If you bought your HTC Hero in a Sprint store, it should be activated and ready to go; you shouldn’t need this article.

If you bought your HTC Hero online or for some reason didn’t have it activated in the store—resist the urge to turn it on right away. It is best if you activate the phone on your account before you turn it on.

1. To activate your phone, visit www.sprint.com/activate on your computer and follow the steps to sign in to My Sprint, click on Activate a phone and proceed through the activation process. Save the information you’re presented with at the end of this process in case you have to manually program your phone.
2. When you’re done with the online activation steps, you’ll be directed to power on your phone and wait for the automatic activation process to begin.  
3. Turn on your HTC Hero by pressing and holding the power key for a few seconds. Release it when you see the logo come up. It takes the HTC Hero a few seconds to get started.
4. A Hands free activation screen will appear while the device signs on to the network. If successful, you’ll see a Your device has been activated and will be restarted to apply the change. message. Once your phone restarts, you’ll be able to proceed with the first use setup steps below.

Note: If automatic activation does not work, you’ll need to follow the manual programming instructions at the bottom of the page.

1. The first thing you’ll see is an introduction to the on-screen keyboard. If you haven’t used an on-screen or “virtual”  keyboard before, we recommend you go through the brief overview to get a quick introduction. You can skip this by tapping on Skip.
2. Following the keyboard introduction you’ll be prompted to set up your Google, Microsoft Exchange and other email accounts. For the best experience, we recommend you configure one or more of these accounts now. Follow the on-screen prompts to proceed.
3. Once you’re done setting up your Email accounts, click next to setup connections to your social networks. You can connect with Facebook, Twitter and Flickr—just follow the prompts to sign in to each one. When you’re done, just tap Next to proceed.
4. Finally, you’ll be asked to let Google collect info about your location from wireless networks you may connect to. This info is used by some applications to give you local directions, weather and directory information. If you agree with this use of information just tap Next, otherwise uncheck the box and then tap Next.
5. Your screen will refresh, and then you’ll see the Hero home screen.

Manual Programming Instructions

If the Hands-free activation does not succeed the first time, you can retry up to 5 times. If all 5 attempts fail, you’ll see a message allowing you to skip activation temporarily. To try again, Tap Menu, then Settings, then System updates: Update Profile.

If this is not successful, try the following steps. You’ll need the information you saved at the end of online activation.

1. On the dial pad, press ## followed by the 6-digit one-time programming code you got when you completed online activation, followed by another #. (Example ##123456#)
2. The Service Program screen will be displayed. If you do not see this screen, try the secondary 6-digit code.
3. Tap Edit Mode, then Mobile Directory Number. Enter the MDN (your phone number) and then tap OK.
4. Tap MSID and enter the MSID from your programming instructions, then tap OK.
5. Verify the MDN and MSID match the information from yoru programming instructions, then tap Menu and then Commit Modifications.
6. You’ll be asked to reset the device, tap OK or wait 10 seconds and the phone will reboot automatically.
7. After your device restarts, try making a test call. It may take up to one hour for all services, such as data, to be activated.