I have a client with a Motorola phone bought several years ago but never used. She has no memory or record of either her email address or the phone number of the long expired pay as you go SIM. Google does not allow reactivation of a device after a factory reset without the details of the account previously on it, unless this is removed prior to the reset.
There are paid for apps to overcome this (purportedly) but if anyone knows of a free app or procedure, it would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Keith
I met this problem last weekend. Along with another I.T. support guy (Ray), we managed to do a factory reset on an Android tablet and get it set up again for its owner. Basically, Ray followed a YouTube video. The factory reset is straightforward once you know which buttons to press on the device. Reactivation requires you to enter the details of the owners Google account, which we did by choosing the option to connect to the owner's mobile phone. The only hitch was that we were using an unprotected Wi-Fi connection, and it wouldn't allow that. To overcome that hurdle, I set up a Wi-Fi hotspot on my phone and we used that.
The whole exercise was led by Ray, and I didn't take notes, so I can't give step-by-step instructions. But, perhaps, knowing that it can be done will help.
@philbass thanks for the information. My client's problem is that she had no record or recollection of either her email address or her mobile number (which had become defunct a couple of years ago, anyway).
