Write the pre-wipe checklist and prove each item on your own device

applied · 80 min · Objective 1.4

Task

Build the checklist that must be completed before any factory reset, and verify every item against your own phone -- because the items that are skipped are the ones that make a device unrecoverable, and they are only obvious in advance.

Steps

  1. Write lab/reset/checklist.csv with header step,why,evidence_required,verified with at least eight steps covering backup existence, backup contents, account credentials, activation lock, photo library, two-factor recovery, and removing the device from the account.
  2. For each step, verify it against your own device and fill the verified column with what you actually saw, not with yes.
  3. Record in lab/reset/backup.csv with header category,backed_up,where,last_date at least six categories of data -- photos, contacts, messages, application data, authenticator seeds, and documents.
  4. Write lab/reset/lock.md naming the account the device is enrolled to, whether you can sign in to it right now, and what would happen after a wipe if you could not.
  5. Write lab/reset/three.md distinguishing restart, reset settings and factory reset, with one fault from the lesson that each is the correct answer to.

Verify

awk -F, 'NR>1 && NF>=4 {n++} END {print n" checklist step(s)"}' lab/reset/checklist.csv
awk -F, 'NR>1 && $4!="" && tolower($4)!="yes" {n++} END {print n" step(s) with real evidence"}' lab/reset/checklist.csv
awk -F, 'NR>1 && NF>=4 {n++} END {print n" data category(ies)"}' lab/reset/backup.csv
awk -F, 'NR>1 && tolower($2)=="no" {n++} END {print n+0" category(ies) NOT backed up"}' lab/reset/backup.csv
grep -Eic 'lock|activation|protection' lab/reset/lock.md
grep -Eic 'restart|settings|factory' lab/reset/three.md

Eight or more checklist steps with real evidence rather than yes, six or more data categories assessed, and the lock note naming the account state. Any category reported as not backed up is a finding about your own device, and acting on it is the point.

Notes

Authenticator seeds are the category people discover after the wipe. Most authenticator applications do not restore from a device backup, and losing them locks you out of every account they protect.

This is an independent study companion for CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1201 and is not produced by or endorsed by CompTIA.