[Q] How to prevent data recovery on Samsung Galaxy S3? - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
I'm planning to sell my Samsung Galaxy S3. I've done a factory wipe and reset everything. :good:
Now, how can I prevent any apps to recover my old data? You know it's personal and don't want the buyer to recover my stuff.

Look for an app that writes random data to the internal sd, there is one in the freezing thread. However, given the difficulty people have in trying to recover data after an accidental wipe, I don't think you're in much danger.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

boomboomer said:
Look for an app that writes random data to the internal sd, there is one in the freezing thread. However, given the difficulty people have in trying to recover data after an accidental wipe, I don't think you're in much danger.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
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Thanks for your response, I also tried to search for such apps, couldn't find any reliable ones.

Moe560 said:
Hi,
I'm planning to sell my Samsung Galaxy S3. I've done a factory wipe and reset everything. :good:
Now, how can I prevent any apps to recover my old data? You know it's personal and don't want the buyer to recover my stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Data recovery is so hard from eMMC that the costs to recover anything might be very large anyway.
But if you are incredibly paranoid the "advanced" method should be to encrypt the internal storage (that way you will also get to see how it's done), and then wipe it all / factory reset again.

Moe560 said:
Hi,
I'm planning to sell my Samsung Galaxy S3. I've done a factory wipe and reset everything. :good:
Now, how can I prevent any apps to recover my old data? You know it's personal and don't want the buyer to recover my stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In recovery format system cache data sdcard .

Done
Done.
Thank you all, have wiped everything as well as cache wipe.

Thanks
JJEgan said:
In recovery format system cache data sdcard .
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Thanks :good:

thanks
xclub_101 said:
Data recovery is so hard from eMMC that the costs to recover anything might be very large anyway.
But if you are incredibly paranoid the "advanced" method should be to encrypt the internal storage (that way you will also get to see how it's done), and then wipe it all / factory reset again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Done that, thanks :good:

Related

Factory reset erases everything?

Will a factory reset erase everything in the internal (16gb or 32gb) ie, pictures, music, and/or other data? Or does it just reset the rom only?
really? I answered this in the other thread you asked it no need to create another thread
fatboypup said:
really? I answered this in the other thread you asked it no need to create another thread
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I understand but I figured Id ask in general section so the ones who actually have the device (international) can confirm since no one in the Sprint thread has the s3 yet. You did answer in regards to the s2 and do appreciate the reply.
If you do it in settings it will wipe everything including pictures
On the galaxy Note, when you did the reset under settings it ask you to check USB. which did wipe everythin....i have not seen this in sgs3 it just asked to reset and then clear all. but all my folders and app data where still there.
so in order to do a REAL wipe, i use clock work mode and just format cache, format system and format data.
the one in the setting menu SHOULD wipe everything though.
the2rrell said:
On the galaxy Note, when you did the reset under settings it ask you to check USB. which did wipe everythin....i have not seen this in sgs3 it just asked to reset and then clear all. but all my folders and app data where still there.
so in order to do a REAL wipe, i use clock work mode and just format cache, format system and format data.
the one in the setting menu SHOULD wipe everything though.
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Click to collapse
I have done it and it said everything will be erased including photos. All I had on the internal, themes, custom roms disappeared
Factory reset returns the device to factory default settings, in other words it wipes the entire data partition.
i have had to send two s 3s back .
i have factory reset both and yes it wipes everything except external sd
delsus said:
Factory reset returns the device to factory default settings, in other words it wipes the entire data partition.
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And all the rest, data partition doesn´t has its own partition anymore
sewe said:
And all the rest, data partition doesn´t has its own partition anymore
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Click to collapse
Damn I need to get up to date, damn my phone.
YES!
Any factory reset will delete all your stuff on your phone unless you have a sd card. An sd card is completely apart from your phone. Hope that helped man and god bless! Go androids!
512jmann10 said:
Any factory reset will delete all your stuff on your phone unless you have a sd card. An sd card is completely apart from your phone. Hope that helped man and god bless! Go androids!
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Sort of, it didn´t do that on sgs, sgs2 and other samsung phones before.
They have separate data partitions that are erased and all the rest remains
delsus said:
Factory reset returns the device to factory default settings, in other words it wipes the entire data partition.
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Useful thread
Will a factory reset restore a rooted phone to its previous un-rooted status?
Dont think its that simple
No, the /system/ partition will remain as-is. Only the cache and data partition are formatted.
Unrooting is not that difficult. Ok somewhat more difficult than this but still 5 minutes away...
Why do people post questions in general... I don't get it.. and no, a "general" question is not what this section is for. :banghead:
sent from my Galaxy S III
If you want to erase everything, you need to go to settings/storage, and format the internal sd after you do the factory reset.
Thanks guys for the reply. Its a bummer that it wipes everything as I do not want to have to back up things in the internal. The hard part too is when backing up game data. They're all over the place and sometimes I can't tell what the app is just by the folder name. Then you have to back up picture videos etc. Then having to transfer them back to the phone later if you do end up factory resetting. I'm hoping there will be a way around it later on. I could use GL to SD so game data are stored in the external SD but this means getting a 32gb S3 is kind of a waste but at least its already backed up in the card.
And I apologize for putting this in the general thread...it was too late by the time I posted so I couldnt change. Mod can move to Q&A if it needs to be there.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] How to reformat phone?

Hi,
I have CM7.2.0-RC1 installed on my Droid X2 (latest right now). The phone has gotten kind of laggy and I want to reformat the phone. And by reformatting, I want to my phone to be like I JUST installed CM7. Is there a simple way to do this since I'm already on CM7?
Thanks!
If you want to make it like a fresh install of CM7, boot into recovery and do a factory reset. This will wipe all your apps though.
jsgraphicart said:
If you want to make it like a fresh install of CM7, boot into recovery and do a factory reset. This will wipe all your apps though.
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Wiping my apps is fine. Will it also remove all my pictures?
longphant said:
Wiping my apps is fine. Will it also remove all my pictures?
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i keep all of my pictures and such on the root of my external sd card. if you do the same, wiping data will not erase your pictures.
Lorenzo VonMatterhorn said:
i keep all of my pictures and such on the root of my external sd card. if you do the same, wiping data will not erase your pictures.
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Great, thanks so much to both of you!
Go in to settings do factory reset . yes it will wipe all the data in your internal memory including pictures and videos. If you don't want to lose your data so synchronized phone and backup data.
Sent from my Micromax A110 using xda app-developers app
maddyrokieasta said:
Go in to settings do factory reset . yes it will wipe all the data in your internal memory including pictures and videos. If you don't want to lose your data so synchronized phone and backup data.
Sent from my Micromax A110 using xda app-developers app
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again, any pictures you want to make sure you keep, put them on the root of your external sd card somewhere safe, and wipe through recovery.
sorry this post made no sense to me and i wanted to avoid confusion. any images saved in camera apps folders may or may not be erased. move them to somewhere safe.
I have wiped data/factory reset many times from cwm bsr and have never lost any of my pictures. Fyi, wiping or resetting doesn't touch DCIM folder on your internal storage, which is where your phone saves them to by default if you select internal storage. I have some on both my external and internal storage and have never lost any of them. Again, wiping doesn't touch the folders where your pictures are stored. Unless of course you format your sd card in bsr.
Sent from my Eclipsed Droid X2 using Tapatalk 2
It seems that factory resetting using a custom recovery like CWM or TWRP won't remove pictures.

[Q] Format internal sd

Hello
I recently rooted and flashed LiquidSmooth onto my SG3 I747M and i would like to get rid of all the junk on my internal harddrive. I was wondering what the procedure would be to wipe my internal harddrive (So i do not have any random folders or old app files) on TWRP without losing my custom rom and root. Would i have to save the backup (just incase), custom rom and root on my sd card and just install it right after I wipe my harddrive?
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated
Thank you!
Wipe cache and go to /system/app and /data/app and delete unwanted apps. That should be enough.
Astu04 said:
Wipe cache and go to /system/app and /data/app and delete unwanted apps. That should be enough.
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Id like to just format my internal harddrive completely. Is there anyway of doing this without losing my custom rom, root and bricking my phone? Ive been searching everywhere and i havent been able to find a clear answer.
2trainz said:
Id like to just format my internal harddrive completely. Is there anyway of doing this without losing my custom rom, root and bricking my phone? Ive been searching everywhere and i havent been able to find a clear answer.
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boot into twrp, go to the wipe menu, and wipe everysingle thing. Then reflash your rom. That will wipe everything, and reinstall liquid smooth.
Doing this wont brick your phone or make you lose root.
chromium96 said:
boot into twrp, go to the wipe menu, and wipe everysingle thing. Then reflash your rom. That will wipe everything, and reinstall liquid smooth.
Doing this wont brick your phone or make you lose root.
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Thank you! This is exactly what i was looking for. What would i be wiping though? Obviously Cache, Dalvik and Factory Reset but do i have to wipe System, Internal storage and format data? (What does format data do)?
2trainz said:
Thank you! This is exactly what i was looking for. What would i be wiping though? Obviously Cache, Dalvik and Factory Reset but do i have to wipe System, Internal storage and format data? (What does format data do)?
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yeah wipe everything including system, and internal storage. format data formats the data partition of the phone, which is also necessary.
The only thing you dont have to wipe is your external sd card (if you even have one). Press thanks if i helped.

Factory reset and clockwork mod recovery

Ok i am new to the rooting and custom Rom game and I have a question. In stock form if I did a factory reset, everything on my phone was wiped, music pics everything. But when using the clockwork recovery it doesn't wipe out my pics and music. Why not?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
mrvoodoodaddy69 said:
Ok i am new to the rooting and custom Rom game and I have a question. In stock form if I did a factory reset, everything on my phone was wiped, music pics everything. But when using the clockwork recovery it doesn't wipe out my pics and music. Why not?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
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Did you hit factory reset in clockwork recovery as well?
Bcoz if your pics and music are in ur External Sd card clockwork mod recovry doesnt wipe ur files of SD card....so it happens that ur pics& music r nt wiped
DeathNotice said:
Bcoz if your pics and music are in ur External Sd card clockwork mod recovry doesnt wipe ur files of SD card....so it happens that ur pics& music r nt wiped
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ok that makes sense, the whole folder structure is taking me a little while to grasp, since there is no sd card on the gnex and it all being internal. just wasn't sure how it was picking what information to wipe. now that being said if i should want to wipe everything. could i go into the normal settings and do a factory reset wince i am running a custom rom?
Yes u can do the normal factory reset
Thorwak27 said:
Did you hit factory reset in clockwork recovery as well?
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yes, i did hit the factory reset in recovery, i thought i had maybe forgotten to. then i changed roms and made sure, that is what made me start to wonder what is up.
mrvoodoodaddy69 said:
yes, i did hit the factory reset in recovery, i thought i had maybe forgotten to. then i changed roms and made sure, that is what made me start to wonder what is up.
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Sometimes I know when installing roms it can make a legacy folder which I believe is like a clone of the original installation and sometimes the factory reset won't wipe that folder because it is "hidden". I am not sure why it does this. But I do recall someone mentioning this in the past (or something similar). I could be wrong though.
This legacy folder sounds reasonable. I do have one of those. I which has confused the crap out of me when looking for things. Maybe this is why all of my contact photos are out of sync. Now let's suppose I do a factory reset from the settings on the phone. What bad is going to happen?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
if u want to wipe everything in your internal storage including data such pic, music, downloaded apps etc...you can do one thing
-by using twrp custom recovery...go to advance wipe, tick all except the last two box
-in cwm go to advance/format data...be sure not to touch the ext. card
ramzell123 said:
if u want to wipe everything in your internal storage including data such pic, music, downloaded apps etc...you can do one thing
-by using twrp custom recovery...go to advance wipe, tick all except the last two box
-in cwm go to advance/format data...be sure not to touch the ext. card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am using cwm v6.0.4.3 and do not have the option to format data under the advance option, how ever under Mounts and Storage menu there is a format /data. would this be the one you speak of. actually this was the next question i was about to ask. thanks!
mrvoodoodaddy69 said:
i am using cwm v6.0.4.3 and do not have the option to format data under the advance option, how ever under Mounts and Storage menu there is a format /data. would this be the one you speak of. actually this was the next question i was about to ask. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-yes...something like this: format sd card (system,data ect)...i cant remember
-I'm using TWRP as my rom developer encourage us to use...more stable according to him
DeathNotice said:
Yes u can do the normal factory reset
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thanks for the info, i was makeing a WAG that this would work, but not being a pro at this thought i probably should ask before i winged it.

About wiping

I generally just wipe the data, cache and dalvik then flash the ROM. I have seen in a few threads to also wipe internal and SD. My question is what is getting wiped if I did do internal and SD. I've never done this before and wanted to ask before I did something I might regret later lol. Thanks.
Edde3d said:
I generally just wipe the data, cache and dalvik then flash the ROM. I have seen in a few threads to also wipe internal and SD. My question is what is getting wiped if I did do internal and SD. I've never done this before and wanted to ask before I did something I might regret later lol. Thanks.
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Anything you keep on your internal SD card...like pictures/music/documents. I would recommend not doing this at all. If you keep a ROM or other flashable zips in these locations and wipe them before you flash them, they'll disappear. It is kind of like formatting.
RMarkwald said:
Anything you keep on your internal SD card...like pictures/music/documents. I would recommend not doing this at all. If you keep a ROM or other flashable zips in these locations and wipe them before you flash them, they'll disappear. It is kind of like formatting.
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wiping internal clears out everything. meaning you wont be able to reboot into the OS from recovery unless you have a rom on your external SDS to flash before rebooting. I would recommend it unless you know what you are doing and want to start fresh.
08BajaBoy said:
wiping internal clears out everything. meaning you wont be able to reboot into the OS from recovery unless you have a rom on your external SDS to flash before rebooting. I would recommend it unless you know what you are doing and want to start fresh.
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Wiping internal is wiping the internal sd card . . . so as the first person said, you'd lose all the pictures/movies/etc. one may have in their sd card...
Edde3d said:
I generally just wipe the data, cache and dalvik then flash the ROM. I have seen in a few threads to also wipe internal and SD. My question is what is getting wiped if I did do internal and SD. I've never done this before and wanted to ask before I did something I might regret later lol. Thanks.
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Click to collapse
i wipe internal storage on every clean flash. if you get in the habit of using auto backup apps like g+ for pics, and move anything useful from downloads to the sd card as you get it, its really no haste to wipe it. i also have titanium do full backups every night while im sleeping, for system and app data.
im sure some people wil say they havent wiped it in 10 years and never have an issue. i can tell you, i dont have a fraction of the random issues most people have that arent known bugs.
08BajaBoy said:
wiping internal clears out everything. meaning you wont be able to reboot into the OS from recovery unless you have a rom on your external SDS to flash before rebooting. I would recommend it unless you know what you are doing and want to start fresh.
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Click to collapse
i have never tried it, but im pretty sure thats not accurate.
wiping internal storage should be nothing more than an advanced data wipe. instead of only deleting user data, you are deleting system data too. but you arent wiping any system files, so the system data should rebuild on boot.
bweN diorD said:
i wipe internal storage on every clean flash. if you get in the habit of using auto backup apps like g+ for pics, and move anything useful from downloads to the sd card as you get it, its really no haste to wipe it. i also have titanium do full backups every night while im sleeping, for system and app data.
im sure some people wil say they havent wiped it in 10 years and never have an issue. i can tell you, i dont have a fraction of the random issues most people have that arent known bugs.
i have never tried it, but im pretty sure thats not accurate.
wiping internal storage should be nothing more than an advanced data wipe. instead of only deleting user data, you are deleting system data too. but you arent wiping any system files, so the system data should rebuild on boot.
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Click to collapse
you probably are correct. I only replied because I recent had an experience with it. I passed my G2 on to a friend. I offered to load up what ever ROM he wanted and he chose CM12. I got it all loaded up and working fine. Then I decided to go back into recovery to erase any data I had on the device. I selected Internal Storage in TWRP, rebooted and it wouldn't go beyond the lg screen.
If I am correct, you would never notice it since you wipe then flash.
08BajaBoy said:
you probably are correct. I only replied because I recent had an experience with it. I passed my G2 on to a friend. I offered to load up what ever ROM he wanted and he chose CM12. I got it all loaded up and working fine. Then I decided to go back into recovery to erase any data I had on the device. I selected Internal Storage in TWRP, rebooted and it wouldn't go beyond the lg screen.
If I am correct, you would never notice it since you wipe then flash.
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Click to collapse
weird, maybe you are right. ill try it next time i clean flash and see what happens.
none of the rom code should be stored there, so it should rebuild.
if you accidentally wiped system, it defiantly wouldnt boot then.
I NEVER wipe Internal or External sd. I wipe cache, data & dalvik from time to time. I'll wipe system as well if I'm flashing a new rom. I tend to keep all of my media and app backups on my External sd just in case something ever happens. For example, if you have to revert back to stock, your Internal sd is completely wiped.

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