Preparing my 4S for resale...

[hakr100]

I've got my 4S for sale (ad in Marketplace here) and when I sell it I want to reset it back to the way it came from the store, with no activation, no personal info, no paid for apps.

What's the best way to do that?

And, second, how do I save and then restore the apps on my 4S so I can install them on a new iPhone 5?

Thanks!

 

[mattopotamus]

Back your phone up to iCloud for easy restore to the 5. Make sure you delete your old iCloud/iMessage account and then go to settings, general, reset, and restore the phone to factory settings on the 4s. Some people have had issues with their iMessage staying on the old phone after restore. That's why I suggest deleting it.

 

[hakr100]

Back your phone up to iCloud for easy restore to the 5. Make sure you delete your old iCloud/iMessage account and then go to settings, general, reset, and restore the phone to factory settings on the 4s. Some people have had issues with their iMessage staying on the old phone after restore. That's why I suggest deleting it.

I'm confused. You say back up the phone to iCloud, but then you say delete my "old iCloud/iMessage" account...

Where do I delete my iCloud/iMessage account, and if I do that, from what will I restore my apps and settings to the new iPhone? And I don't see an iMessage setting on iCloud...

Sorry for my confusion...but I am confused.

 

[JodyK]

Just make a back up whether it be through itunes on your computer or the icloud. Also download your camera roll to iphoto (mac) or to your pc. Then just go to

Settings
General
Reset
Erase All Content and Settings

No need to worry about anything else this will make it factory out of the box fresh on whatever iOS version you currently have installed

 

[hakr100]

Just make a back up whether it be through itunes on your computer or the icloud. Also download your camera roll to iphoto (mac) or to your pc. Then just go to

Settings
General
Reset
Erase All Content and Settings

No need to worry about anything else this will make it factory out of the box fresh on whatever iOS version you currently have installed

Jody...thanks...and when I get the new iPhone 5, I can what, just do a restore from that backup?

Hope so.

 

[lelisa13p]

They mean to turn OFF iMessage on the iPhone before you wipe it. After you get your new iPhone up and running, go to Apple.com and disassociate your old iPhone from your account. Your goal for the sale of your old iPhone is to remove all traces of your account from that device. Some of those traces are located in your iCloud/Apple account online. I think you also remove your old SIM card but someone else should verify this because I've never sold my old iPhones, just passed them on to family members.

If you want your new iPhone to mirror what you had installed on the previous iPhone, you'll Restore from backup as part of the setup process.

I've done this 3 times using iTunes backups for a progression of iPhones and have never had any problems. The key is to run a complete backup of your old iPhone before you attempt setup of your new one.

Come back to this thread if you run into trouble.

 

[hakr100]

Thanks...a "complete" backup is, I hope, what happens when in iTunes, you simply invoke the backup option. If it is something more, please let me know.

 

[lelisa13p]

That's the one.

 

[JodyK]

Thanks...a "complete" backup is, I hope, what happens when in iTunes, you simply invoke the backup option. If it is something more, please let me know.

Yes on the left hand side half way down in iTunes you will see your device. Right click on it and you should see the option to back it up. When you get the new iPhone and plug it in it will see that it's new and ask you whether you want to set up as a new phone or restore from a back up. You can choose the most recent back up and you will be up and going before you know it.

 

[lelisa13p]

My post from another thread that I posted to last week:

To get it perfect I had to run two restoration processes, one immediately after the other.

I restored from backup and in the first process an older initial iPhone 4 installation backup was used; no choice of backup set was offered. Obviously all items weren't there. Next, I right-clicked on the drop arrow next to the device name in iTunes and chose Restore from Backup again and was then allowed to choose the backup set that I'd run the nite before my iPhone 5 arrived. The result of that 2nd restoration process was perfect and 100% completely a clone of my current iPhone 4 including all folders and settings.

I only use iTunes. No iCloud backups.