Expert: DebiN - 11/13/2009

Question
I'm the coordinator for all the Blackberry devices in my office, and I have a problem no one seems to be able to solve.

One of our devices has malfunctioned.  All of hte icons have disappeared and been replaced by black circles.  There is also no response when hitting the menu button.  The screen just goes blank.

We've already tried removing the battery, but that didn't work.  We can't reset the device because we can't access the menu. The Verizon service center was no help.  Any suggestions?

Answer
What I believe may have occurred is that the user of the device had downloaded a program that contained a virus or something that has completely changed the way the BlackBerry is displaying the Home Screen. Fortunately, BlackBerrys don't malfunction in this manner, so I doubt this will occur again. Have you tried using the USB cable to tether the device to a computer so that you can use BlackBerry desktop manager to try to redownload firmware onto the device? If this fails, your only option is to send the device back to Verizon. If it is less than 12 months old, they will replace it under warranty. If older than 12 months, they can try to repair it. If over 2 years old and/or available for ugprade, I would strongly recommend getting a new device. I hope this helps. Thanks. DebiN