Wiping your Blackberry Clean
Hang around the Blackberry support forums long enough and someone, somewhere will ask how you can wipe all the data from a Blackberry so that you can sell it on eBay (presumably because your company is buying you a new one or some such). Although I've heard rumors that this is going to be fixed in version 4.0 of their client operating system, you can completely wipe all the data by completing a few easy steps. From the ribbon, select the 'Options' menu, proceed to the 'Security' option and then make sure that the 'Password' option is enabled. Choose 'Save' using the scroll wheel. When your Blackberry locks, enter the incorrect password ten times in a row. After doing so all the data on the handheld will be deleted.
Inevitably (and comically) you'll also see someone complaining that they lost all their data on their Blackberry because they punched the wrong password in ten times, which is only funny if it's not your Blackberry that just lost all it's data. I'm sure there are lots of people out there who've lost all their contacts, email, calendars items, etc. who would agree that this easter egg is one they'd like to see retired. Again, from what I've read, this 'feature' (deleting all the data from a handheld) is something that's going to be wrapped into the Blackberry Enterprise Server Administrator, where it belongs.
November 01, 2004 in Tips by ajohnson