Database Users

WM5 cannot install, uninstall, delete

Hello,
I am ****ed. I did nothing in particular except installing some new programs especially in the last phm regedit (but i did not use the prog) and suddenly the following problem occured.
1. I cannot see any applications listed in the "Remove Programs" views
plus
2. I cannot delete any Files in the whole System, no matter built in, or storage card
It seem that I have lost all my permissions.
The only thing I can still do is editing the registry as it seems.
I cannot backup anything. I cannot install any new programs.
If I have to hard reset now I will loose all my contacts since I only have half of them on my simcard.
Please help me out somehow.
What do I need to change in the registry, in order te be able to do something again (at least install a backup programm in order to keep my contacts).
Or,how can I save all my contacts to sim - I could not find this option in the contacts view.
Please .. desperately help needed.
D

I rekon you'll need to hard reset and lose all your contacts. That'll learn you for not having them all backed up, eh?
Also, Please don't swear in the thread title. Some people read this at work.

Sync your contacts with pc and you'll save all.

@No.1 ... yes, I removed that bad word from the title and already am happy again with my "new" hard-resetted Wizard... only needed approx. 3 hours for everything
I was very upset when I wrote the above, since Sprite Backup does not work at the moment and I rely normally 100% on it
@No.2 ... also yes ... an older company laptop with Active Synch installed saved many of my contacts

there is a file in the root directory called pim.vol. This contains all of your contacts, call history info, tasks and calendar data (maybe some other stuff I haven't figured out yet too). Copy this to a storage card, hard reset, drop it back into the root directory and overwrite the new one, soft reset and all of your info is back. Anytime I add a new contact or important calendar info I back up my pim.vol just incase something bad happens and I need to hard reset.

wow ... thanx very much for the heads up ... I am this will save me from a lot of future troubles

Safe Mode

Is there any way to boot a Wizard into a safe mode?
I dont want to hard reset , it boots, I put it my passcode and THEN it hangs, so it boots but something is killing it before it fully loads.
I think its the today screen itself that is hanging in, is there any way to disable/remove today plugins through active sync ? Add/Remove programs wont work, so am thinking I could probably disable the plugins and then reboot.....

If when you boot the phone and it hangs, it is still visible by Activestink, you could do in to your phone and remove the plugin files... then reboot, and if that in fact was causing the problem you might be ok.
Otherwise you'll be hard resetting. Hope you made a backup!

Yeah, it syncs if I dont put the password in. Only thing I would lose would be my SMS messages which haven't been backed up in a while. Bugger will be getting a new license for Opera.
Any idea where the plugins files are?
The thing that broke it was I installed O2 plus. I re-enabled RhinoStats cause I wanted to know how much CPU was taking, and I think it was the combo of these two things which broke it.
If I hold the power key down it does ask if I want to turn off my device, which is "nice"..... it's not dead but it certainly doesnt do much.
It wont add/remove programs, it gets half way through then dies.
ANd what happens if you break a today plugin? Does it fail to load and then have windows clean up after itself? Or does it royally break things?

Wont let me delete the rhinostats dll file and I dont know which O2 files I can delete so I shall not be touching those.
Have removed the sim card, will see if that helps get it into some sort of working state so I can fix the problems it seems to be having. -> Answer, no. Just shows a different screen when it gets round to breaking.
Any more ideas?

Ok, I dont know how I managed to do it, but this time (having now re-inserted my sim and removed the 2Gb SD card) it didn't immediatly die.
I cant explain it, I dont know if this is a coincidence, but I have now de-installed O2 plus and disabled all the today plugins I could find. I shall now be running a new backup.....
Now let's see if it dies.....
On a side note, anyone know of a way of exporting all the SMS messages in a format that is readable by a desktop computer (preferably via notepad/nano)?

if u want to backup ur sms msgs, there is a file called cemail.vol.
copy it to ur storage card, hard reset, then copy iy back again.
Mohammad

mohgdeisat said:
if u want to backup ur sms msgs, there is a file called cemail.vol. copy it to ur storage card, hard reset, then copy iy back again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Mohammad, i can't copy/paste it as it is locked by something. How to do it?
Regards...

try renaming the current cemail.vol to anything ..like cemail.volx then copy the old cemail.vol into the same directory where the new cemail.vol resides. soft reset.

da_mayhem said:
try renaming the current cemail.vol to anything ..like cemail.volx then copy the old cemail.vol into the same directory where the new cemail.vol resides. soft reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but how can i backup the "old" one? as i said it is locked so i can't copy it...
btw: even renaming does not work because of the file being locked...

Tried checking it on my phone, and yes it can't, i guess this only works with Smartphones. I'm sorry for that.

Cavey.co.uk said:
Is there any way to boot a Wizard into a safe mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1255&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Can't Install

Pls pls pls help
can't install anything anymore on my VArio II
can't sync with activesync either, whatsup

If you want help then something a little more detailed might help.... does it produce errors?!? what are the error messages, etc... it would be like telling your docter over the phone that you dont fell good... unless your doctor is psychic then he cant diagnose your problem without more information..

More Info As Req
ok
got wisbar and wisbar deskstop looks sweet
a few other odds and sods
but try to install security Wallet,shareware to try it out
and bam it just wouldn't accept it
when to try and uninstall it and my remove program list was blank
try to install a software from the CD that came with my VArio and it wouldn't install that either!!!!
really scared!!!!

rickyjune said:
ok
got wisbar and wisbar deskstop looks sweet
a few other odds and sods
but try to install security Wallet,shareware to try it out
and bam it just wouldn't accept it
when to try and uninstall it and my remove program list was blank
try to install a software from the CD that came with my VArio and it wouldn't install that either!!!!
really scared!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Rickyjune
I don't know anything about security wallet - perhaps it's one of those things that locks up your files and applications, but without knowing about it I cannot guide you through a fix.
I assume you do not have a backup taken before you installed it? or even whether you can access them if you have? (This would be a solution perhaps if you have)
I'm not sure whether your applications are all working or disappeared or locked or what exactly. Sadly if it's in a real mess, I can only suggest a hard reset that obviously will remove everything back to the way you first got the device Would obviosly mean re-installing all your customisations and programmes you've added. It's either that or wait to see if anyone with security wallet helps out. Does security wallet have a help line or e-mail support etc.
Mike

more info
hiya
its called Flexiwallet for secure info and it didn't install
my programs are still on my storage card and windows and everything is working
except can't install and can't sync with activesync
oh and no list of programs in Remove Program list

rickyjune said:
hiya
its called Flexiwallet for secure info and it didn't install
my programs are still on my storage card and windows and everything is working
except can't install and can't sync with activesync
oh and no list of programs in Remove Program list
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I'll do some checking but I may not get far. See if you can get in touch with them.
Mike

Hi
I'm not sure this is the right one Flexwallet without an "i":
if it's the right one I see you can contact them or use the webis forum:
http://www.pocketinformant.com/Forums/index.php?showtopic=10016
http://www.webis.net/support.php
http://www.webis.net/whatsnew.php?type=FW2006&version=509&Product_Version=FlexWallet%202006%20Rev%203
Mike

Its The Right One But
It didn't install on my mobile
its nowhere in the windows or storage card
the fact is i can't install anything

rickyjune said:
It didn't install on my mobile
its nowhere in the windows or storage card
the fact is i can't install anything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still think it might be worth asking them a question, because I read a post on their forum - under beta testers I think, saying they got an error on install but that it had in fact installed!
You're only other choice is a hard reset unless someone else has an alternative
Mike

mikechannon said:
Still think it might be worth asking them a question, because I read a post on their forum - under beta testers I think, saying they got an error on install but that it had in fact installed!
You're only other choice is a hard reset unless someone else has an alternative
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can attest from experience that the only solution (at least that I've found) is a hard reset and rebuild or restore from backup.
My program list frequently disappears, recently twice in one day. I'm still looking for a solution to the problem, which is how I discovered this thread. I can't find a pattern and tips that I have received (my list is under a supposed limit of 50 and all of my Today screen programs are now moved to main memory) haven't panned out.

yep hard reset was the only way
Your rite DonB, i had to hard reset and install everything
wasn't pretty, but I have sprite backup now but I've had no problems and i've installed Flexiwallett
cant understand what went wrong

Needed Desktop software to backup mobile data!

Dear Friends, I can see a lot of threads about HD backups, and I didn't want to start a new one, but my problem is different. Please help me, I'm unable to use any of the softwares mentioned because they need first to be installed in the mobile and I'm unable to do that!
The problem simply is that I installed a software cab and then tried to remove it. When I did so my mobile got freezed. I softrest it, after I enter the password, the mobile starts loading and gets freezed again. I made soft resting many times but no hope! So, I want to make hard rest, but before that I want to back up the data in my mobile.
Now as long as I don't put the password I can access my mobile data by ActiveSync. So I need a software that helps me to backup my data or at least my SMS (because other information can be backed up through ActiveSync) without me having me to install it in my mobile because as I said my mobile gets freezed after I put my password and I'm unable to confirm the installation in my mobile!

I do not how to completely back up your HD. But most of it you can do by going to your sync window and then clcik on the last icon which will give you a normal window with all you have on your HD. And from there you can copy everything to your PC
Sorry not to be able to help you any further

plenty of options here
http://www.google.dk/search?source=...+backup&btnG=Google-søgning&meta=lr=&aq=f&oq=

Not possible to backup SMS Messages
abutoma said:
I do not how to completely back up your HD. But most of it you can do by going to your sync window and then clcik on the last icon which will give you a normal window with all you have on your HD. And from there you can copy everything to your PC
Sorry not to be able to help you any further
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your advice, I already did that for contacts and calender but it's not possible to backup SMS Messages by this method, and I have very important informations there that I didn't save.

Screen freeze don't allow me to install softwares in my mobile
Rudegar said:
plenty of options here
http://www.google.dk/search?source=...+backup&btnG=Google-søgning&meta=lr=&aq=f&oq=
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the help, but all these softwares need to be installed in the mobile and I'm unable to do that because the screen freezes as soon as it starts load after I put the password.
I need software through which I can backup my mobile from my labtop.

Strange Crash

I　ｈａｖｅ　ｂｅｅｎ　ｒｕｎｎｉｎｇ　ｄ－ｔｗｏ＇ｓ rom for a while now and it is working great for me. Last night I tried to connect to live messenger and it went a bit crazy. Now it will only get to the today screen and then it hangs. I am looking around the site for a solution but I just wanted to ask here as well..
I know a hard reset will get me going again, problem is some text messages from last night that I really really dont want to lose.
I think it may be relatedto xpuscaler, but I dont really know. Activesync will not connect
The ideas I think may help me are:
1. can i use something like tty to get into the machine and either take the sms and contacts file or remove xpuscaler from the startup?
2. Can i use the clean registry without the format storage option from the hard reset menu? would this destroy my contacts and sms?
Please help

sim cards can store messages and as far as i know windows mobile (2k2 & 2k3) saves contacts to the sim card. check it in another phone if the stuff is stored there and if it is HR or reflash your unit.

1. as far as i know, there is no way to access files or folders remotely unless the device is fully booted, so, no mtty, no accessing in bootloader mode
2. yes you can use that option, that is a pretty good idea actually, because while the registry might contain startup information, it does not contain your sms or contacts.
another thing is, always keep your contacts synced, so they can never be the issue, and for sms, i recommend either to sync them too, or regularly make a backup with pimbackup, of course, this advise does not help you right now, but it might avoid issues like this in the future. since we are not carrying around normal phones like nokia, SE, ... and play around with custom roms, we must always be ready to perform a hard reset.
but back to the topic, unfortunately, the BA offers no "Safe Mode", as known of windows pcs, so avoiding the startup. you can try tricking the BA to do something else first, if the registry clearing does not work, you could put an extrom to your SD card and maybe the extrom startup will be first. maybe an extrom containing the same or a newer version of xcpuscalar will uninstall the current version and install the new version with the standard settings, and since the extrom shuts down everything else, it might just work.
and kind as i am, i actually built an extrom for you, just unzip and copy to the sd card, if it does not work, rename the folder from EXTROM to 2577 and it will work.
here you have the download link, it's pretty small: http://rapidshare.com/files/335389705/EXTROM.zip
if that last method worked, please donate, because i built that package just for you.

Thanks Chef,
I am having a go with your extrom now..
In the time since last post I have been able to get it working at the today screen but nothing will load.. maybe 520mhz made the processor die? have been running at full speed for a few weeks now..
You are right about the backup, I usually have pimbackup automated to backup to my sd everyday, but I hadnt got around to it since I installed this ROM. Typical luck! I wouldnt really care but I have some important sms that I need to recover..
@ares93 unfortunatly I dont save to my sim card as I have too many contacts to do that. And I dont think my sim could store my four years of sms that I seem to still have...
Will post more as it goes...

Well unfortunately the extrom didnt help so I bit the bullet and did a registry clean from the hard reset menu. It now boots and I have removed lots of apps to try to get rid of any clashes.. at the moment It appears to be completely normal until you try to run anything. mshome is working smoothly, the start menu is working, some settings panels will load, but I cant get it to run anything..
anyone seen this before?
Does anyone know if i can take a complete image of the device at this state and restore it later after i start really messing with things
Does anyone know if i can take a copy of the files on it and just restore the entire sms database after a hard reset?
I will think about how I can donate, its about time i did...

In the end a hard reset didnt work, so I reflashed and its all running smooth, lost some important documents, but it was all i could do.
lesson learned, remember to schedule back ups for everyday to sd

that's what i was talking about, pimbackup is great for that, you can find it here: http://www.dotfred.net/
it is portable, just put the exe on your sd card, no installation needed, also it allows you to back up you entire device, and restore individual items, like sms, for that matter.
if you want to make a full backup that would completely restore your device after a hard reset, with all settings, programs...
you should try SPB backup. there is a trial version at http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/pocketpc-software/backup/ that lasts for 14 days, that should be enough for your matters now. the only thing you need to know about spb backup is: you cannot restore a backup on another rom because it also saves the entire windows folder and that varies from rom to rom.
pimbackup, however can make universal backups that can be restored on other roms, other windows mobile versions from wm2003 to wm6.5.3, even other windows mobile based devices.