HTC Sensation: How to use Superwipe

Been noticing a large trend in search terms on my blog lately and I must admit there has never been a guide on how to use a superwipe script. In a nutshell, a superwipe script is used to clean your current phone partitions to make it ready for a brand new ROM version to be installed. This process only takes a few minutes from start to finish but can be potentially damaging if you haven't done something as basic as backing up your phone with a tool such as 4EXT or Clockworkmod Recovery. Take some time to learn about making backups, they'll save you hours worth of headaches and work if something goes wrong.

Assuming you've backed up, we'll look at 2 methods to superwipe/wipe your phone partitions:

Method 1 - Using Recovery to Wipe

All of the recoveries made for your device have the ability to wipe partitions, except for the HTC stock recovery which is less easy to use and more locked down than using either Clockworkmod or 4EXT Recovery. It's a pretty easy process.

1. Reboot your phone into the bootloader screen or use QuickBoot from the Android Market and select "Bootloader" or "Recovery"
2. Press the power button to get into the fastboot screen and use the volume up and down keys to go to "RECOVERY" and press the power button
3. Find the section that says "Wipe / Format" and select the approprite option, such as in 4EXT it's "Format all partitions (except sdcard)" or "Wipe Data/Factory Reset" for Clockworkmod.
4. It will now do it's thing and format your partitions, after this you can go ahead and install your new ROM. It will be installed and will boot like your phone has been never been booted before with the new ROM.

Method 2 - Using Recovery Scripts

Depending on your ROM chef for the ROM you wish to install, they might have already created their own tool to allow you to easily wipe your phone to install their ROM. They are usually found on the Chef's 1st opening post/blog for the ROM and they are usually called "Wipe scripts" or for example with Android Revolution HD, it's called a superwipe script.

1. Find your ROM chef's download links and locate a wipe script, for example in this case we will assume you wanted to install ARHD ROM and you will use this script zip: Superwipe (Sensation ONLY)
2. Download the script to your SDCard, either in root or a folder.
3. Reboot your phone into the bootloader screen or use QuickBoot from the Android Market and select "Bootloader" or "Recovery"
4. Press the power button to get into the fastboot screen and use the volume up and down keys to go to "RECOVERY" and press the power button
5. Select the "install from sdcard" or "install from a zip" option
6. Locate the script zip file you put on your SDCard and select it.
7. It will now do it's thing and format your partitions, after this you can go ahead and install your new ROM. It will be installed and will boot like your phone has been never been booted before with the new ROM.

That's as easy as it is to wipe your phone from start to finish. I usually use a script method because it's a bit more through than using recovery but choose which ever method you want. The only pain you have to do now is setup your new ROM from scratch once again. Have fun!