Want to update your BlackBerry Bold 9000 to OS 5.0 in India? Here’s how!

It may already have a successor, but for many users (us included) the BlackBerry Bold 9000 remains one of the best smartphones to have ever emerged from the RIM stable, blame it on that lovely display, the spacious keypad, and of course, that faux leather back. However, while the original Bold has been updated to version 5.0 of the BlackBerry operating system, a number of users in India find themselves stuck on OS 4.6.1, simply because their operators have not yet officially provided the upgrade. Well, if you are one of those who wishes to move their Bold 9000 a step up the BlackBerry OS ladder and have lost patience with the official service providers, here is  how to do it, with minimum fuss, using BlackBerry’s own software.

1. Download BlackBerry OS 5.o for the Bold 900 from here (relax, it is an official download from the BlackBerry site!)
2. Complete the installation of the downloaded file (it will be a .exe) on your computer (Windows, please. It won’t work on Mac or Linux…yet)
3. Go into the files of the installation you have just made using Windows Explorer and delete the vendor.xml file
4. Connect your BlackBerry Bold 9000 to the computer and find the Loader.exe file on the files you have installed. Click on Loader.exe. Do NOT use the BlackBerry Desktop Manager at any stage.
5. Sit back, follow the prompts and ta-dah…about an hour later, your Bold 9000 should be running OS 5.0

We have done this process with over a dozen handsets and so far it has worked perfectly with no data loss. However, we WOULD advise to back up your data before you follow these steps. What do you get from updating to the new OS? Well, better apps and a faster operating phone…and well, it should logically be easier to upgrade to 6.0 when THAT becomes available. We Vulcans are pretty strong in logic, after all!