Nokia C7 Phone Start-Up Failed

Question

A good friend of mine has a Nokia C7.  He and I both used to use SPB Mobile Shell, but I no longer do.  However, my friend is still using the SPB software.
Sometimes when my friend turns on his phone, the usual Nokia information appears, then the "loading" message that SPB is being loaded, and then he gets a message:
Phone Start-Up Failed.
Contact the retailer
From searching the forums, I'm pretty sure this is a Nokia message, and not something from SPB.
People suggested removing the memory card, but this phone doesn't have a memory card.
Other people suggest a "three-finger reset".
I have just asked my friend to remove the battery for a few minutes, then re-start the phone.  I don't know yet if this will help. 
My next option would be to remove the SPB software, but from what I'm reading, this is not likely to be the problem - and my friend still relies on the SPB Mobile Shell for daily use.
My last option is the three-finger reset.  What they suggested was "Hold Menu Key,Volume Down Key,Camera Key and press the switch on button (power button) and when your phone vibrates release the switch on button (power button) and keep holding the Menu Key,Volume Down Key,Camera Key and wait for a while and your phone will be as good as new".  If I do the three-finger reset, is this going to remove all the data on his phone, so I need to set everything up for him again? 

Answer 1

My C-7 has the same problem. I'm not surprised since thousands of this handset (along with the N8) are also affected.
This is a design-defect problem that NOKIA recognizes but refuses to address properly   By purchasing this handset we have all thrown our money to the winds. We are not alone; Considering NOKIA's current stock price nose-dive, the company's shareholders are in the same boat.
This is an absolute travesty. Were it not for NOKIA's "killer application" (its off-line turn-by-turn mapping program, of course), I would have jumped ship long ago. Although I feel very sorry for myself for having bought such a problematic device, I feel much worse for the employees of NOKIA (at least for those who still remain employed after the recent mass purgings in a desperate attempt by the C-levels to keep the company afloat). Surely they must also be able to see the writing on the wall indicating that their time is nearly up  The company will go under.
Horrible product quality, arrogant refusal to properly address the defects, oblivious attention to the market and an unfathomable and highly misguided sell-out to Microsoft has turned this once great company into a puddle of mush, slowly seeping into the cracks of the floor over which Samsung and Apple now gleefully dance.
Shame, Nokia. Shame.
* By the way: If you want to breath life back into your C-7 or N-8, charge the beast and then place it into the freezer for a few minutes. Since the root problem is due to overheaded boards, this action will quite surprisingly, cool the unit back down to whence it will once again start.