Looking for help completely reseting my Droid 4.

[Dalrint]

Okay, what I would like to do, is backup my text messages and contacts, then erase my internal and SD card memory and start over with a 'base' installation of whatever the latest version of the standard verizon OS is.

Right now I am running on System Version: 6.16.217XT894.verizon.en.us, which is I think Android 4.0.4? I have safestrap 3.05 installed, and titanium backup, and since whenever I did this I've installed and uninstalled so many things that my phone is just not running well at all. So, I want to start over as much as I can. I've tried just updating to the last version, but of course it fails because ages ago I froze a bunch of the bloatware verizon sticks on here. I tried uninstalling most of the apps on my phone that I've added, games and stupid stuff, but it doesn't seem to help with the slowdown and nonresponsiveness.

All I really use my phone for anymore is actual phone stuff, the internet, and as a wifi hotspot (using wifi tether), and since I want to use it as a hotspot, I know I have to keep root.

Hah. 'Bloatware' is a recognized word on here. Nice.

Is there any guide to how I can do all this? Or...multiple guides I can piece together? I haven't done anything fancy with my phone in forever so I'm not really sure where to even start.

 

[AECRADIO]

You can access the menu for 'Backup & Reset'.

In this menu, you can select a factory data reset, which will restore your phone to factory original settings, but it erases all data in the phone.

 

[Dalrint]

You can access the menu for 'Backup & Reset'.

In this menu, you can select a factory data reset, which will restore your phone to factory original settings, but it erases all data in the phone.

Okay. Will I have to reroot my phone afterwards? And does that delete my external SD card?

 

[bweN diorD]

Okay. Will I have to reroot my phone afterwards? And does that delete my external SD card?

no, fdr only delets user data and doesnt touch system files. you should just have to re-install a su app and be good to go.
and no, it only deletes data directly on the phone, but it never hurts to take it out if your concerned.

 

[Dalrint]

Okay, so I did the backup and the factory reset, and the phone seems to be running faster now!

However, i went to perform the system update that I've been avoiding for a while, and it still failed?

 

[Jeffrey]

Looks like your phone is modified. The OTA update looks for mods and will continue to fail if detected. You will need to return your phone to stock in order to get the update.

 

[Dalrint]

Hmm. Is the update worth going through that?