Hello all. I'm about to finally attempt the latest OS upgrade, but having never done an OS upgrade I have a few questions. Yes, I am one of the few who still have 4.2.0.71. Sorry if all of this should be obvious.

1. Should I remove my 2GB micro sd card first? Do I just plug this in after the upgrade or do I need to do anything to it first?
2. Should I remove my SIM card first?
3. I did a backup via the Desktop Manager program. Will I use that to do a restore after the upgrade to get my contacts back? Or are my contacts stored on my SIM card?
4. Should I do any restore via the Desktop Manager after I do the OS upgrade?
5. Anything else I should do to prepare? Please don't assume that something should be obvious as I've never done this before.

Fyi, I have Vista Home Premium 64 bit and Desktop Manager 4.2. Oh, and I have a BB Pearl 8100 from AT&T.

Thanks for any advice you can give to a noob!

1. If you're still using 4.2 then make a backup of the card before the upgrade and then reformat the card after the upgrade and restore the data. It doesn't matter if the card is in or out during the upgrade.

2. Not necessary.

3. The process will make it's own backup and restore it automatically at the end. It doesn't hurt to have a second backup, though.

4. Answered in #3.

5. Just follow the instructions above in the sticky thread. With Vista you should always right click on the .exe and select "Run As Administrator" for any application you install to the Vista PC.

Thanks John. If I'm not too traumatized after the upgrade I'll try to remember and report back how it goes.

One thing I learned after doing my first upgrade is that you may have a white screen with the hour glass for several minutes (mine was almost 40 min.) after the upgrade. Don't panic apparently that is not unusual. My 8100 is running very well after the upgrade.