Htc Desire G7 Phone

[secsee1]

Hello, I have had the above phone for 2 years now and the contract on it is now due for renewal, I have decided to get the Samsung Galaxy 3.
My original phone is in first class condition as it has been looked after and kept in a case however I do not want to sell it without first removing everything on it that points to me, I have been told that the safest way to do this is to go into settings and do a "Factory Reset" but what I don't want to do is wipe out the time/weather widget (the phone did come with it already on) so is it possible to back up the phone as it is now to computer and if so how is it done? also is it possible to unlock the phone from Virgin Mobile so that it will take any sim card?

[bibblebub]

This isn't an answer to your question but the Samsung Galaxy S4 is due to be released on Mar 14 so if you could delay things for a couple of weeks then you could get the very latest model (p.s. I have the S3 and it very good, but it's my first smartphone and so I have nothing with which to compare it).