I purchased an "unlocked" Pearl which did not have the PIN and IEMI properly released, because of which I was receiving someone else's email on the phone through the Messages program. After much effort, I was able to get those released by the original service provider and no longer receive the original owner's email.

The problem is that I cannot send my own text messages, nor can I receive text messages. I did try to delete some entries from the Service Book (wrongly, I'm sure), and I'm guessing that is a likely cause. I'm thinking that if I was to reload the software on the unit, it would likely correct the problem.

Any thoughts on doing that - might it work? If so, how do I do that?

If you think that is not the solution - what else might be?

Also - if I'm going to reset the software - any recommendations on things I should be doing? I.e. is there only one software set or OS that I can use or do I have options? Any great hacks I should consider? I basically just use it for phone, text message, Gmail and Google Maps.

Thanks for any help!

Do a handheld wipe first. Here's the direction How to wipe the OS from a BlackBerry device? - BlackBerryFAQ

If that doesn't work then re-install the OS.

OK, I did the wipe, but the problem persists. So, to reinstall the operating system, I am now downloading the OS from blackberry.com - I'm hoping once that gets downloaded, I can load it from the Desktop Manager - is that the right way to do this? Do I need to do something first to remove the old OS?