Preparing your Android Phone Before Upgrading Firmware

Upgrading your phones firmware and getting bunch of new features is really exited thing but new firmware comes with many problem.

You will lost your almost important data, settings and applications. so before upgrading we have to create complete backup of our data and some other task like -preparing pc. below you can see complete guide of preparing phone before upgrading.

Please follow all steps of this guide , because it is essential for every android phone before upgrading / installing firmware. 

(1)  Check your phone compatibility

The first and most important thing is to check your phone’s current firmware version and status of sim to ensure that you can update your phone or not . you can check firmware version by going to settings > about phone .

Other factor is if your phone is locked with network like T-Mobile , AT&T or any of your area. Then it is Probably possible  that you can’t update your phone with the firmware of unlocked and international version phone. check your phone network lock status by following this very basic guide –

1. Did your phone have any company logo on it ?
2. Do you purchased your phone from a mobile operator store ?
3. Do you got your phone under contract with any sim provider ?
4. Does your phone blocks when you insert another operators sim ?
5. Do you see mobile operators logo when you switch on/off your phone ?

If any one or more question’s answer is "YES" then it is confirmed your phone is locked with network and you need to skip normal update process . Wait for particular network firmware update

(2)  Backup things

Note: While upgrading phone manually or installing any leaked/beta/unofficial firmware , please make backup with the methods below. pc suite software for your phone will not recognize your phone after upgrade and you will not able to restore your backup created by your phone’s pc suite (e.g. for Samsung KIES)

I). Backing up phone data

Updating firmware process will delete all data from your phone like – message,contacts,calendar . So we have to make backup on sd card or on pc or on online backup service. You can follow this Guide to Know about backing up your phone data before upgrading.

How to Backup Android Phone data before Upgrading Firmware

II). Making phone apps backup

Upgrading firmware will also delete your pre-installed and purchased apps , to get these apps back you can make your apps backup. Please note that you need to root your phone to make this backup and restore it. Follow this article below –

How to Make Full Android Backup with Titanium Backup, and How to Restore it

III). Backing up APN settings

Updating firmware also restores MMS and APN settings of your mobile operator. To backup these settings you can go to Applications > Settings > Wireless and Network > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names and write down these settings on paper , after upgrade reconfigure them manually  OR use this recommended site to get settings in seconds

(3)  Charge your phone

This is the most essential thing while upgrading firmware , before doing anything with your phone please charge your phone battery at least 75% .

if your phone switched off during update process then you will have a nice brick (dead phone)

(4)  Preparing Your PC

1. Very important thing, remove / completely disable all software that are used with your phone, on PC . This will prevent other softwares to interfere in firmware flashing
2. Install all needed drivers of your phone to work updater software properly (For samsung android phones you can use these drivers)
3. Check that you have right updater software version, before following the updating guide
4. Make sure you have administrator permission on pc in order to work updater software properly
5. Also Stop any antivirus , firewall software on your computer

(5) Remove SIM and SD card

Many people don’t follow this step and it can cause many problems , so I highly recommend to remove memory card and SIM[Source]

Posted in: Android Guide, TUTORIAL