By Tan Chong Yaw

What happens when your smartphone freezes and becomes as responsive as a sulky girlfriend?

Or, it becomes slow.

How would you do the equivalent of a reboot on the phone - that is, pressing the Control, Alternate and Delete buttons - to get it to restart?

Here are ways to resuscitate your device.

These are soft reboots or resets, meaning your data like contacts, messages and apps remain intact.

For an iPhone, press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button at the top of the phone at the same time.

The red "power off" slider will appear or the screen may go blank. Ignore these.

Continue holding both buttons until the Apple logo appears.

This may take 10 seconds or more.

With a Windows Mobile phone, you will need to install an app beforehand. Find oldSAP utilities at oldsap.blogspot. com/2006/12/ oldsap-utilitiesfreewarespppc. html.

Download the .cab file into the PC and copy it to the phone's memory card using a card reader. Then, pop the card back into the phone and open the file using File Explorer to install the app.

Launch the app and choose the SoftReset button. The phone will reboot.

If you are using a Nokia phone, type *#7780# on the keypad. Choose Yes when asked whether you want to "Restore all original phone settings".

Then, type 12345, which is the factory default code to lock the phone.

For a Windows Mobile and Nokia phone that is stubbornly unresponsive, remove the battery, re-insert it and power up the phone.

Rebooting is usually harmless - it is like clearing your throat. But it pays to be cautious especially if your phone is on its last legs: back up your data regularly and if you have not done so before, do it now.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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