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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!
Hey everyone,
I usually hate posting (as most things I need is found through searching).
but here goes my little story.
I have my 8125 (wizard), I plugged it into my laptop (not my usual one), and activesync started working or something, then I notice it saying something about deleting previous information, so immediatly , I look at my phonebook while it's doing that, it's empty! So I disconnect the USB connection before anymore could be done.
I was wondering if it were possible to get back my contact info?
I copied a file off of the phone, PIM file. I opened it with notepad, looks like it has some names and numbers stored on it, even my SMS messages still have names from the people sent on it.
Is there any hope of getting all my contacts back?
Why not just connect it to the computer you normally sync with? If you sync with Outlook on that system, your contacts will re-populate automatically.
That's the problem, that pc was sent to my father in law =\
that's about 2000 miles away...
will, sorry to tell that it's hard to get back the data, you can add them one-by-one from the PIM file you have or pay a visit to your father-in-law...or file a lawsuit against Microsoft ;-)
I found a stupid flaw in ActiveSync 4.5 that if you don't sync the contacts (uncheck the contact checkbox in the list of items you want to sync), they will be deleted...so my advice to you -after you get back your data- is to use PPC PIM Backup (you can find it in the forum)
Yea, kinda sucks for me.
I was hoping since all my contacts were in outlook mobile, they would have some kind of backup file, or deleted files directory =\
Why not have your dad export your contacts and send them to you? You can then import them into your Outlook and sync it with your phone.
After "re-installing" my laptop I launched ActiveSync the first time and telled him to synchronize with my Touch HD. But AS said: There allready exists a parthernsip on the mobile device - first go and delete it.
Ok... I started AS on my phone, opened the options dialogue and I deleted the partnership with my laptop. That was a mistake - because with the parthnership every contact was deleted.
Wow, nice feature, Microsoft!
So... i know i have a half year old backup, but is it possible to undelete the current contacts? Perhaps there is a file on my phone, where they all are stored?
every hint is helpful, thanks a lot in advance!
//E
puuh.. ok - i found the file "pim.vol". Obviously it contains every contact but they are marked as "invisible" respectivly "deleted". So, how can i reveal them, make them visible?
Yes, I saw that issue when trying to remove association between my PC and my HD. I used ActiveSync to import contacts from PC, but when it's done, why can't I mantain the contacts if I remove the association? Can't understand.
Deleted as mis read the line of "re-installed" laptop.
Soz.
i guess it could be a good idea to move this thread to the general Q&A board, cause thats not really a blackstone related problem.
Also have the exact same issue,
used phone on my spare laptop and was asked to delete a setting,
Now I've lost about 220 contacts. - Any fixes?
I think there is no fix. Just dont do it again. Always have a backup somewhere. Now it is quite convenient to skip outlook altogether and active sync directly to gmail and gcalander.
perhaps there is a solution.
As I found out, the pim.vol is just a database called "EDB" that MS uses for mobile devices. Till now the file format is "closed" but there exists the so called "POOM" - an API to read informations from the EDB.
So... I guess there is someone out there who already coded a Interface to read the pim.vol.... and we have to find him...
This interests me because I tend to delete contacts quite often!
Just Run PPC PIM backup- it creates a backup of PIM on a daily basis. This way you can delete contacts,messages, appointments and so on as much as you like.
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.
right first things first ive done a few searches and coldnt find anything
I would like to know what you guys use to back up your phone. Im mainly after backing up my sms inbox, contacts and installed apps and settings. Ive had to factory reset my phone twice in the passed week lol lost everything and now have it tweeked to my liking now. so I best back up everything asap incase
thanks for any replies
Hi..
there is an app called microsoft my phone , on the start windows tab,,
regards
op
and i dont fancy paying £18.19 for SPRITE BACKUP
the_operator said:
Hi..
there is an app called microsoft my phone , on the start windows tab,,
regards
op
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with this guy....I use Microsoft "My Phone" too....I like to mess with my phone and this program syncs everything that I need and stores it online. I can even access and make changes from my PC if I feel the need. Everytime I change my ROM I just sync it up and all my contacts, calendar etc are back on the phone!
Seem those guys never upgrade their phone, uh!
Every time you have to re-enter all config stufs (e.g. e-mails accounts & passwords, connections settings, and so on); everything can be saved by ActiveSync or My Phone EXCEPT those specific configs!!!
I just found CeRegistryEditor (link to ceregeditor.mdsoft.pl/?lang=en): it allows to backup & compare registry entries with file(s) by using ActiveSync connection.
Everytime you add/change some specific settings just compare entries with previously saved one and save it with mnemonic name; once you re-initialize your phone just load all saved keys, of course without forgetting to re-install all related programs, if needed!
Your phone will be just as you want in a couple of minutes. That's it!
rg,
Stefano
Definitely SPB Backup.
Give that a shot... it's a costly bit of software... but completely worthy.
Sprite Backup is a must for anyone, especially for those who wants to do some tweaking.
sprite back up
Exactly 12 hours ago my Leo 's sence stopped launching and I was in a horrible time.I had collected 79 nice opera bookmarks and doing a hard reset should clean all of them !
spb back up was not the solution ,cause it can't back up favourites.and Microsoft my phone couldn't sync cause the wi-fi was dead ! so I beamed up Sprite back up tool from my old Hd .
and it selected percisely what I wanted...I think spb phone plus or suit has the same function for backing up favourites but SPRITE is perfect.
I want to back up my hd2 too, can anyone tell me how to use Activesync for backing up plz
Hi,
i think you can't use AS for backup. You could copy all the user-data and programm folders but not the registry entries. You need special backup software for this purpose. I know Spb Backup and Sprite. Although i ve registered bith i mainlay use Spb because it works better for me. I think it is worth his money.
Bernhard
Re: HD2 backup
Personally I store everything on the storage card - and use Jeyo Mobile Companion to backup and restore contacts, sms, call history etc prior to flashing... works like a charm...
And in conjunction with Microsoft My Phone - never lost anything so far... even able to recover my business mobile while roaming...
trying to put my nubers on the adroid version how can i do it
haircuts91 said:
trying to put my nubers on the adroid version how can i do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As with Android you need to set up a GMail account, so you can access the app market.
Set up a new exchange e-mail account on your WinMo phone - Use the details you used in the GMail account. Once it is set up, the GMail account will pick up your contacts when you sync the phone (via the phone's Activesync).
When you go into Android sync your Gmail account.
PIM Backup.
haircuts91 said:
trying to put my nubers on the adroid version how can i do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you use hotmail, just use activesync/exchange connection on your android
I got a question, when you install the wp7 on the HD2, do you also lose files from the internal memory? like the camera software or the album software or everything from internal memory?
so which backup file can i use to save all those folders and files?
I tried SPB.
Downloaded it ok.
Ran it ok.
Then at the end of the process it crashed the phone.
Booted but sense wouldn't load at all. Start worked but irratic and laggy, settings didn't open.
Tried numerous soft resets but nothing worked.
Did a hard reset and used Microsoft MyPhone to restore contacts, tasks, SMS and calendar all perfect apart from havingbto resync contacts with facebook.
I did have to download all my apps and mods again and confit email etc. A real pain but didn't loose anything valuable,
MyPhone very useful and free.
BEERSHARK said:
I tried SPB.
Downloaded it ok.
Ran it ok.
Then at the end of the process it crashed the phone.
Booted but sense wouldn't load at all. Start worked but irratic and laggy, settings didn't open.
Tried numerous soft resets but nothing worked.
Did a hard reset and used Microsoft MyPhone to restore contacts, tasks, SMS and calendar all perfect apart from havingbto resync contacts with facebook.
I did have to download all my apps and mods again and confit email etc. A real pain but didn't loose anything valuable,
MyPhone very useful and free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
I use spb backup for over a year and it works more that perfect.
Maybe you are doing something wrong (although I can not imagine what can go wrong in such an easy installation). I have used it for numerous backups and restores.No problem at all. Spb Backup is Highly Recommended.
Regards,
John