A factory reset wipes out EVERYTHING on the hard drive EXCEPT for the recovery partition. So, if your programs, pictures, music and other files were not on the computer when you first bought it, they will NOT be present after a factory reset.
Can I do a factory reset without losing everything?
The only way to keep your data when doing a factory reset is to back it up and restore it when the reset is complete.
Is it a good idea to factory reset?
Additional Notes. Factory reset can and should be used to weed out a third party app, its setting, or a user setting interfering with the phone’s normal operation, especially if Safe Mode is not feasible or otherwise does not provide the desired result.
Will I lose my photos if I reset my phone to factory settings?
If you do a factory reset, your SD card will not be touched. Your pics, etc will all stay put. If you’ve selected your Google account as the default way to store your contacts, they will all repopulated from Google after you set up your phone.
