A malfunctioning Android operating system sometimes warrants a hard reset. An incompatible application and certain OS errors can only be cleared by resetting a phone back to the default factory settings through hard reset.
Note that performing a hard reset will remove all data including the Google account, system data, application data, application settings, and downloaded applications. Only perform this reset if absolutely necessary.
There are two ways to hard reset a Motorola Droid phone:
i. using the menu in the Android OS
ii. hardware reset using button combinations
i. Using The Menu
-From any home screen, press the Menu button and select Settings
-Tap the Privacy option.
-Choose Factory data reset.
-Check the Erase SD card option if you wish to erase the memory card as well. If this is not selected, only the data within the phone memory will be lost. Make sure you have a back up of your music, videos and other files if you select this.
-Select Reset phone. If presented, enter the current passcode or draw the unlock pattern.
-Select Erase Everything and allow up to 3 minutes for the factory data reset and reboot processes to complete.
i. Using Keys Combination
-First power off the device by pressing and holding the power key till a menu appears. Select Power Off
-Slide the keyboard open
–Press and hold the X key on the keyboard while pressing and holding the Power button at the same time until the Recovery screen (exclamation point with an android figure) appears.
-At this point, slide the keyboard close.
-Press the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons on the side of the phone at the same time until the system recovery screen appears. If it doesn’t appear, try again.
-Press Volume down to select wipe data/factory reset the press the Power button to select this option.
-Press Volume down to select Yes — delete all user data then press the Power button.
Note that factory reset process may take several minutes to complete. DO NOT REMOVE THE BATTERY DURING THIS TIME.
-Select reboot system now then press the Power button
-Wait while the Droid 3 resets. Do not power off the phone while it is in progress
