BlackBerry® Bold™

[KrazeeKool]

Hey, my Bold got thrown into a bath by my nephew and after having put it in a bowl of rice for a day and a half, I'm sure it's past the point where I could just continue using it, so I've decided to send it off to get recycled. The problem is, I really don't want to send it off without wiping the memory first!!

After the rice, I connected it to my laptop and switched it on and it worked well enough for me to think it was completely ok, but since then, the phone won't start, with only the red light going on and off, and a low-battery sign appearing on the screen every so often. 

So I'd really appreciate some advice on how I could possibly wipe the memory from my phone, and if not, would my password and data be retrievable by a third-party if I send it off without doing anything?

Thanks

[sdgardne · Accepted solution]

Hi and Welcome to the Community!

The only thing predictable about moisture intrusion into a BB is that the results will be unpredictable...

Since you've decided it's not recoverable, we'll skip past what you could attempt...the "rice trick" is correct, but only a day and half is less than the recommended timeframe (3-5 days). Any attempts at power up prior to the completion of the waiting period lessen the likelihood of success. But, again, no matter.

If you can't get it to power up anymore, then you can't perform any wipe actions. There are both on-device WIPE commands as well as WIPE's you can execute from a PC when the BB is properly USB tethered to the PC. But, again, if as you say the BB won't power up, then nothing can work.

If you assigned a device-lock password, then your data is safe...if someone manages to get the BB working, then when they are unsuccessful at entering the password too many times, the BB will dutifully wipe itself clean.

Good luck!

[KrazeeKool]

Thanks for letting me know!! At least I can get some peace of mind now