Reinstall iPhone 4s OS?

[silenthunder]

My friend found an iPhone 4s in a public port-a-potty and (obviously) it has a lock on it..he wants me to reset it to its original factory state when the previous owner bought it, so he can use it like brand new. I'm sure I can find the OS download somewhere, but how to I go about uninstalling/reinstalling the OS?

[proxx]

Well my first thought would be that this is not possible.
Apple generally locks everything down to such an extend that the end user can do basically... nothing.

Its really a device made for the brainless masses.
(Ow wait did I really say that out loud?)

[_SpyMachine]

Put the device in DFU mode and then connect it to iTunes. iTunes will detect is as a device that needs to be restored and will restore you back to factory settings.

[silenthunder]

Put the device in DFU mode and then connect it to iTunes. iTunes will detect is as a device that needs to be restored and will restore you back to factory settings.

What exactly is DFU mode?

[fluxdaemon]

What exactly is DFU mode?

Device Firmware Update
It allows the phone to be restored from any state

[Phage]

Here's what I would do:

1. Download your iOS firmware, I have the link for iOS 5.1.1 (you can always upgrade later on when you have reset the iPhone).

http://jailbreakhow.net/download-5.1.1/

2. Open iTunes and find your iPhone. Hold the "shift key" while pressing restore. This will enable you to restore your iPhone from another file, in this case iOS 5.1.1. Navigate to and select the downloaded firmware.

3. iTunes should do the rest of the job for you. When you have reset the iPhone update it with the newest version of iOS.

[silenthunder]

Here's what I would do:

1. Download your iOS firmware, I have the link for iOS 5.1.1 (you can always upgrade later on when you have reset the iPhone).

http://jailbreakhow.net/download-5.1.1/

2. Open iTunes and find your iPhone. Hold the "shift key" while pressing restore. This will enable you to restore your iPhone from another file, in this case iOS 5.1.1. Navigate to and select the downloaded firmware.

3. iTunes should do the rest of the job for you. When you have reset the iPhone update it with the newest version of iOS.

Thank you for the short tut, unfortunately I won't be able to put it to use (someone beat me to the punch) but I now have it archived for future reference.