Tips and Tricks: Resetting symbian mobile phones

I did it again !! I corrupted my cell phone once more as it refuses to start again. I own Nokia N73 Music edition from last eight months and fiddling with it like a hobby to me, and it had got used to my crude handling! Almost everyday I install new softwares and stuffs to try them out and several times it ends with the phone being unusable.

Yesterday was the same day, I installed a couple of softwares for a review thinking that I will uninstall then later. But alas, after a restart my cell wouldn't boot and I had to hard format and reinstall my favorite softwares back. So I thought sharing the procedure would make life a bit easy for many people. I had tried and tested this on my N73, but hopefully this will also work with other Nokia symbian phones. Before starting remember to backup all your important data, incase something goes wrong.

You can Soft Reset your device with the code *#7780# + security code (default- 12345 if you didn't change it) so your device will be back to factory settings. This code doesn't erases your personal data, it only changes the phone settings.

WARNING - Use the following steps at your own risks !

You can Hard Reset your device with the code *#7370# + security code (default- 12345 if you didn't change it) so your device will be as the first day. You will loose your all data because the phone is formatted completely.

In extreme case if your phone has seriously crashed and won't boot, remove the MMC card if any and then try to start the phone. If the phone starts the problem lies with the MMC. you can now format the card on your computer through a card reader and then again on your phone, as cards formatted on the computer doesn't work with the phone but reformatting would solve that problem.

If the problem is with the phone you can perform the same hard reset this way:

1. Make sure your battery is fully charged or is connected to the charger.
2. Switch-off your Nokia Symbian phone.
3. Press and hold 3 keys; Green dial key, * Star key, no. 3 key on keypad and then press the power on/off to switch on phone.
4. Remember, do not let go the 3 press and hold keys until you see the formatting screen.
5. After a few minutes when the process is over, your phone will be back to the original delivered system.