Help: Stolen phone, not sure if I can transfer any data

**jadebear** · 12-30-2012, 11:53 AM

My phone was stolen yesterday, and my business pretty much runs off of it. Rogers (I'm in Canada) blocked the phone immediately, so the thief can't get into it.

I had Blackberry Protect installed, but I have no idea how to access that data and install it onto a new phone. BlackBerry Protect doesn't allow me to remotely link anything, so I have a feeling that app is useless. When I load up the Blackberry Protect page, it says "To add a device to this account, load the BlackBerry Protect Application onto your device from the BlackBerry AppWorld." Well, I already have the app on my phone, and it's been backing information up SOMEWHERE, but I don't know where or how to get at it.

Once I do (hopefully) access that data, how do I go about installing it onto another phone? Does that new phone have to be a Blackberry?

Help

**dangerousfen** · 12-30-2012, 12:12 PM

Yes, it has to be a Blackberry phone. Load BB Protect on your new BB and run it. Enter your BB ID then once. accepted, it will prompt a restore. Go for it. I've done it several times with replacement phones and it works a treat.

Alan.

**Ray III** · 12-30-2012, 01:18 PM

The BlackBerry Protect website is where the data is stored (if you have the app on your phone and it made a backup). Maybe the carrier had the phone dropped from your account, but the backup should be out there somewhere.

Pictures and other saved items reside on the micro SD card in the phone; if you don't have a copy saved to your computer, they're gone.

**DisturbedRocks31** · 12-30-2012, 01:20 PM

Just wondering, can the thief just wipe the data by entering an incorrect password 10 times and start using it normally?

**dangerousfen** · 12-30-2012, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by DisturbedRocks31

Just wondering, can the thief just wipe the data by entering an incorrect password 10 times and start using it normally?

No. Once the 10 attemps have been made it will lock out

**Xopher** · 12-30-2012, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by DisturbedRocks31

Just wondering, can the thief just wipe the data by entering an incorrect password 10 times and start using it normally?

Yes, and no.

Entering the password incorrectly ten times will wipe the phone, which will reset it back to like-new. So the thief who stole it could put a different SIM in and start using it.

You can do things to thwart that. Once you replace the SIM, the old one should be deactivated. If you're on a CDMA carrier, they can lock the MEID so it can't be reactivated again. You can also report the phone stolen to your carrier and they can have RIM lock out the PIN.

**fernandez21** · 12-30-2012, 02:09 PM

I've always wondered why more companies don't do complete back ups like apple does. If I restore on my iPhone, I get all my data restored including pictures, music, call logs, text messages, contacts, apps, even app data like saved games. The only one close was webOS, but that wouldn't do pictures or music, but would everything else.

Does anyone know how BB10 will handle back ups?

**FunktasticLucky** · 12-30-2012, 02:16 PM

because the iPhone doesn't have micro SD... I can back everything up using desktop manager. Which I normally do.

**fernandez21** · 12-30-2012, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by FunktasticLucky

because the iPhone doesn't have micro SD... I can back everything up using desktop manager. Which I normally do.

But how does that help with a situation such as the OP's? I would much rather all my info backed up to the cloud or my computer instead of a local SD card.

**jadebear** · 12-30-2012, 10:00 PM

Thank you all for your input. I ended up just importing as many contacts as I could from my gmail and facebook, and opting to get an Android. The Blackberry backup system is incredibly frustrating for me, and not particularly user-friendly. That said, I am notoriously tech un-savvy, so maybe I just need a slightly simpler tool.