Upgrading your BlackBerry operating system is fairly simple. The good news is even if your carrier doesn’t offer the latest OS updates you can still install them on your device from another carrier. Your first step is to visit RIM’s carrier download page and find the latest OS you want. Just make sure you device model matches.

For example: I currently have a Vodafone BlackBerry Storm 9530 and am running MTS Mobility Handheld Software v5.0.0.674 on my device.

We will explain how to upgrade your OS below.

Step 1: Download the latest OS from RIM (Check here for our latest OS news)

Step 2: Install the .exe file that you downloaded from RIM

Step 3: BACKUP YOUR BLACKBERRY – this is very important (open Desktop Manager software and connect your device).

Step 4: Open this folder (c:\program files\common files\research in motion\apploader) and delete the file vendor.xml

Step 5: Plug in your device into the computer and re-open Desktop Manager select Application loader

Step 6: Select upgrade as prompted

Now the entire process can take between 20 and 30 minutes. Make sure you do a full backup before doing a software upgrade in case you get an error and have to wipe your device.

Please also note that we are not responsible for any problems that you incure while upgrading your device software.