1.REMOVE THE MEDIA CARD - Many people have upgraded their device OS with the media card installed, but just as many, if not more have experienced data corruption of their media by leaving the card in....corruption which leads to random reboots of your device, among other things.
2. BACK UP YOUR DATA!!! - This is an extremely important step - I cannot stress this enough. Newer releases of Desktop Manager have this automatically built in to the upgrade process, but to be sure, make sure that box is checked in Desktop Manager and go ahead and do a back up beforehand anyway.
3. VERIFY you are using the latest version of Desktop Manager. I've seen a lot of folks happy with version 4.7 of Desktop Manager, but for my purposes here, I'll suggest and recommend version 4.6 until a newer release of 4.7 comes out. To check your current version, open BlackBerry Desktop Manager. In the upper righthand corner is a dropdown entitled Help. Click on that and select About BlackBerry Desktop Manager. We recommend that you uninstall older versions of Desktop Manager before installing a more current version.
4. Download and INSTALL on your PC/laptop the lastest Operating System for your device. It does not matter from which carrier you get the OS, but it must be specific to your device. In other words, you cannot load the OS for an 8100 on your 8310. I emphasized install because downloading and installing are two different things. In most cases, however, the installing will occur automatically after the executable has been downloaded. Just in case, it's wise to make note of where these files are loading on your computer. Go to your Control Panel>Add or Remove Programs (Programs and Features on Vista) and look for anything that says BlackBerry Device Software 4.x. If you click on that, it should tell you at the bottom of the screen what the version number is. If it's the one you wanted, you're good to go, otherwise you'll need to locate the files you downloaded and initiate the installation of the OS from there.
5.
If you are installing an OS from your carrier then you can skip this step, otherwise you must delete the "vendor.xml" file. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader on your PC/laptop, highlight and delete this file. You can also search your computer's hard drive for the "vendor.xml" file and delete it that way.
6.
Connect your device to the computer. If prompted, type your BlackBerry device password and click OK.
7.
Open Desktop Manager. It should recognize that there is an upgrade for your device. If you are not prompted to upgrade, there are a few likely scenarios:
- You have not properly downloaded and installed the device OS onto your PC/laptop.
- You have not deleted the vendor.xml file.
- You have another 4.x version of the OS on your computer that needs to be uninstalled through Control Panel>Add or Remove Programs (Programs and Features if you're running Vista).
8.
When the Application Loader Wizard is finished examining the configuration on the BlackBerry device, the Device Application Selection screen appears listing the applications and OS version available for installation. The selected check boxes indicate applications that are already installed on the BlackBerry device. At this point you can select or unselect any applications you wish to install or leave off your device.
9.
If you're not sure if you have a current back up of your device you should double check this option is checked within Desktop Manager!
10.
Now, just follow the prompts and have your new OS installed in less than an hour! Desktop Manager will inform you of any errors along the way, as well as indicating that the upgrade operation was completed successfully.
Alternate Install/Upgrade Instructions:
1 through 5 will remain the same in these Instructions,after those steps follow this:
6.
Connect your device to the computer.
7.
Navigate once again to the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader on your PC/laptop.
In that folder you'll see an executable icon called Loader. Double click that icon:
Then click Next.
You will see the Application Loader Wizard:
The following screen should be Communication Port Selection and your PIN should show up in the box. Click Next again.
Loader will then read the device and your computer for the OS. As in the traditional installation method, the selected check boxes indicate applications that are already installed on the BlackBerry device. Again, from here you can select or unselect any applications you wish to install or leave off your device.
8.
Continue to follow the prompts as in the traditional method and your new OS will proceed to be installed. With this method you will still be informed of any errors along the way, as well as indicating that the upgrade operation was completed successfully.
Be Patient. Device upgrades can take as long as an hour and sometimes even longer! Whatever you do, let the Desktop Manager do its thing! Don't be tempted to unplug the cable or stop the upgrade no matter how long it's taking! Device initialization is probably the most painfully slow portion of the upgrade process, so just be patient!
Remember: You do this at your own risk and neither BlackberryOS, nor the authors of this post assume any responsibility. Having said that, also know that you have a world of support available to you here on BlackberryOS, so you can feel confident that in the event something goes wrong, which while entirely possible is very unlikely, it will be addressed and resolved quickly!
Information obtained from Pinstack.com
How to: Install and Upgrade your Operating System
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