Have you experienced the wallpaper on your Nokia 5800 Xpress Music disappearing all of a sudden? Ever experience running out of memory when installing new applications? Constant flashing of the envelope symbol annoying you? Guess what? Your 5800XM is out of memory, phone memory that is. All these symptoms happened to my phone and it took me a while to solve it so here’s a guide on how to solve and prevent it from happening again in the future.
*Note – This guide may apply to other phone models as well once generalized.
Messaging Cleanup
1 – Clean up your Inbox by deleting messages which you don’t need. If there are some information you need to keep, transfer the information to the Notes application.
2 – Remove all large file attachments i.e. MMS, Bluetooth file transfers – these can take up a lot of your space.
3 – If you have created a custom folder under My Folders, these SMS take up space in your Phone Memory. Export them to your computer instead of keeping them in your phone. You can do this by using the Ovi Suite or the PC Suite. I used the PC Suite as my 5800XM had issues syncing with the Ovi Suite. Try out these options out and see which works best for you.
4 – Another folder to watch out for is the Sent folder. The more messages you keep here the more Phone Memory it takes up but if you have already switched to Memory Card for the “Memory In Use” option (see below), then you are safe.
5 – Make sure your phone SMS is stored in the E:Memory Card and not C:Phone Memory. This will ensure all incoming messages are stored in your Memory Card, freeing up space in your Phone Memory. You can change this in your Messaging menu by selecting Options>>Settings>>Other>>Memory In Use
6 – Clean up your Drafts folder. Throw out what you don’t need. If you really intended to send it, you would have sent it anyway.
7 – And do you really need to keep the Delivery Report for every SMS you send?
Internet Cleanup
1 – When you open up your default browser, you will be greeted with a list of bookmarks. Delete those which you do not need. Bookmarks are meant for fast access so if you don’t use them just remove them.
2 – Clear off your cache which has been building up all this while especially those who do heavy surfing. Go to Options>>Clear Privacy Data>>All. For those of you who don’t want to re-enter your password just select all of the options but “Form/Password Data”.
3 – Sometimes the step above won’t work as well and you might need to take some drastic measures. Install Y-Browser (or any third party system browser) and locate the folders C:\Cache and C:\System\Temp and delete them.
Gallery Cleanup
1 – Transfer all pictures your Memory Card using the Ovi Suite or the PC Suite. When in the Camera mode, set the pictures taken to be stored in the E:Memory Card . To do this, go to Camera mode hit Options>>Settings>>Memory In Use and change from C:Phone Memory to E:Memory Card.
2 – This can be done for videos as well. Go to the Video Center. Select Options>>Settings>>Preferred Memory and change it to Memory Card.
Calendar Cleanup
1 – Delete any events which happened in the past or are already cancelled. Daily recurring meetings should be deleted as well because you should have it programmed in you by now if you are doing it every day.
2 – Sync your calendars 1 month before and 1 month ahead and do it often. This way you get to save every little byte in your Phone Memory.
Nokia Maps Cleanup
Now I know most of the peeps who use the 5800XM do not even use the GPS function in the phone and even if they do they would have installed Garmin instead. This is because the voice feature in Nokia Maps does not come free. When updating your phone software some of you might have accidentally installed the maps from other countries so it is a good idea to delete off the maps of the countries you wouldn’t be visiting anytime soon. I’m not sure if you can uninstall the whole Nokia Maps but hey give it a shot!
Application Cleanup
Delete applications which you do not use frequently. Most of us like to download and install various applications but forget to uninstall them taking up space in the Phone Memory. This applies to addictive but not-frequently-used games as well.
Drastic Measures
So you have done all the above but still lack memory you say? Well here’s a bold move. Go ahead and hard reset your phone but make sure you do it after you back up the contents.
You can backup your phone contents through the File Manager. Hit the button Backup>>Options>>Back Up Now. Then go over to the keypad and key in *#7370# and key in 12345 for the lock code. 12345 only works if you have not changed your lock code previously, mind you. Brace yourself as your phone wipes everything in the Phone Memory and your phone will be reborn. The phone will restart automatically.
Once you pull yourself together, go on back to the File Manager and tap on Backup>>Options>>Restore and check all the contents. All your files will then be restored and you will have gained a few MBs at least. You will need to setup some of your preferences again and reinstall some of the applications as well.
Prevention Is Always Better Than Cure
Now after freeing up what’s left of your memory, it will be clogged up again pretty soon if you don’t have good practices. Take these steps into consideration.
1 – Set all files to be stored into the Memory Card. This includes applications, messages, pictures, videos and even downloads. If you have done all the steps above you should be safe.
2 – Delete what you don’t need. This includes old messages and applications which you can easily backup into your PC or download in the future.
Hopefully this helps and if you are still running out of memory, maybe it is time to upgrade to another phone?
References: allaboutsymbian.com
