Noob questions rooting android HTC One

[pete6032]

Hi guys, I have an HTC ONE M7 and I want to root it. I've never rooted a phone before. The main reason I want to root is to remove stock Sprint apps, install adblockplus, and configure cerebus so I can remote wipe if I lose my phone. I don't want to do ROMS or anything like that.

What is the difference between unlocking bootloader and rooting? Do you need to unlock the bootloader to root?

What is a Custom recovery, is that something I need to root?

When I root do I loose all of my info and apps on my phone and have to start over from initial setup?

 

[cpacini]

The best place to go for help rooting is the xda forums, there is a sub forum set up for your phone.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one#root

 

[cronos]

Actually, if his HTC One is from Sprint, he needs to look for guides at the Sprint section or he would screw up his phone (the Sprint version has a different partition setup, there were a lot of victims already).

http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-htc-one

 

[tami]

I use Adblock plus and my phone is not rooted.

Someone told me today that you can "disable" apps and it's just as effective as removing them.

Also - doesn't Prey do the remote wipe without root?