Root your Android phone......

                                            If you want even more control over your Android phone, you'll need to 'root' it – bypass the user controls built into the operating system to give you 'super-user' status (so you can do whatever you like with it). Once you have super-user status, you can do things like back up and restore complete system images using ROM Manager; tweak the speed of your phone's CPU using SetCPU; and get full system-level file access usingRoot Explorer.

You can block ads with a firewall-based filter like AdFree Android; and take Android screenshots using an app like ShootMe – which grabs the screen when you shake or yell at your phone – or PicMe, which lets you see and control your device from a desktop computer. This last capability alone may be all the motivation many people need to jump in and start rooting.

The exact procedure varies slightly from phone to phone, and your best bet is to Google "how to root" followed by the name of your phone. As an example, here's how to root LG's Optimus S (via www.lg-phones.org):

1. Ensure you have the Android SDK, Java and LG's phone drivers installed.
2. Plug the phone into your PC via USB.
3. Make sure the phone isn't set to mount as a USB drive, but is set to charge-only.
4. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled via Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging.
5. Launch the SDK manager.
6. Run CMD and type:

cd c:/Name-of-your-SDK-tools folder
adb push rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage
adb shell
chmod 3755 /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage
cd /data/local/tmp
./rageagainstthecage

7. Now, wait a moment while your phone disconnects and the ADB session finishes. Type adb shell and you should see a # symbol rather than the usual $. This signifies that you have super-user rights.

Some phones can be rooted using a series of keypresses. As another example, here's how to root Samsung's popular Galaxy S smartphone (via TechLivez.com):

1. Download the Update.zip file from here or, if your phone is running v2.2 'Froyo', get it from here.
2. Turn on Mass Storage on your phone by going to Settings > About Phone > USB Settings > Mass Storage.
3. Connect your phone via USB and turn on the USB storage by tapping USB Connected on the top menu.
4. Transfer the Update.zip file you downloaded to the root folder of the device (for example, G:\).
5. Shut down the phone and unplug the USB cable.
6. Simultaneously press the Home, Volume-Up and Power buttons for a short time until the phone boots into Android System Recovery mode.
7. Use the Volume button to choose the apply sdcard: Update.zip option and press Home to select it.
8. The update will apply the rooting procedure and reboot the phone.

To confirm that you have super-user capabilities, download the app Terminal Emulator, start it up, and type su at the command line. The system will ask if you want to allow root access; tap Allow and note that you have an icon called 'Superuser permissions' on your home screen.