is the guarantee that shutdown occurs correctly? To me this is the difference between Hard and Factory Resets and why I would rather use WDRT on an unresponsive phone. This is a recent change in my prioritizing of the various methods. I have no empirical evidence, just a bit of deductive and inductive reasoning...