Retrieving deleted SMS messages?

tony glenn

I deleted a whole pile of text messages from my Sony Xperia S, but some I should have kept. I googled the situation and have spent the whole evening trying all the free downloads, none seem to work for me.
I don't want to root the phone (non-tekkie, scared) so is there a free download out there that has worked for othere...one that will retrieve my texts easily? All the Google results say how easy it is. Not for me it seems.

The Corinthian

tony glenn wrote: »

I deleted a whole pile of text messages from my Sony Xperia S, but some I should have kept. I googled the situation and have spent the whole evening trying all the free downloads, none seem to work for me.
I don't want to root the phone (non-tekkie, scared) so is there a free download out there that has worked for othere...one that will retrieve my texts easily? All the Google results say how easy it is. Not for me it seems.

An app that does not require root, free and will work easily... not asking for much, are you?

TBH, I think you're probably out of luck. SMS's are stored in a local database and when deleted the database file is overwritten with a version that omits those SMS, so even if you had an undelete app, chances are that you won't be able to recover the old database file.

Given this, you might be able to, in which case you should try a few such apps and see if you can find any old copies of a file called mmssms.db (after which you can look inside it using any SQLite client), or ones that claim to restore lost SMS specifically. Just bare in mind that many, certainly the more effective ones, do require root.

Also remember, the longer you leave it, the more likely that where the old data is sitting will have new data written over it, making it unrecoverable.

tony glenn

Thanks, I'll look into that. BTW, what's a root? And should I be scared to do it?

Father Ted Crilly

Are you sure it's not your girlfriend's phone you want to see deleted messages on? Jk

A root gives you greater access to your phone's settings and stuff. I wouldn't recommend it for any reason. It voids your warranty as far as I know and there is a possibility you could completely mess up your phone by rooting it. A root is a jailbreak for a phone as far as I know.

listermint

Father Ted Crilly wrote: »

Are you sure it's not your girlfriend's phone you want to see deleted messages on? Jk

A root gives you greater access to your phone's settings and stuff. I wouldn't recommend it for any reason. It voids your warranty as far as I know and there is a possibility you could completely mess up your phone by rooting it. A root is a jailbreak for a phone as far as I know.

This is a post that describes someone who doesnt not know much about rooting.

Poor Advice.

bluestrattos

listermint wrote: »

This is a post that describes someone who doesnt not know much about rooting.

Poor Advice.

Actually his post was far more helpful, than yours, since you failed to explain or clarify the concept of rooting.

In fact, root voids your phone warranty. Root your phone, and next time you need support from your operator they'll politely show you the finger.
Rooting your phone allows you to have full control over the phone.

Each operator releases it's version of the operating system for the phone they sell, with root, you're free to change any constrictions the operator might have introduced.

Not always, but there's a slim chance of turning your phone into a nice expensive little brick, while rooting the device.

The Corinthian

tony glenn wrote: »

BTW, what's a root? And should I be scared to do it?

The term 'root' is a Unix one in origin. It's like having an administrator account on Windows. With smartphones people are assigned a type of guest account, which allows certain administrator functions, such as installing new apps, but stops you from making changes that could, in theory, screw up your system.

Should you be scared? In theory, you could screw up your system or inadvertently give a virus root permissions, but then again, you can do that on a PC too, as you effectively have 'root' there.

tony glenn

Ok team....time for my nap I think. It was actually all the luvvy duvvy messages between myself and herself, I wiped 'em to speed up the phone. She wasn't impressed so I said I could get them back. Hence entire evening trying. Then this morning she said 'don't worry about it, there all in my phone anyway'
Doh! But the real scary thing is, I never thought of that!!!!