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My XDAII recently decided to hard reset on its own and I hadnt backed up for about 10 days (I use the latest version of Sprite Backup). After restoring I connected via activesync and it read the contacts on the PDA and decided to wipe 10 days worth of new contacts and outlook database edits! Because they wernt on the XDAII it assumed I had deleted them! Is there a way of avoiding this in the future?
in the activsync options there is a option called
conflict resolution which deside how conflicting settings are handled
Its not about a conflict- there is only 1 version of the new contact on my PC which it choses to delete because it doesnt see one on the XDA. I set the conflict resolution setting to "always replace the item on my PPC"
well some times when i sync there comes a dialog asking me if
i want to replace items on my ppc or on my pc or combine them
i always pick combine and clear up manualy if i get double entries
but as a rule ms software that you get for free have some troublesome strangeness personalities
I got caught by this a few times. My solution was to delete all the items on the desktop ( without emptying the waste bin so you can get them back if you need to) and then synch. This avoided the all delete or all duplicate scenarios. I think Sprite must affect a synch flag when it restores. Anyway - this works for me as I don't add that many contacts on a daily basis
UK badboy said:
Its not about a conflict- there is only 1 version of the new contact on my PC which it choses to delete because it doesnt see one on the XDA. I set the conflict resolution setting to "always replace the item on my PPC"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't matter how many copies etc - it's a hidden TIMESTAMP that might cause this.
So despite them being in Outlook, and NOT on the phone, when you restore back to the phone, the timestamp is more recent than in Oultook.
Thus, when you sync, Outlook thinks ITS numbers are old, and no longer needed, and deletes them
I agree, it's the timestamp, how we work around it?
Shadamehr,
I completely agree with your diagnosis, and is very annoying to get the original date changed on my main PC since the date stamp is for me a criteria used to understand when a contact or an info comes from...
Is there a solution?
I use XBack-up, but I understand that also people who use Sprite have the same problem... is there a software without this problem?
By the way, taking about back-up, mine done on a kingston 128 menory takes around 6 hours... (restore is under one hour) is that normal? What is your experinece? Do u think it's a memory card a ROM or a device problem?
Thanks,
Chris
Hi
Just got this thing the other day (O2 XDA Mini S) and am pulling my hair out with ActiveSync. A google and a look round these forums convinces me I'm not alone.
I'm now at the point where notes will sync, but Contacts and Calendar will not. This appears to be most likely because I'm not using an Exchange Server.
I give in. Can anyone advise whether this some alternative to ActiveSync that I can use to back up my contacts list? I'd hate to have to do it all over again.
I have a memory card, so adding software from that is no problem if necessary.
Thanks
You can try the backup tool Sunnysoft
in advanced mode is an option Backup PIM databases
lansalot said:
I'm now at the point where notes will sync, but Contacts and Calendar will not. This appears to be most likely because I'm not using an Exchange Server.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you just trying to sync with your pc over the usb link? You don't need Exchange Server for that - it sync's with Outlook directly. Have you set up what information you want to sync in ActiveSync's Tools->options?
Another possibility for not syncing is any firewall you are running - although, if it was that, you wouldn't even get Notes to sync.
John
yup
Thanks for that John, yep I've done all I can see that I need to do. Missing Exchange was about the only thing left I could think of. I think I might uninstall Outlook and reinstall it to see if that helps. Though I *hate* having to install that POS just so I can backup some settings !
Perhaps there's somewhere within the phone that will export the various settings somewhere. Or perhaps I should dig out VS2005 and attempt to write one myself. Backing up to storage card would be the best option I think, and from a look around the .net mobile CF, it would appear to be pretty well supported.
And I had to disable Zonealarm despite having all the appropriate configurations set up to allow it. I even put 169.254.x.x in the trusted zone, to no avail.
ActiveSync is a shocking piece of software - and I know from owning other phones that there's things like MobiExplorer and MobiManager that tends to work much better than the usual manufacturer-supplied stuff.
Chak, thanks for the lead with SunnySoft.
Copy the pim.vol file from the root directory of the device. This contains all your pim info (contacts, call history, tasks, calendar). You can't really make anything out of it if you try to view it, but when you hard reset, you can just overwrite the new one and soft reset to restore everything. I copy mine to my storage card every time i add something new that has to do with pim stuff.
guttrhead said:
Copy the pim.vol file from the root directory of the device. This contains all your pim info (contacts, call history, tasks, calendar). You can't really make anything out of it if you try to view it, but when you hard reset, you can just overwrite the new one and soft reset to restore everything. I copy mine to my storage card every time i add something new that has to do with pim stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in my case, pim.vol file is protected, so copying & replacing it after hard reset does not work. i have other workaround for backuping contacts (as my activesync with outlook simply does not work) - each contact via irda to computer. it saves contact as .vcf file that you can send to wizard back again after hard reset.
Try using total commander to get to the file.
I yust transfered the file via email inside my home WLan to the PC.....
Hey, is this a common problem for HTC devices or Windows mobile in general?
I just started searching because my calendar won't sync. (3 palm devices and 3 pda's later, I have 1,400+ contacts.)
Are there any workarounds that anyone knows?
I tried setting up the sync settings whilst the device was disconnected, but the calendar entry just disappears when I re-connect.
-Worried of Sheffield.
thanks
Thanks eva_d, I had already hit on the idea of bluetoothing all my contacts over (thankfully, there's not that many) from my nokia 6600. Luckily, the XDA didn't require my SIM to be in it during the transfer. It even took over the mini pictures I had for some of the contacts, quite smart.
But it would be some chore with more than the couple dozen I had.
I'm reading up on the windowsmobile classes in dotnet, I reckon the answer would lie in there somewhere. Writing an app in VS to back things up to some funky open format would be the ideal, even if it does just drop a directory full of VCF files for example.
Once I'm sure VS2005 is installed and working correctly (http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=41155), I'll throw some serious effort at it.
Re: thanks
lansalot said:
Thanks eva_d, I had already hit on the idea of bluetoothing all my contacts over (thankfully, there's not that many) from my nokia 6600. Luckily, the XDA didn't require my SIM to be in it during the transfer. It even took over the mini pictures I had for some of the contacts, quite smart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
copying contacts to other handset is bit risky, because various producers are using various interpretation of .vcf file format. for instance, when i copy contact from siemens s65 to wizard, email field is always ripped off the contact and polish national characters are also absent. copying contacts to computer via irda is quite safe, however personal ringtones assigned to contact and voice dials are sacrified. all other data within a contact are still present, including contact picture.
A bit more info on the missing calendar link:-
I have one laptop using activesync V.4.1 this was where i first discovered the problem.
Just tried laptop #2 running a/sync v.3.7.1 which has an older copy of my appointments in outlook. Calendar doesn't sync to this either, so it must be something inside the MDA.
Tried to search microsoft support to find a solution, but no entries found. This seems to indicate that it is a HTC issue. I had a MDA Pro briefly sync-ed up which worked Ok. The problems are with my MDA compact running WM2003.
pim.vol not only saves the contact but also the assigned ringtone and pic. only way to do it is copy to storage card.
then after hard reset it won't let you overwrite the new one but if you rename it to pim.vol.old it lets you do that. then you can overwrite it.
laich71 said:
pim.vol not only saves the contact but also the assigned ringtone and pic. only way to do it is copy to storage card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
contact pictures are NOT saved in pim.vol. when i restore contacts via irda from .vcf files on my laptop, pictures are already there.
I know this thread has moved on a bit, but I've just got my calendar to sync. again and I'm soooo relieved!
Take a look at this forum to find out how:-
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.pocketpc.activesync
Look at 'Cannot get calendar to sycnhronise' and the second reply.
Backing up the Contacts with Mail2Web Live Mail Service
I basically use the mail2web live mail service, and use its exchange server as the server source in Activesync. I only choose synching Contacts with this server (but you can choose others).
This way, all my contacts are always up to date in mail2web servers, and even if I need to hard reset, I can reget all of my contacts back very quickly.
Highly recommended...
Fast
please use the search PLEASE! ....search for PPCBckpContacts.exe
damn it!
As the message suggests... My SMS's are deleted after a hard reset. Any way to back them up?
DB
There are several ways to backup sms. I use a program called Jeyo Mobile Extender and every time you sync your device with outlook, it backs up all your sms to outlook. THen you can hard reset and either keep those sms's on your pc in outlook, or choose to restore them on your device.
I'm bumping this request again
does anyone know where the sms' are stored on the Prophet? in some database file? There can be too many to be just stored in the registry!
and no, I'm not looking for an existing program to back sms up (also because none of the existing ones are fully WM5 compatible)
I'm after the technical details of where they are stored. Didn't find anything with a Google search.
thanks.
I have spb backup (I think that's what it's called), I ask it to backup my mail and it backs up my SMS as well... Very cool little backup program and it works with WM5 too.
DB
This is not the technical solution to kow where there are stored...
I m also looking 4 that information (+ where call log are stored !)
Write to Kai Bruckmann in Germany (in English), he has written a little app that backs up SMS to a Excel tab (and back).
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/en/index-en.html
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/en/details.aspx?353
Good luck.
I've had the most trouble trying to figure this one out.
I have a client who needs to be able to export or record in a sortable format, his call log. Particularly the phone number, contact name, call time and duration, and of course date.
There's several ways to go about it. I've tried the service at www.1800message.com which has given me the most success, but now they seem to be on hold for storage issues.
I've also tried the phone dashboard app that's out there, however, what it exports is really not useful because there is no contact name mapped to the phone numbers, you just see the numbers.
I've also tried another app that did outlook journaling in the windows mobile device, but again its no good for the client since you manually have to select each call to put in the journal.
Finally, the one I really wanted to try was Modaco smart journal, which just was a tray app that synced the call log to outlook (again, journal, but you could get reports from that), however its seemed to completely dissapear from the internet.
So what is out there besides what I've found? I even read somewhere that call log export was a function of WM5, but I've found no supporting evidence since, or even the originating article of such a rumor.
Isn't the log just a hidden database file just like the calendar items and contacts, etc? I've never tried but maybe you can use excel or another program to read it. You could occasionally copy the file to the desktop then compile the databases together and remove duplicate entries.
Nicnatros said:
Isn't the log just a hidden database file just like the calendar items and contacts, etc? I've never tried but maybe you can use excel or another program to read it. You could occasionally copy the file to the desktop then compile the databases together and remove duplicate entries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any ideas on where to look and or known possible filetypes? I hadn't had time to pick through all phone files, but just curious if anyone can give me direction there.
CaptDistraction said:
Any ideas on where to look and or known possible filetypes? I hadn't had time to pick through all phone files, but just curious if anyone can give me direction there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm currently working on this. I intend to extend my PPCBckpContacts application, so SMS, Calls history, Tasks, appointments and Speed dial can be backed up in csv files.
The calls log is in the pim.vol.
Cheers,
.Fred
dotfred said:
I'm currently working on this. I intend to extend my PPCBckpContacts application, so SMS, Calls history, Tasks, appointments and Speed dial can be backed up in csv files.
The calls log is in the pim.vol.
Cheers,
.Fred
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there any way to view the contents? I just bought SKTools, but it doesn't seem to support working with the pim.vol database, even though it gives me record counts for the different tables.
CaptDistraction said:
Is there any way to view the contents? I just bought SKTools, but it doesn't seem to support working with the pim.vol database, even though it gives me record counts for the different tables.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The pim.vol contains several databases, so yes you could see the contents by using an hex editor, but it's not easy. The best way is using CEDB/EDB api from windows to access the records of the db.
Cheers,
.Fred
Hmm, so basically I'd have to develop a WM application that utilized that api to read the contents of the pim.vol file and exported it?
I've got a few years of programming under my belt, but I really have 0 windows/windows mobile experience.
If its something simple, I could probably read up and compile an app to do it, but just seems like a daunting task, especially on the cost to benefit side of things with what time it would take for me to get up to speed and figure out creating an application.
Are there any tools out there for the EDB type of database?
CaptDistraction said:
Hmm, so basically I'd have to develop a WM application that utilized that api to read the contents of the pim.vol file and exported it?
I've got a few years of programming under my belt, but I really have 0 windows/windows mobile experience.
If its something simple, I could probably read up and compile an app to do it, but just seems like a daunting task, especially on the cost to benefit side of things with what time it would take for me to get up to speed and figure out creating an application.
Are there any tools out there for the EDB type of database?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I did in PPCContactsMgr, in order to get the missed calls in order to add a phone number to an existing contact.
Now I'm working on the backup.
I really don't know, I put my hands in the mud, I made a lot of tests and finally found something reasonable to get the infos.
Cheers,
.Fred
dotfred said:
That's what I did in PPCContactsMgr, in order to get the missed calls in order to add a phone number to an existing contact.
Now I'm working on the backup.
I really don't know, I put my hands in the mud, I made a lot of tests and finally found something reasonable to get the infos.
Cheers,
.Fred
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, I'll have to follow your work then, sounds like what you are developing would be just the ticket for what I am trying to do.
CaptDistraction said:
Is there any way to view the contents? I just bought SKTools, but it doesn't seem to support working with the pim.vol database, even though it gives me record counts for the different tables.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you try last SKTools version?
this can export clog.db from PIM.vol
import not supported yet
S_K said:
you try last SKTools version?
this can export clog.db from PIM.vol
import not supported yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My foot to my mouth. It does it.
CaptDistraction said:
My foot to my mouth. It does it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My PpcBckpcontacts application does import/export of call logs!
See here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=279925&highlight=last+name+contacts
Hi,
Very confused about what happened during a ROM upgrade..
I went from 1.43 to 1.48, immediately following which I did a hard reset (perhaps not strictly necessary however commonly believed to be best practise when flashing ROMs).
HD2 started up, did it's initialization customisations, asked for my provider etc. I then went through and configured my connection with my Exchange Server and all my data sync'd up - all normal so far.
So now I had a fresh install, just with my Exchange data on (contacts / calendar / email etc). Definitely a clean install (just to emphasis the point!) as obviously my app shortcuts weren't there from the home screen, my weather cities of choice weren't there but instead the default, etc etc etc. All as expected.
BUT..
I flicked to the People (contacts) section of Sense (the second tab by default) and to my surprise there were the six faces of the people I had configured previously!! They were in the wrong order (no logic to the new order) but yup they were there!! VERY STRANGE!!
The only thing I can think of is either a) such configuration is stored on the storage card (which obviously isn't wiped during ROM upgrade) or b) it is somehow stored and sync'd back in the individual Outlook contact records themselves (unlikely I'm thinking..).
Any comments??! Even if just to confirm? Or am I going completely mad!!
Same here - very random - my photos and music have been juggled around too...
SimonW500 said:
Hi,
it is somehow stored and sync'd back in the individual Outlook contact records themselves (unlikely I'm thinking..).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is this^
When you add in a contact to favourites in sense and sync back to exchange, you will notice that your contact has been added to a category called "HTC Favourite".
Check Outlook on a PC to see the categories your contacts are assigned to.
Thanks for the quick reply and confirmation - good to know I'm not going mad!
So can someone explain how this is done? ie. kept on storage card / sync'd back to Exchange / AN Other?
I'm particularly concerned if it is sync'd back to Exchange, as until now I often try quite a few Windows Mobile devices and enter in my Exchange details etc on the assumption that nothing that particular device does is actually kept once I wipe the phone.
Audio Oblivion said:
It is this^
When you add in a contact to favourites in sense and sync back to exchange, you will notice that your contact has been added to a category called "HTC Favourite".
Check Outlook on a PC to see the categories your contacts are assigned to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow - another amazing quick response!!
Excellent - thanks for the info - well spotted! Now despite my above comment I can live with this more than happily, actually see it as a useful feature!
Thanks again.
Moving People around?
Following on from the above (loosely!)..
Is there an easy way to move the ordering of these shortcuts around?
Being the picky individual that I am (!) I have them in a certain order, which effectively means that even though the right people are 'remembered' I still have to delete and create them all again to put them in the right order.
Thanks again..
Your photo and Music are located on your SD card. SD card is not impacted by either HARD RESET or Memory Flashing.
You favorties contacts are part of a group... And this informations is stored in the contact information on your Exchange server (like if you've put them in a group named "Restaurants" "Best Friends", etc. But it's not storing their positions; If you flash hard reset multiple times, it will always put them in the same position. (Sync order? Older first? By phone number? no idea right now)
For the other informations (shortcuts) it's not saved either on your SD card, MyPhone account nor Exchange server... no way to get them back automatically..
Kridek said:
Your photo and Music are located on your SD card. SD card is not impacted by either HARD RESET or Memory Flashing.
You favorties contacts are part of a group... And this informations is stored in the contact information on your Exchange server (like if you've put them in a group named "Restaurants" "Best Friends", etc. But it's not storing their positions; If you flash hard reset multiple times, it will always put them in the same position. (Sync order? Older first? By phone number? no idea right now)
For the other informations (shortcuts) it's not saved either on your SD card, MyPhone account nor Exchange server... no way to get them back automatically..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good summary - spot on!
It seems with this little integration of Outlook groups, and the use of MyPhone, re-flashing roms or hard resets are getting slightly more "user friendly". I realise there a 3rd party apps to do this (and more) however to me half the beauty of doing such a flash/reset is to NOT carry things over other than pure data (ie. not config)..
People
The faces images info is stored in the pim.vol but whatever you used to reinstall contacts(Exchange?) has sorted them in the wrong order.
I use a method which comes from doing countless rom upgrades.
I used sashimi but realised all it was doing was copying and restoring the pim.vol
Don't use PIM backup as going back & forth from backup and restore seems to lead to corrupted pim.vol files. I know you haven't done that but just a warning.
The way to get a mirror restore, is to copy the pim.vol file in the root folder(device\) before reinstalling to your sd card or pc, then copy back over the empty pim.vol after reinstalling. You can't do it in the device explorer or in activesync but with resco explorer or fexploreext you can. I avoid activesync so I don't get either duplicates or wiped out contact/calendar info. This may seem laborious but after hundreds of rom flashes it has value in being quick and safe. I have 450+ contacts I have accumulated in 7 years of owning PPC/WM's and always have a plethora of calendar items which I can not afford to lose or have corrupted.
If you want to backup sms's you can use PIM Backup.
Maybe you would find it easier to use MS Myphone. I have avoided it so can't give a review.
Pure data
Pure data is great, but once there are uc(user customisation) compliant Leo roms, there will be available, a beautiful way of reconstructing about 80% of all settings, applications and shortcuts. It restores all one's customisation in pristine order, with only the new rom's updated functions.
SimonW500 said:
Good summary - spot on!
It seems with this little integration of Outlook groups, and the use of MyPhone, re-flashing roms or hard resets are getting slightly more "user friendly". I realise there a 3rd party apps to do this (and more) however to me half the beauty of doing such a flash/reset is to NOT carry things over other than pure data (ie. not config)..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xaddict said:
The faces images info is stored in the pim.vol but whatever you used to reinstall contacts(Exchange?) has sorted them in the wrong order.
I use a method which comes from doing countless rom upgrades.
I used sashimi but realised all it was doing was copying and restoring the pim.vol
Don't use PIM backup as going back & forth from backup and restore seems to lead to corrupted pim.vol files. I know you haven't done that but just a warning.
The way to get a mirror restore, is to copy the pim.vol file in the root folder(device\) before reinstalling to your sd card or pc, then copy back over the empty pim.vol after reinstalling. You can't do it in the device explorer or in activesync but with resco explorer or fexploreext you can. I avoid activesync so I don't get either duplicates or wiped out contact/calendar info. This may seem laborious but after hundreds of rom flashes it has value in being quick and safe. I have 450+ contacts I have accumulated in 7 years of owning PPC/WM's and always have a plethora of calendar items which I can not afford to lose or have corrupted.
If you want to backup sms's you can use PIM Backup.
Maybe you would find it easier to use MS Myphone. I have avoided it so can't give a review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good tip with with pim.vol file..
For what it's worth, I too have a similar amount of valuable contact and calendar data, however to date I'm pleased to report no amount of heavy ActiveSync (direct Exchange Server connection) abuse has caused any serious issues.
Activesync issues
There's always a first time, and 2nd and so on...
p.s. I'm not sure I want to flash roms the way I did on my HD,
but when I was doing it, activesync gave me a lot of problems.
SimonW500 said:
Good tip with with pim.vol file..
For what it's worth, I too have a similar amount of valuable contact and calendar data, however to date I'm pleased to report no amount of heavy ActiveSync (direct Exchange Server connection) abuse has caused any serious issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xaddict said:
There's always a first time, and 2nd and so on...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - very true! For this reason I try to take a copy of all my contacts within Outlook at least once a month; both protects me from any wayward devices as well as any modifications I may make and then regret (change of numbers, deletions etc!).
I love this feature
usually , one had to reconfigure all the favorite contacts after a hard reset.
Now, when syncing with Exchange, like said above, your favorites will be restored with pictures and all. Great
Never had them pop back in in the wrong order though.
lucid said:
usually , one had to reconfigure all the favorite contacts after a hard reset.
Now, when syncing with Exchange, like said above, your favorites will be restored with pictures and all. Great
Never had them pop back in in the wrong order though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, I upgraded from HD to HD2, as soon as i sync with exchange i got my favs back in the correct order with all my emails , text messages etc etc.