Database Users

Lousy Bloated Microsoft Crap Again .NET Compact Framework v2

Hi
I just found a piece of software that claims to backup WM5 contacts it is 'ns contacts backup' from http://www.nyxbull.net/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownloaddetails&lid=10
Anyway, I have had to install .NET Compact Framework v2.0, another 'Microsoft Bloater' that forced me to remove programs from memory to install it as it wanted nearly 6MB of main memory.
Anyway I have it installed now, do I need to keep it on my Hard Drive? This lousy piece of software installs just "one 5MB CAB file", yet it takes 91.0MB of Hard Drive space, and demands over 130MB to install itself, all for a 5MB CAB file.
Does anyone know which CAB it actually installs, I could not make out the full name on my Phone during install?
I was just wondering, after Hard Reset can .NET Compact Framework v2.0, be reinstalled by a local CAB file on the storage card, rather than using this bloated installer again?
Thanks

This lousy piece of software installs just "one 5MB CAB file", yet it takes 91.0MB of Hard Drive space, and demands over 130MB to install itself, all for a 5MB CAB file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's Micro$oft - what did you expect? :lol:

Sorry I can't answer you question regarding cab name since I am avoiding .NET CF like fire.
I am sure though that if you find the cab you can use it to install after hard reset.
Try this:
Start the installer, while ActiveSync asks you if to install to default location go to ActiveSync folder on your PC (probably in program files) and look for a cab (any cab) it should be there, or at least an *.ini file that contains the path to it (maybe the cab is in temp folder).
As for backing up contacts, there is a simple and painless way that doesn't require any installation.
In the built in file explorer select "show all files" option. Then in the root of the device you will see a file named 'pim.vol'. Just copy that to your SD.
Also I read that the new version of .NET CF 2.1 lets you install most of it on SD to save memory, but like I said I didn't try it and I don't recommend it either.

levenum said:
Sorry I can't answer you question regarding cab name since I am avoiding .NET CF like fire.
I am sure though that if you find the cab you can use it to install after hard reset.
Try this:
Start the installer, while ActiveSync asks you if to install to default location go to ActiveSync folder on your PC (probably in program files) and look for a cab (any cab) it should be there, or at least an *.ini file that contains the path to it (maybe the cab is in temp folder).
As for backing up contacts, there is a simple and painless way that doesn't require any installation.
In the built in file explorer select "show all files" option. Then in the root of the device you will see a file named 'pim.vol'. Just copy that to your SD.
Also I read that the new version of .NET CF 2.1 lets you install most of it on SD to save memory, but like I said I didn't try it and I don't recommend it either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, the contacts were the only thing stopping me Hard Resetting and reinstalling. I have spent the past few weeks installing and uninstalling trying different software and settings to get the phone the way I want it. Now I have everything, I can reset and install everything fresh, that should then be my phone finished, until something else catches my eye.

Sorry forgot to say, so what is the purpose of Outlook with relation to this phone?
As I said, it does not pick up the phone as a device or drive, and activesync says it cannot be used for backing up contacts, so what purpose does it serve?
Seems pointless to me, would have been better if Microsoft built in some proper contact management software, after all this device was designed for business use.

NewSPV said:
Sorry forgot to say, so what is the purpose of Outlook with relation to this phone?
As I said, it does not pick up the phone as a device or drive, and activesync says it cannot be used for backing up contacts, so what purpose does it serve?
Seems pointless to me, would have been better if Microsoft built in some proper contact management software, after all this device was designed for business use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The fact that ActiveSync synchronizes contacts between the device and OutLook means that your contacts ARE backed up. Well that may be how they (M$) see it any way.

TheBrit said:
NewSPV said:
Sorry forgot to say, so what is the purpose of Outlook with relation to this phone?
As I said, it does not pick up the phone as a device or drive, and activesync says it cannot be used for backing up contacts, so what purpose does it serve?
Seems pointless to me, would have been better if Microsoft built in some proper contact management software, after all this device was designed for business use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The fact that ActiveSync synchronizes contacts between the device and OutLook means that your contacts ARE backed up. Well that may be how they (M$) see it any way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I am not getting anything in Outlook. It is just sitting there doing nothing, when I look down the device list my phone is not there, so how do I use it?
Thanks

Hi again
I have been doing some more digging and I have found that the CAB required is 'NETCFv2.wm.armv4i.cab', this CAB is 2.13 MB (2,240,512 bytes), so Microsoft requires over 130 MB to install itself, and hogs 91.0 MB (95,473,664 bytes) of Hard Drive space for a 2.13 MB CAB.
I found this info on http://blogs.msdn.com/netcfteam/archive/2005/10/11/479793.aspx
To save everyone the trouble I had, I tried uploading the CAB but for some reason it is not being accepted on this post, all I am getting is sending request to forum, nothing is happening. If it is wanted I will try again later.

Doesn't the latest version of .NET CF allow you to install into Storage or Storage Card?

Ultimate Chicken said:
Doesn't the latest version of .NET CF allow you to install into Storage or Storage Card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought so. I had over 80MB left on my storage card, I selected storage card, but it kept giving me an error message saying I did not have enough main storage. I had to remove programs to install it, all I wanted to do was backup my contacts. Thanks to flaming Microsoft again, we get a business phone where you can not manage contacts. Microsoft the company that can never get anything right and makes Bill Gates the richest man in history, you couldn't make up such a story, could you?

Ultimate Chicken said:
Doesn't the latest version of .NET CF allow you to install into Storage or Storage Card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought so. I had over 80MB left on my storage card, I selected storage card, but it kept giving me an error message saying I did not have enough main storage. I had to remove programs to install it, all I wanted to do was backup my contacts. Thanks to flaming Microsoft again, we get a business phone where you can not manage contacts. Microsoft the company that can never get anything right and makes Bill Gates the richest man in history, you couldn't make up such a story, could you?

Why are my posts being sent twice?
I only submit once.

Little explanation about ActiveSync and Outlook:
Your device doesn't appear anywhere as a separate ... anything.
You get a folder in file explorer that lets you browse the device, but that's it.
As for Outlook, everything that is in there and you choose to sync is copied to the Outlook on the phone and viceversa.
You can choose to sync contacts, appointments, mail, notes and tasks. You can choose how far back the device will save mails and appointments to save space. You can also sync directly with an exchange server if you got one.
So just to be clear, you sync the stuff you got, there is no separation.

How to restore apps/ActiveSync/etc. after ROM upgrade?

I can't seem to figure out how people restore their apps, data, ActiveSync, etc. after updating their ROMs. It seems like people on this site replace their ROMs a few times a year at least, and with all the cleverness required to follow all the ROM issues, surely you can't all be manually re-installing every single app every time, etc. Are there some tools I don't know about that are useful for backing up/restoring files before/after ROM burn? Every backup program I see says you must not use it to restore after ROM update (which I understand, since you don't want to restore old versions of many key files). But surely someone could create a backup/restore app which knows which things should NOT be restored.
Thanks!

I do rom upgrades quite frequently, now I can have my device back with my settings and programs installed in around 10 minutes, here's what I did:
1)Install registry workshop on your desktop computer, this program allows you to remotely browse / export the registry on the PocketPC and compare current regitry settings on PocketPC with a previously dumped registry file.
2) Install RegDiff on your desktop computer, it allows you to generate .reg files out of two exported registry dumps done by registry workshop.
3) Spend a few hours going setting-by-setting and exporting the registry after changing each setting, compare and generate .reg file for that. Keep in mind that sometimes you need to power off the device for a while or soft reset for the registry setting to be permanently stored.
4) Once you have all the .reg files for your settings combine them in a single .reg file
5) Use WinCE Cab Manager to combine the cabs of all the programs you install, set the registry settings, and put shorcuts to all applications into the right places. This is the most "time consuming" part of the process.
Finally I end up with 2 big cab files:
- First one is around 9Mb which I install on pocketpc memory, this includes all today screen plugins, plus Net CF 2.1 and some registry settings (mostly WM5 settings and preferences from the today plugins)
- Second one is around 25Mb which i install on storage card, this includes all the other 3rd party apps I like and registry settings for those apps.
What I do after hard reset or rom upgrade: Install the two cab files, setup mail accounts and mms manually and use directpush to sync all my contacts and calendar items again.
The process of exporting all the registry settings is a PITA, but it is worth spending the time if you're going to switch roms frequently.

Look for an app called Sprite Backup.

pkx said:
Look for an app called Sprite Backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, Sprite is the easiest. Be warned, however, that it isn't able to restore PIM databases over the AKU3 upgrade. See my Backup Bible, where I;ve explained this all.

Wow, thanks. That's a lot of work to get things set up! Clearly worth it if you can re-install everything in 10 minutes, though.
I started to investigate your recommendations, installed Cab Manager, and see how you use that.
How do you get the cabs if the install isn't directly via cab? In other words, if the install is initiated via ActiveSync, then are the necessary cabs always found under the Program Files\ActiveSync directory?
As for Sprite Backup, it looks great, and maybe that would be enough for me for now. I wasn't clear (I did search through and skim the Backup Bible and the WM5 backup software comparisons but couldn't find exactly where it talked about the issue regarding AKU3) is the PIM issue a known bug? Or some limitation/problem related to new security or something?
Quincy

quinxy said:
How do you get the cabs if the install isn't directly via cab? In other words, if the install is initiated via ActiveSync, then are the necessary cabs always found under the Program Files\ActiveSync directory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's installed via activesync you can find them there, but generally what I do is extract the cab files from the exe using orange in Linux, don't know if there's a windows equivalent.

pof,
Don't know if you ever ActiveSync since you use Linux, but is there a way to NOT break your ActiveSync by upgrading your ROM? I thought I tried once, years ago, to set the device name back to the original name and ActiveSync still didn't recognize it as the old partnership.
quincy

quinxy said:
pof,
Don't know if you ever ActiveSync since you use Linux, but is there a way to NOT break your ActiveSync by upgrading your ROM? I thought I tried once, years ago, to set the device name back to the original name and ActiveSync still didn't recognize it as the old partnership.
quincy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it doesn't recognize it, just delete the old partnership and recreate / reconfigure it . It's just some seconds.

Automating Program Installs

Hey all,
I have a question.
I have been playing with my 8125 a lot lately and am constantly resetting my device. What I want to know is I have one main machine that I do all my application installs via active sync that way when I hard reset my device I just have to go to add remove programs in active sync and re-check all the programs I want to put back on my phone.
Here is what I want.
I don’t want to have to tell the phone where to install the applications (I want it to default to storage card without any prompts.) and.. I don’t want any confirmation prompts ie: security unsigned, approve this application to be installed, this application was installed properly… etc.. I want to streamline the process so I can just tick the check boxes for my apps, let them download and that’s it. Currently after refreshing I have to spend quite a bit of time clicking “ok” … storage card…. Ok… storage card… ok… I think you get it.
Thanks much!

I've seen a lot of different reg keys out there that may accomplis this. Is there a way to disable the notifications and pre-set the install path peramaters?

sledwrecker said:
I've seen a lot of different reg keys out there that may accomplis this. Is there a way to disable the notifications and pre-set the install path peramaters?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do this with WinCE Cab manager

If you really reset your device that often why don't you use SPB BACKUP? A reinstallation of all your apps wouldn't be necessary - just load your backup and you're ready to go!

Ya I did think of that but here is my issue.
the reason I am constantly hard reseting is because I am changing and playing with roms pretty much on a daily basis. I've been cooking my own roms trying to come up with what works best for me and what is closest to RTM. Thus why I am always re-installing apps.
So if I use SPB backup (which I have) it saves system settings and such right? So if I am switching roms all the time will it break my device?
Thanks guys! I'm new to the forum here I just got my first PPC phone a couple weeks ago but I've been an avid windows mobile (smartphone) user for years and have worked on WM platforms as beta tester.
Gotta love this stuff!!!

sledwrecker said:
So if I use SPB backup (which I have) it saves system settings and such right? So if I am switching roms all the time will it break my device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are exactly right, and so many people seem to miss this... Spb Backup, Sprite Backup, etc are full backups that backup and restore the registry and all. If you restore this from one rom to a different rom you are likely to break something (may not be obvious at first, but you have a very good chance of things being broken inside the registry that you will trip up on at some point).
So yeah, the only way around this (without building your own extended rom and such) is to create a folder (or set of folders) on your SD card with all the cabs, files, and settings that you need for when your flash a new rom. Then run through that to set things up. You can also use ActiveSync to reinstall apps (just check them all and it will put them all back on) but you have to remember which ones (if any) require a reset of your device as that can cause probs with the others that are installing (if all done together).

Yep,
but at least you can import contacts, email and pim data that way quite easy!
Since you continiously flash your device: there will be no other solution but reinstalling your applications again and again. You might want to look around for a CAB extractor and then create your own CABs with all the progs you would like to have in one large CAB ???
One such CAB Installer Creator is: WinCE CAB Manager
Take a closer look at MolskiBiz_DevPack and you will find a utility to extract CAB files. It will be a bit work to add all the registry values to the Installer you're going to create but finally you might save a lot of time since you only run 1 installation instead of xxx ...

This is good, I have been playing with wince cab and it is a solution.
Now I'm going to work on making my extended roms.. will this work? I did a full recover of my apps through active sync just an hour or two ago and it reported total size of all cabs as just over 112megs. That means I'd be flashing a MONSTER rom and would it even be possible?
2gig mini SD card.
thanks

I tried before to add some apps (cab installers) to a personalized extended rom but it never worked the way I wanted it to. You might have seen that you always have to give some inputs when ever you install programs, sometimes you get ask if you really want to install the app, sometimes you need to choose a location. So, if you add CAB installers UNCHANGED to the extended ROM it just won't install because during extended rom installation you have no way of providing that information.

HTC ROM UPGRADE - Missing contacts & apps

hmmm I installed the EU Rom upgrade, having removed storage card amd take a copy of PIM.VOL. Upgrade completed, I can see apps on my storage card but my phone can't see them in the list of programmes, so I can't add them to programme font page or start menu... My phone also doesn't seem to see the pim.vol so I can't reload all my contacts (no they weren't all on my pc - I can sync with that fine but not all my contacts were on pc)
CAN ANYONE HELP PLEASE - I can't be the first - or last - with this..!?
thankyou
Mark

Try TotalCommander to copy the file + backup your contacts with PIMBackup2.8 in future. As for the apps, you need to re-install them, so you can safely delete the apps on the storage card saved under Program Files

Thanks, going through various cab files etc and re-installing, TomTom next! Copying pim.vol hasn't worked, I have some Mob no's on my sim and can see them but bizarrely when I try to add to favourite contacts, all I see are a few email addresses, not the (few) mob no's I have on the phone. Looks like I will have to re-source these , what a chore... I though that copying the pim.vol would save me this task (am sure I read it in these august forums!)
all the best, Mark
ps any other tips on how to fully restore what contacts I have, so I can add them again to favourite contacts, are appreciated.

You may want to look into Sprite Backup. It's very nice for restoring system state after moving to a new rom. After flashing a new rom I have all applications / contacts / emails / texts / etc back on my phone within 10 minutes. I don't have to install anything. It's quite nice, especially with all the flashing and testing I do.

[IDEA][DEV NEEDED] Simple app to back up contacts in TF3D 2.1/2.5 ROMS.

I was playing around earlier today and noticed that a convenient way to backup your contacts in a ROM that has TF3D 2.1 or 2.5 is to copy your pim.vol from the root of main memory to the root of the storage card.
What I did was I copied the file to my storage card, flashed a ROM, then copied the file back to the root of main memory and then performed a soft-reset. ALL of my contacts and also my TF3D favorites were all backed up and successfully restored after I rebooted the phone.
What would I like to see? A program that performs the following 3 simple tasks:
1. Copy "pim.vol" from the root of main memory to the root of the storage card. (BACKUP)
2. Copy the "pim.vol" from the root of the storage card back to the root of main memory, overwriting the existing one. (RESTORE)
3. Soft reset after successfully completing step 2.
The program doesn't have to be pretty, just functional. It would be really nice for it to be finger friendly and to have skin support as well but that is not important.
If anyone thinks they can churn out a program like this you'd be doing a great justice to the whole community. ALOT of TF3D 2.1/2.5 users would be very grateful seeing as how current back up options(other than ActiveSync) do not work right anymore with the newer versions of TF3D.

I would also like to see something like this I know I could use 2 different programs to possibly accomplish this but I would like to see one program that backs to my storage card and works in the new versions of TFLO. I was using PimBackup but then 2.1 wouldnt work with it and then I would have to enter my favorites a Back up of both with one program would be awesome.

I can write a mortscript to do that. However, I think it might be in SASHIMI or whatever it is called.
Check it out...install once to storage card and has lots of features...even multi cab installs like UC.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=543605
dwizzy130

also backup / restore appointments, tasks, call logs......
is it possibile ?

I just think it would be nice to have a complete on-ppc backup and restore option for ROMs sporting the new manila 2.1 and or 2.5. Currently there is none.

Did you try this?
It doesn't do the entire PIM.VOL but it does restore a lot of the TF3D2 contact info including ringtones if I'm not mistaken.

If you still want a simple program which will do exactly as you wanted in the first thread, I will gladly make it.
Just please PM me and I will make it

Well, here you go.
It should do exactly as you said in the first post.
Sadly it hasn't got skin support, but it is very finger friendly (its just 3 big buttons)
Please tell me off if it goes wrong, or congratulate me if it works :3
Just a quick PM to let me know if it works would be nice.
Cris
Also, shameless plug:
check out the windows mobile app review site:
"Best Windows Mobile Apps"
Link in my signature: