How To: Recover SMS and Phone Book entries from SIM cards
If you have deleted important SMS text messages or phone numbers from your mobile phone's SIM card, it may seem as if the information is totally lost. A mobile phone does not have any undelete feature.
However, there is no cause for panic. The data is still there. It has just been marked as deleted. Your mobile phone won't show it, but it can still be accessed using SIM card data recovery software.
This tutorial shows how your SIM card data can be quickly and easily recovered and saved to your PC using the Data Doctor SIM Card Data Recovery software under Windows.
Download a demo of SIM Card Data Recovery now!
SIM Card Reader
You will need a USB SIM card reader that is compatible with either the PC/SC standard or the Phoenix Technologies standard. SIM card readers are very inexpensive, and allow you to back up your SIM card's contents to your PC, or transfer contacts from one SIM card to another.
Most SIM card readers currently manufactured are compatible with the PC/SC standard. If in doubt as to which standard a product uses, consult the manufacturer before purchase.
Recover SMS and phone book entries
Plug the SIM card reader into a USB port on your PC, then take the SIM card out of the phone and insert it into the reader.
Start SIM Card Data Recovery, then click the Search button. The card reader selection box will appear, and it should list one or more available card readers. Select the reader and click OK.
If no card readers are listed then you may have one that uses the Phoenix Technologies standard. Click My SIM Card Reader follows Phoenix technology standards, and then select the port number, data baud rate and parity for the reader.
If successful, SIM Card Data Recovery should display a message to say that it is connected to the SIM card. Click OK to continue. You can now browse the SIM card data using the application's main window.
Click on SMS (Text Messages) to browse the text messages stored on the SIM card. You can view the contents of the messages just as you would in an email program like Outlook Express or Windows Mail. All messages, including those that have been deleted, will be listed.
Click on PhoneBook Number to view the phone book entries in the SIM card. You can also see the Last Dialed Number, the Fixed Dialed Number, the Service Provider Name, the Card Identification number, the service provider Location and the IMSI number.
Saving SIM card data
To save all the data on the SIM card to a file on your PC, click the Save button on the toolbar.
The data will be saved as a text file that can be opened in Notepad or any word processor.
SIM Card Data Recovery does not write to the SIM card in order to avoid the risk of overwriting or corrupting existing data. To restore deleted phone book entries, add them again using the phone's menu.
Download a demo of SIM Card Data Recovery now!
