I have two spare Blackberries that I want to sell on craigslist.org – however, I’ve found this evening that despite wiping the handhelds completely, the old IT company policy remains on them both blocking downloads, enforcing passwords etc. Impressed I was not. I’ve read on the internet that your Blackberry administrators in your office should not only send you a new IT Policy and Service Book when you get a new Blackberry, but should equally enforce the removal of old devices from the corporate network by sending you a ‘reseting’ service book and policy OTA (over the air)

This is too much hassle for me, and not a priority for our IT department I’m sure, so I did a bit of searching on the web. I found a?great solution at http://blackberry.ig3.net/, but will repeat it here.

First of all, this is not a guide on how to remove carrier information from a Blackberry. If you’re unable to use a different SIM card than the one that was originally supplied with your device, look elsewhere. However if, like many others you have a Blackberry that is locked by a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server), meaning you are unable to change certain settings, or install third party applications then read on. Essentially, the problem is that your Blackberry has at some point been connected to a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server), and this BES has placed a restrictive Security Policy (or IT Policy) on your device. A quick check to see if this is the case can be done by going to Options > Security on your Device. If you see any references to IT Policy whatsoever, then you have a potentially restrictive IT Policy that can be removed.

This disclaimer is important

This guide is intended for use by people that own their own Blackberry, and for whatever reason, have inherited a company IT Policy on their device. Really, there are two scenarios where this guide is useful:

  • You bought a Blackberry on eBay (or equivalent) and are unable to make changes to the settings or install third party applications
  • You have a Blackberry that was previously connected to a company BES and, for whatever reason, you no longer intend to make connections to that BES

If you’re still connected to a corporate?BES, and simply want to install the latest and greatest third party application, I would not recommend this approach. Go and talk to your BES administrators and ask them to grant you the appropriate rights. There are two problems in using this guide to bypass your company security policy. Firstly, whenever you reconnect to the company server, your security settings will revert back to how they were. Secondly, and more importantly, you run the risk of getting fired.

Step 1

Ensure the Blackberry Desktop Manager is installed using Blackberry Internet Service, and not Blackberry Enterprise Server. If you are unsure, it would probably be a good idea to uninstall the Desktop Manager and start again

If you do not have the CD that came with your Blackberry, the software can be downloaded here.

Step 2
Download the file policy.bin and save it in your Blackberry installation directory (C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\BlackBerry)

Step 3

Wipe your Blackberry, creating a backup if necessary. Select Options > Security > Wipe Device

If this option is unavailable, you may have to install the latest software on your Blackberry. You need to Download and install the latest Desktop Manger Software, then the latest Handheld Software. Connect your device, open the Desktop Manager, select Application Loader, and follow the prompts.

Step 4
Close the Desktop Manager if it is open

Step 5
From the Windows Start Menu select Run…, and at the prompt type regedit. In the tree on the left hand side, navigate to:
HKEY_Current_Users\Software\Research In Motion\BlackBerry\PolicyManager


Right-Click the Policy Manager Folder and select New > String Value. Name the value Path. Now, double-click the Path Subkey and set Value Data to:
C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\BlackBerry\policy.bin

Step 6
Open the Desktop Manager

Step 7
Connect the device

Verification

Once complete, the Options > Security screen on your Blackberry should not contain references to an IT Policy, you should now be able to change all settings (including password prompts), and install third party applications

(reproduced from http://blackberry.ig3.net/)

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