Regarding start-up Gmail account

[sushimonster]

A big hello to everyone. I am new here so still learning to get around; either way, some patience would be greatly appreciated during my learning process...

An introduction:

Basically, I bought myself my first smartphone, an Xperia Arc S. This would be the very first smartphone I've owned the past 15 odd years I've owned a mobile phone.

Being a student I have quite a few email addresses (all of which are Gmail). Some I use for personal use, others dedicated for my education provider.

When I first fired up the Arc S, it fired up the activation wizard (so that confirms the phone is at least new...). When it came to registering a Gmail account, I gave it one of my personal emails and tapped OK.

The Arc S here has Android 2.3.4 with a build-number of 4.0.2.A.0.62, if that's relevant in any way.

The nitty gritty (the problem):

In short, I now wish to change the sole, primary email address. I only want one email address.

**I guess you can see where this is going**

...but I am trying to find out whether / how to remove the sole Google account on the phone WITHOUT doing a master reset. And WITHOUT rooting the phone (and deleting the account.db file). Anyone able to assist?

I've searched around here and on Google trying all sorts of methods (all to no avail).

Now.

If I absolutely HAVE to do a factory reset...

What does a factory reset do? Does it restore the phone to an 'out-of-the-box' configuration and restore all factory bloatware applications and phone settings? Or does it quite literally delete EVERYTHING so that you're starting with a clean Android OS?

Yeah. In short, I've not done a lot to this phone except delete a few bloatware and activate Wisepilot (which I just learned is only a 30 day license, not a life-time thing? If the former, I'll uninstall that too later on).

I also noticed that the bundled memory card has a lot of stuff on it; most of it looks like bloatware. Is it safe to tick the 'Erase SD card' in that respect?

I just want to get the Arc S to an 'out-of-the-box' configuration so that I can start fresh, but it seems that the factory reset doesn't get the phone into that state; it will delete a lot of apps (factory included and otherwise) and leave me to it. I'd at the very least want to see Wisepilot and the Thinkfree Office app to remain as those may prove to be of use some time down the track...

Yeah... This question / query has been asked quite a lot of times apparently but no-ones actually answered the factory-reset part of my question above (well, they have but it seems to be contradictory).

I fired up the SUS (Sony Update Service) in the hopes of a 'repair' option (which I've used on past Sony Ericsson successfully), but it only has UPGRADE and FACTORY-RESET THEN UPGRADE option.... Not sure what the point of the latter is if both lead to the same thing (ie, Android 4.0, which I am NOT keen on upgrading to at the moment)....

So yeah... Getting it back to that 'out-of-box' state would be splendid. I don't mind spending a few extra minutes setting this thing up again. But I don't want to LOSE anything (apps, software etc) preinstalled from the factory; I'd like to uninstall those myself at my own will. I just need to re-set my primary email...

Thanks a bunch to all those able to assist.

[MarlonUk1 · Accepted solution]

lol. first of all  welcome to the forum

1.)so yes afaik, it's gonna be root or reset.

2.)you got your answer "it restores the phone to an 'out-of-the-box' configuration and restore all factory bloatware applications and phone settings".

3.)if you erase SD card, not just bloatwares would be deleted but also the preloaded images/videos/songs, and those would not return even after a repair.

4.)you would not be able to reset using PCC/SUS and not upgrade to 4.0 at the same time, since it is already available to your device, one way would be to go to a sony service center.

my suggestion:

1.) there is another way of reset, go to service menu, by dialing *#*#7378423#*#*, customization settings>reset

[sushimonster]

Hi there. Cheers for the reply.

1). Yeah... Sucks that Google forced this upon us... I'm not too well educated on Android (yet) to confidently root the Arc S. Well, apparently my build-version requires extra steps, but that's another story...

2). So can you confirm that doing a factory reset in the SETTINGS menu (not the service menu) pretty much restores EVERYTHING? So pretty much that sought-after 'out-of-the-box' configuration, with all deleted apps restored etc etc?

3). At this rate, I'll leave the SD Card alone... I've uninstalled WhatsApp (since I don't use it), and have deleted the WhatsApp folder on the card there. Among other files / folders that I also deleted because they definitely were bloatware; I technically don't want those back anyways...

4). Reset via service menu is the exact same as the Factory Reset? Or does the service menu reset do something that the Factory Reset doesn't?

My apologies if I sound (a little~) repetitive; new toy borked up and I want this factory reset to be my first and last... And thanks again~

[MarlonUk1]

1.) yeah, i think it's because google services ( google play , gmail, etc) are deeply rooted to the account you entered, it keeps some details and backup.

2.) yes, I did, it more than twice, I had deleted the pre installed mcafee antivirus , and when I did the reset, it came back again, it also asked me to enter again my google/facebook account. basically the "out of box " state.

3.)you don't want the images and videos? I like them

4.) as fas as I have observe, it basically the same as the reset in the settings, I remember trying it once, I thought "reset customization" was just a reset for wallpapers and stuff, and BAM! It deleted all my newly installed apps and all of my personal data was gone. and it also lunched the setup guide

5.)everyone starts as newbies, don't worry about it, I've been there too.

btw have you tried just to add another account? see setup guide app/

[sushimonster]

Just did a Factory Reset (via the menu).

...and that was the most anti-climatic electronics experience I've gone through ever. Though that's good in my case ^_^

I've noticed that some bloatware (that I uninstalled before) returned. But apparently some didn't. Though that's not a biggie since I researched those quite heavily before doing so (and some weren't in English in the first place).

In any case. I've now put in my email address of choice. No more worries~ And thanks a million nolramlb for the tips~

My next worry is ICS but I probably won't commit to that update until 2.3 becomes what 2.1 is today...

[MarlonUk1]

lol
...see you've learned something today., hahah

well, its gonna be your choice whether to upgrade or not, but if you do upgrade, I advise to perform a repair after, that would help.

and try experimenting with different apps on google play.

welcome to android universe.

[01151723142]

Format sony google account apps email 

[01151723142]

*#*#7378423#*#*,