Database Users

Where are the contacts stored on the phone?

Just wanting to know the location of where the contacts are stored when theyre on the phone?
For example, the text messages are stored in Windows > Messaging.
Thanks

Where are the contacts stored
all PIM data (contacts, appointments, tasks) are stored in the file 'pim.vol' which is located in the root entry.
Wolfgang

How to Manually Backup your Contacts, Appointments and Task or the PIM in WM2005?
Look here:
http://buzzdev.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=45

you also can use Sunnysoft Backup Manager to save all your data. You only have to rename the pim.vol to something else before restoring the data.
Wolfgang

presumably cemail.vol is the mail, will this work as well?
Flubster

Flubster,
if you can copy the file to another place it should work also.
Wolfgang

Just to say cemail.vol cannot be copied via file manager, resco file manager or windows. Any other way to get this file?
Flubster

OK, I wanted to backup the SMS's which was the main reason I wanted to backup the cemail.vol file. In the end I used the BackupSMS from a dopod WM2005 extended ROM and that worked fine
Flubster

Force Pocket Outlook to reload pim.vol

Hi everyone,
I'm kind of manipulating the pim.vol file, and when I copy one over the original, and the try to modifie it (using the any api), I can see that the file used by pocket outlook is not the one I just copied.
One easy solution is to soft reset the pocket pc, and then pocket outlook read the new pim.vol, but this is kind of boring.
So my question is : does any one know how to tell to pocket outlook to reload its pim.vol file with having to soft-reset.
P.S : I've already tried to kill the poutlook process, but then everything is going so unstable that I don't think this is the way.
Thanks for your help guys.
Ed

You say you're "kind of manipulating the pim.vol file".
Does that mean you have a description of the file format at hand ?
I'm looking for it.
regards,
inetd.

I have the backup of PIM.VOL from AKU2.x and AKU3.x of my contacts before upgrade but Aku2.x PIM.VOL files are totally useless in Aku3.x. So better use outlook to backup, that is the safest.
They are of very different if you view the files in hex mode.
Those from AKU2.x seems to place the phone number before name and AKU3.x seems to place the name before the phone number.

BACKING UP CONTACTS

Is there any better way to backup contacts list rather then Microsoft Outlook?
I've seen a lot of different softwares around.
I just want some advice of an application that runs ok on 9100 and keeps my contacts safe.
By the way, the worst thing about using windows is that you KNOW that some day it will crash and you will have to format the device. It's dismissable.

I agree with you. I would love something that was able to export contacts to an XML file (and sms to a series of text files) just so I didn't have to pretty much relie on having access to a windows box.

Enjoy!!........... http://www.jeyo.com/companion.asp

As has been mentioned before, in the root directory of My Device there is a file named pim.vol. With Calendar/Contacts/Tasks not running copy this file to another location such as your storage card (don't move it!). Voila! There's your backup. No muss, no fuss.
Good luck!

Tref said:
As has been mentioned before, in the root directory of My Device there is a file named pim.vol. With Calendar/Contacts/Tasks not running copy this file to another location such as your storage card (don't move it!). Voila! There's your backup. No muss, no fuss.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering how to back up my contacts too. Thanks for the info!

You're welcome, I was just passing on what I also learned here.
Another thing I do is to use outlook to save an exported copy of my contacts as a .pst file on my PC. I don't sync my pda with my PC but I do periodically allow a sync to take place during which I set up the connection to "replace what is on the PC with what is on the device". After doing so I export the contacts to the pst file, somewhere on my PC and then delete all contacts in Outlook (it's not my primary email app). By deleting them I don't have to worry about hackers getting into them, and I'm then prepared for the next time I want to sync them for the purpose of backing them up.
Then I save copies of both the pim.vol and .pst files to a storage card that I keep locked up.

So i just need to save the pim.vol . And if something happens and i need to format my device i only need to put the replace pim.vol and all my contacts tasks and calendar will be restored, its correct
thanks

i use Shozu ( www.shozu.com ) lets me upload my photos right to Flickr, and as a bonus backs up my contacts. woo hoo

shozu looks good, however the wizard doesn appear in the list of compatible phones? What is the way round this?

How do you use the PIM file as a backup? I recently hard reset and then tried to copy the PIM file from my storage card back into the memory of the 8125 and I kept getting an error message that stated that either the file was in use or memory was not sufficient.
any thoughts?

u can use this contacts backup tool from buzzdev.net

Hammered said:
How do you use the PIM file as a backup? I recently hard reset and then tried to copy the PIM file from my storage card back into the memory of the 8125 and I kept getting an error message that stated that either the file was in use or memory was not sufficient.
any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rename the pim.vol to pim.vo and copy and paste backed up pim.vol - it works :wink:

meschle said:
Rename the pim.vol to pim.vo and copy and paste backed up pim.vol - it works :wink:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sir, Where do I find pim.vol, I don't understand how to go in root please help me.

does synching backup my contacts

Hello
Does synching my XDA Exec backup my contacts? in case it does and if i lose my contacts(my not using my xda for a month) then how do i copy the backup on my pc to my xda?

set up outlook as your email software and select contacts in active sync make sure to check outlook contacts so see if all the contats are there
or read the help in active sync

Dude,
I asked similar Q a while ago - just backup "pim.vol" in your windows folder I think it is . . that's your contacts file.

thanks for the reply little_rock
how do i backup "pim.vol" ?

xda_guy said:
thanks for the reply little_rock
how do i backup "pim.vol" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's far easier /safer to use the desktop outlook to do the backup.
Alternatively, you can also check out http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30893&d=1160987030 ; also see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=279925

yeah or just use resco file explorer and cop y it to another folder somewhere

thanks for the replies
i have copied the pim.vol to my SD card, what information does it contain, i guess if my phone crashes i just need to copy the pim.vol on the SD card into the root directory, correct? why is it a hiddenen file?
what is SKTools 3.0

Pim.vol has got all of ur pim files like contacts, calender appointments,To do items etc.....

thanks niket

Hard Reset??

I want to hard reset my Exec, to clean up things and run my SBA Backup to restore my settings...\
Question> Will I loose my Qtek Rom?
Question> What should I backup to the SD before the reset?
How do I find the PIM.VOL file to copy my contacts///?
THANKS ALOT FOR HELP

1. No, ROM is not effected
2. Download SPB Backup and backup PIM and email
3. PIM.VOL is located on the root folder, it can be copied to SD using the built in file explorer. It contains your contact, calendar, tasks etc.

Did restore with SPB Backup... Everything is back! \ KUDOS SPB!!!!!