how do you hard reset the tp?

[Baffles]

Hold power button down to turn off phone, hit yes. With phone totally off, press and hold volume down and select (center of d-pad), hold down the poewr button, once it comes on let go of power button but keep holding vol down/dpad center. You will get a grey screen telling you about hard resetting, and follow the directions.

This and much more is covered in the TP essentials thread (see sig).