Upgrading from Nokia Lumia 520 GoPhone to MS Lumia 640

[Muse]

AT&T GoPhone - Microsoft Lumia 640 4G LTE with 8GB Memory No-Contract Cell Phone - Black -- $29.99 at Best Buy, picked it up this afternoon, it's still in the packaging. I've had my 520 for 26 months (my first and only smartphone), cost me $60, figured this is a reasonable upgrade. With 1GB RAM, it will support Windows 10 Mobile, has a front facing camera, much better rear camera, better res screen, video, double the capacity with its support of 128BGB microSD card.

Well, I'm on the AT&T network with my 520 via Airvoice Wireless $10/month plan.

What I'm wondering is this:

Should I unlock this thing? If I unlock it (request that from AT&T), will I still be able to use it using my Airvoice Wireless account on the AT&T network? I'm thinking of unlocking it because:

1. I plan to do some traveling outside the USA.
2. Coverage in my house kind of sucks. I don't think T-Mobile would be better, so I don't crave that. Maybe here I'm still OK with AT&T (I rarely give out my cell number, just my land line).

Will unlocking the phone allow me to use it outside the USA and still use the AT&T network here?

Can I install all my apps from my current 520 Windows phone right on this 640 by restoring a backup?

 

[cronos]

1. Yes. If you got it unlocked then you can use it any carrier in the world that's GSM-based and provide a SIM card. As soon as it's unlocked it won't care what SIM card you put in there, it will work. For the US, most definitely you can use it on any AT&T and T-Mobile-based carriers. For internationally, there may be some limited band compatibility depending on the foreign carriers you're using. To know for sure, check it on http://willmyphonework.net/ and it'll tell you what bands you might be missing on a particular carrier. Note that this compatibility check is mostly for data access, as regular voice calls will most definitely work anywhere (the website will show all three circles as 'x' if the phone wouldn't work at all).

2. I'm not too familiar with the details of how Windows Phone works, but I believe it should work that way.

 

[nerp]

I believe you can restore a backup but it's not recommended, especially if to a different phone. I recommend installing stuff fresh. It's not so bad after you sign into your MS account. You can install all your apps in one big blast after upgrading to Windows 10 (AT&T has not approved the 10 upgrade on the 640 yet so you have to use the insider program.)

Settings even synch with the MS account so it's pretty effortless.

 

[Muse]

I believe you can restore a backup but it's not recommended, especially if to a different phone. I recommend installing stuff fresh. It's not so bad after you sign into your MS account. You can install all your apps in one big blast after upgrading to Windows 10 (AT&T has not approved the 10 upgrade on the 640 yet so you have to use the insider program.)

Settings even synch with the MS account so it's pretty effortless.

I applied for my unlock with AT&T, doing it online today. Presumably I'll get the unlock code in a few days and will unlock it.

The settings could be a problem. Over the last several days I've attempted to backup the phone (apps and settings backup are enabled), and this happens every time:

It would get to 98%, hang there for a few minutes and it then said that "there was a problem backing up your settings, try again later." It says "Last backed up 7 months ago." I was home, the wifi was strong.

So, it's unclear what's backed up. Maybe the current apps are backed up, maybe some of the settings, maybe my backup is from 7 months ago period. I have no clue what's up.

 

[Denly]

Can I install all my apps from my current 520 Windows phone right on this 640 by restoring a backup?

Yes, it will give you an option to restore in the initial setup. It work most of the time but it take forever to d/l all the apps.

 

[Muse]

I applied for and received an unlock code from AT&T. They provided instructions for unlocking the phone but it requires having a "non-AT&T SIM card." I don't have one. I want it unlocked in the eventuality I will have such a card, e.g. if I travel.

A SlickDeals thread has instructions for unlocking with no SIM in the phone at all:

No sim needed in the phone at all to call up the unlock screen.
DO not turn on the phone, remove the ATT sim before anything. Now you are safe.
Boot the phone, get past first "No Sim" error by closing.
Tap the "Phone" icon to bring up Sim error again and close again.
You can now access the dial pad, dial ##7820# and you will get the
unlock screen. Enter Unlock Code and hit enter.
Wait about a minute or so... you should then see the "Unlocked" padlock screen.
Reboot the phone. You are done. You can redial the ##7820# to verify it is still unlocked

I tried that last night but it didn't work out like that. Before turning the phone on, I removed the SIM. I booted the phone, terminated the "No SIM" message, didn't see a "Phone" icon. Maybe it doesn't look like a phone? Instead, the phone put me through a bunch of stuff, asking me to connect to an available wifi network, and I chose mine, entered the key, then it asked to choose phone settings: [recommended] [custom], I chose custom. Then it asks me to choose whether or not I want reset protection. I'm then asked to sign into my Microsoft Account or create one. I haven't signed into my account. What should I do? Sign in? Will I then be able to access the unlock screen? I think I may be doing this wrong. Shut down and reboot?

 

[SKORPI0]

Did you use ##7820# to get the unlock screen?

 

[Muse]

Did you use ##7820# to get the unlock screen?

The only way I could get the keyboard to dial was to make an "emergency call." When I punched in ##7820# it said I could only make an emergency call! Just couldn't find a way. I see no phone icon. :\ Well, that T-Mobile SIM, which is supposed to work for GSM networks is in the mail and I should have it in a couple of days, I figure.

If you know a way I can dial otherwise, please let me know! Maybe I could get there if I'd entered my Microsoft Account info. I didn't do that yet. Nowhere/no one has said I had to do that to unlock the phone so I figured I should do that yet.

BTW, I just ordered a 128GB microSDXC card for the phone.

 

[quikah]

The only way I could get the keyboard to dial was to make an "emergency call." When I punched in ##7820# it said I could only make an emergency call! Just couldn't find a way. I see no phone icon. :\ Well, that T-Mobile SIM, which is supposed to work for GSM networks is in the mail and I should have it in a couple of days, I figure.

If you know a way I can dial otherwise, please let me know! Maybe I could get there if I'd entered my Microsoft Account info. I didn't do that yet. Nowhere/no one has said I had to do that to unlock the phone so I figured I should do that yet.

BTW, I just ordered a 128GB microSDXC card for the phone.

You need to finish the phone setup. go through everything, add your accounts, etc. That will dump you to the start screen where you can open the dialer.

 

[Muse]

You need to finish the phone setup. go through everything, add your accounts, etc. That will dump you to the start screen where you can open the dialer.

Yup, wish I'd heard this before ordering my T-Mobile SIM, but I'm only out 99 cents, no crying. I'll get on it in the morning.

 

[Muse]

So, I unlocked my 640 today. I also backed up my 520. Now I want to restore that backup to the 640. I don't know what is backed up, it's supposed to be Apps and Settings. I have put a new unused 128GB microSD card in the 640, the 520 still has an almost full 64GB microSD card in it.

I moved the Airvoice AT&T SIM from the 520 to the 640, after removing the T-Mobile SIM from the 640, which I used to unlock the phone.

Info online says when I sign into my Microsoft Account I'm given the chance to restore from backup, but I didn't see that. I looked through a lot of apps, went into Lumia Help and can't find where I can initiate a restore from backup. Can't I restore all my apps and settings to the 640 from the backup I just made with my 520? How can I do that? If I need to I can reset the 640, but figure that shouldn't be necessary.

 

[Muse]

Bump... how can I restore my 520 backup to this new 640 (i.e. my last post)?

 

[quikah]

Bump... how can I restore my 520 backup to this new 640 (i.e. my last post)?

Only place you can restore is when you first setup the phone. You will need to reset the phone, when you enter your account details it should prompt you to restore assuming you use the same account.

 

[Muse]

Only place you can restore is when you first setup the phone. You will need to reset the phone, when you enter your account details it should prompt you to restore assuming you use the same account.

I thought that might be the case. I looked and didn't see where I can reset the phone. I know it's there, I reset my 520 once. Don't remember how.

It's no big deal, I've done basically squat with the 640 so far, only changed a handful of settings, nothing important. I have to figure out how to reset it though. Do you know how? I know it's in there somewhere...

Edit: Thing is, I didn't see anything about restoring my backup when I signed into my Microsoft Account the first time, so I'm not entirely optimistic!

 

[lopri]

I unlocked my 640 on Wi-Fi without a SIM. I still think it is an unbelievable bargain at $30 (a decent screen goes a long way to leave a positive impression), but I also can see why this phone had to be priced so low.

I know I am going off-topic here but I have to give it to Apple when it comes to maintaining integrity of the OS and updating it. With all the talks of Android fragmentation and accompanying abysmal updates by Google/OEMs/Carriers, one would have thought MS might have a leg up when it comes to keeping the core OS clean and up-to-date across the handful of devices they produce in-house.. NOT. Forget 3rd party apps, Windows Phone OS itself is a buggy mess with lack of fit and finish, and many phones that were supposed to receive updates have not. I don't know what the official excuses are when there is no hardware fragmentation. (I can sort of guess unofficial excuses)

 

[quikah]

I thought that might be the case. I looked and didn't see where I can reset the phone. I know it's there, I reset my 520 once. Don't remember how.

It's no big deal, I've done basically squat with the 640 so far, only changed a handful of settings, nothing important. I have to figure out how to reset it though. Do you know how? I know it's in there somewhere...

Edit: Thing is, I didn't see anything about restoring my backup when I signed into my Microsoft Account the first time, so I'm not entirely optimistic!

Settings > About (under the system category)

Reset is on the bottom of the page.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I unlocked my 640 on Wi-Fi without a SIM. I still think it is an unbelievable bargain at $30 (a decent screen goes a long way to leave a positive impression), but I also can see why this phone had to be priced so low.

I know I am going off-topic here but I have to give it to Apple when it comes to maintaining integrity of the OS and updating it. With all the talks of Android fragmentation and accompanying abysmal updates by Google/OEMs/Carriers, one would have thought MS might have a leg up when it comes to keeping the core OS clean and up-to-date across the handful of devices they produce in-house.. NOT. Forget 3rd party apps, Windows Phone OS itself is a buggy mess with lack of fit and finish, and many phones that were supposed to receive updates have not. I don't know what the official excuses are when there is no hardware fragmentation. (I can sort of guess unofficial excuses)

Honestly I find the Windows 10 update to be a lot better.

 

[Muse]

Damn, this is frustrating. It appears that I have two microsoft accounts, this is nutty, yes, but evidently true. I called Microsoft Phone support must be around 1.5 years ago and asked them about this and they weren't able to sort it out. One is using my current email address, the other an account at @live.com.

I don't know how to find out what account my old 520 is signed onto! Evidently, the backups I've been doing are not to the account I signed onto (using my current email address), but to the @live.com account and that's why I'm not offered the ability to restore from those backups. I'm only asked if I want to do a backup now, yes or no.

So, I'm resetting the 640 again (did that 45 minutes ago), and will try to sign onto my @live.com account and restore from that. This is so nutty, I don't want two different accounts, it just makes for confusion what with different passwords, etc. It's crazy, I don't know how it happened, frankly I think Microsoft Phone is nutty.

 

[Muse]

Well, I found my MS account that the 520 is using, figured out the password and have reset the 640 and signed into that account. The other account, I see no use for it, but there it is. Maybe I can obliterate that account, I'd just as soon do that. Anyway, I'm restoring now to the 640. It has the T-Mobile SIM in it, I figure I can switch that out with the AT&T SIM after the restoration, hopefully that will work out, otherwise I'll have to go through the whole thing again with the other SIM in there to begin with.

I have no idea if the restoration will go onto the microSD card or how much of it. Or if I'll have to copy the 64GB microSD card's data to the new 128GB microSD card.

What's really crazy is that I can't tell what account my Windows Phone is signed into. I'm not asking it for my password, just the "Email or phone" that identifies the account.

 

[Muse]

So, I restored the 520's backup to the 640, but all the apps went to the phone's limited 8GB data, nothing to the installed 128GB microSD card. Why is that? The 520 was configured to install apps on the card. Now there's only about 1/2GB left on the phone's storage? That's fucked up. Why didn't it install most all the apps (all that will allow it) on the card???

I don't know what to do about this. I just now changed the location for apps to install from the phone to the card but AFAIK I can't make that adjustment until after the restore. I want more room on the phone's internal storage because some apps won't install on the card...

 

[quikah]

So, I restored the 520's backup to the 640, but all the apps went to the phone's limited 8GB data, nothing to the installed 128GB microSD card. Why is that? The 520 was configured to install apps on the card. Now there's only about 1/2GB left on the phone's storage? That's fucked up. Why didn't it install most all the apps (all that will allow it) on the card???

I don't know what to do about this. I just now changed the location for apps to install from the phone to the card but AFAIK I can't make that adjustment until after the restore. I want more room on the phone's internal storage because some apps won't install on the card...

Settings > Storage Sense
Tap the phone storage
Tap the apps+games
Tap the select button on the bottom of the screen and select the apps you want to move
Tap move

I am not sure if there is a way to restore to SD card directly unfortunately.

 

[Muse]

Settings > Storage Sense
Tap the phone storage
Tap the apps+games
Tap the select button on the bottom of the screen and select the apps you want to move
Tap move

I am not sure if there is a way to restore to SD card directly unfortunately.

Oh, you can move them?

Well, what I did was reset again and when the restore said it was at 100% it then said if I had wifi it would restore my apps. At that point I could go into settings/storage sense and change the location to install all the stuff from the "phone" to the "SD card." Why it wasn't already that way be virtue of the backup I can't begin to imagine, those were certainly the settings in the backup. Well, I changed those settings before it could get started downloading stuff, so hopefully it will install all the apps that permit it to the card. The phone's internal storage according to storage sense now is 3.7GB out of 8GB. It's just begun the restoration of apps, which I figure is just a matter of a fresh install from wherever the app installs come from. There are maybe 80 or so apps, I'm guessing, so it will take maybe an hour, maybe more.

A funny thing happened when I did another reset. The phone reports that there are already apps on the card from a previous phone and asked me if I wanted to delete them. There shouldn't have been anything, I didn't see anything in Explorer when I looked in that folder before. I said, yes, delete them, whatever.

After all this is done, I'm going to put the 64GB card from the 520 and the 128GB card from the 640 in card readers and copy all the Music, Photo, Video, Downloads (maybe 1 file), Documents (likewise virtually nothing) from the 64GB card to the 128GB card. Presumably, Windows Phone will see all that data and register it in the appropriate apps. It's basically the music I'm most concerned about, would like to see the videos and photos too.

 

[Muse]

The 640 is downloading all the apps now and they are mainly going on the card, so I think I'm past that hurdle.

 

[Muse]

Figured out how to find out your account in Microsophistry Phone:

Settings / Storage Sense / email+messaging / manage accounts

 

[Muse]

OK, so here's a question:

I think I probably have the upgrade pretty much working, it's early, there's probably some issues outstanding.

I moved the Airvoice Wireless AT&T SIM from the 520 to the 640, AFAIK, I have phone service, cellular.

Now, I can still use the 520 for music, and I presume for GPS. I say this because the 640 is significantly bigger and heavier than the 520 and I can envision wanting at times to use the 520 instead. The problem, I figure, is that if I do that I won't have cellular data usage on the 520 since it doesn't have a SIM card in it. If I want the cellular, I'd have to open both phones, remove their batteries, then move the SIM card = FAIRLY A HASSLE.

So, I call Airvoice a few minutes ago, finally get the CSR to understand my dilemna, and I ask what if I get another SIM card from them? The fee online is $5, free shipping.

She tells me that I'd need a separate account, with its own fees and a new phone number for the 2nd SIM. Now, I don't much use the phone aspect of these, I give out my land line number, rarely my cell number so that's not so much the issue, but I don't really want to pay monthly fees twice (i.e. two plans).

So, here's my question: What if I call them and say I lost the first SIM and need a replacement? Could I put the replacement in the other phone and essentially have both phones using the same account? How would they know? Would this work?