BlackBerry adds “Reset to Factory Default” option
One of the largest complaints over the last few years in the BlackBerry world has been the inability to remove the IT policy on a device that was formerly on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. As I tell those who ask me, when a device is activated on a BES, it retrieves the policy and then locks it in a read-only state; when you wipe the device, it opens that policy to a read/write state where it can be overwritten by another policy.
Well, in an effort to send former employees out and on their way to a nice, soft pillowed landing without a restrictive policy on their device, even after a security wipe, RIM has now added the ability for the BES Administrators to send a kill command that will remotely wipe the device and set it back to "Factory Defaults", or removing the IT Policy (and third-party applications), in addition to the command’s standard wiping tasks.
Remote Wipe Reset to Factory Defaults
Specify whether the BlackBerry device resets itself to factory default settings when it receives the Erase Data and Disable Handheld IT Admin command over the wireless network. Set this IT policy rule to True to require the BlackBerry device to permanently delete its stored IT policy and delete all third party applications, in addition to performing the BlackBerry device wipe process.
If you do not set this rule, a default value of False will be used.
This rule applies only to Java-based BlackBerry devices version 4.2.2 and higher.
Obviously this can only benefit some, as those purchasing their devices from eBay likely don’t have access to a BES server, but it still shows that someone ‘up there’ is listening to even the most minor of our requests.
This feature is available as an IT Policy option in BES 4.1 SP4 (look under Security Policy Group) and, as mentioned above, is only applicable to those devices running OS 4.2.2 and above (BlackBerry Curve and 8830 only, for now).
As a BES administrator you would think they would re-activate the device using a blank default policy before issuing the device to someone outside of their network. After the device is activated using the blank policy then you can simply “wipe handheld” through the security settings of the device. That would put the handheld back to default except it would keep the 3rd party apps just erasing all the data.
None the less that feature will save time for BES admins. Although it was possible to remove the policy before they made this update, sure is nice to have a built in feature now.
This feature is not that great since you can currently send a “blank” policy before sending the Erase commeand. What would be nice is if the Wipe Handheld option in the device would remove the IT Policy.
I agree with…sending a “blank” policy is still a policy. Resetting it back to factory has been long overdue.
Good call Jibi.Your absolutly right. Some of the features will still be disabled due to security reasons but probably not noticable to the average corporate/consumer users who only use half of the built in features. Only the real geeks who take full advantage of their devices would notice the difference.
Sending a blank policy dosn’t completly work. The user still wont have control to turn on and off the firewall.
can anybody help me please.. i just bought an BB 8820 and it is locked to Etisalat network carrier. is there any way i can unlock it to use different carriers ? what if i reset it to the factory defaults .. will i be able to use it on a a different carriers. thank you
Well i have factory reset mine, now i dont know how to re activate it, or get anything to happen. any suggestions as to what to do once you reset it?
Hi! I bought a blackberry curve from rogers and bring it back home with me to jamaica and now it cannot work with our network. can somebody help me.
How do I completely wipe my BlackBerry Storm back to factory specs to completely clean the device?
How do I reset data usage : exeeded 250kb and voice usage : exeeded 60 minutes on blackberry ?
so how is this done???
To reset i to factory default go to the menu then click on the options thes security options then click ur menu button againd and choose wipe halndheld
I got a new blackberry and tranfered all my info but it also tranfered my settings. i dont want those settings, i liked the default settings on the new phone. is there a way to reset those without wiping my data?
I just got a bb 8703E and i tried dowloading an app and now my screen is stuck on the hour glass. I have tried to take the battery out and that didnt do anything the hour glass just came back. I tried holding ALT+SHIFT/CAP+DELETE and it asked me if i want to reset and i pressed enter and i just started the hour glass again. any ideas without having to take it in to the store?
i us bought a BB 8330 off a friend. I want to erase everything on it….cuz right now all the email n everything is setup wit his email….how would i go bout signing him out of all of that so i dnt get his emails n i can set my own accounts to it?? im new to the blackberrry and all this server and network talk is confusing me. i jus want to clear all data n sign him out of the emails n aol n what not.