The Dell Streak 7 is a dual-core 7-inch tablet PC released in March 2011. It comes with 4G network capability and the Android 2.2 operating system which had, by that point in time, just begun to lose favor in expectation of the soon-to-arrive Android 3.0 tablets. If you own this tablet and have begun to notice an increase in the number and frequency of hangs, freezes, unresponsive applications or other problems, chances are that a hard reset can solve these issues and bring the tablet back to working shape.
The Dell Streak 7 was the first 7-inch tablet to offer 4G capability as a standard feature, and the factory customization of the Android 2.2 operating system was praised for its inventiveness in supporting the 7-inch format. The Streak 7 didn’t receive very high marks for the screen, which was often described as unresponsive and slow. The biggest problem for this tablet was the impending release of Android 3.0, which came with a range of newer and more attractive tablets for the market.
How to Hard Reset the Dell Streak 7
This procedure will erase all of your personal data from the tablet’s internal drive. Before attempting to reset your Dell Streak 7 to factory settings, you will have to make a backup of your important information onto an external device. The addition of a MicroSD card allows for an extra 32 GB of storage space in which you can save this backup. It’s also possible to make a backup through USB to an external device or computer.
If you’ve made the backup and you’re ready to begin, there are two methods available for re-installing the operating system and resetting the Dell Streak 7. The first that this article will outline is very simple and recommended if your tablet is still responsive enough to use the touch screen home menu without too many problems:
- From the home screen menu, tap Settings and then Privacy.
- Tap on Factory Data Reset, and select Reset Tablet.
- Select Erase Everything and let the tablet restart itself.
If you find that the tablet’s internals are too far corrupted for you to be able to navigate these menus, there is another way available that uses the firmware of the device itself:
- With the device off, hold the Volume Up key and then press the Power key.
- Release both keys when the Recovery Menu pops up and then select Factory Reset.
- Press the Power key to enter and confirm, the tablet will process this for a few minutes and then restart itself.
