Is this site organized by manufacturer?

[Hooterdawg]

As a new member, I wonder if this site is organized by manufacturer of hardware, or its just a posting free-for-all? I have visited phone forums, and they organize them by hardware manufacturer as well as service provider.

I have an iPAQ 3835, so I am looking for the forum that deals with
that product. I had this for a few years, but basically didn't use it much because the power plug was broken, and the battery was dead. Now that I found replacement components and fired it back up, I already seem to have screwed up big time.

I took several days to organize my Contacts list inside my device. Then I went to my Outlook 2003 on my computer and deleted all the information. My plan was to sync the newly organized device with my Outlook 2003 on my desktop so that the data was identical. The 2003 Outlook version was a mess, so I wanted to replace it with the reorganized iPAQ version.

The problem : I lost 75% of the data on my iPAQ, and now both my computer and device have the same missing data. I can restore the deleted 2003 Outlook data ( I didn't permanenently delete it),but if I sync again, I will end up with the same disorganized iPAQ as before ( after Outlook transfers data to the iPAQ.) Can anyone guess why my sync screwed up my iPAQ? How can a sync delete data? Doesn't a sync just add records - not delete them?

Was this caused by incompatibity with Outlook 2003? I know the 3835 was designed to be used with Outlook 2002. The records that did transfer between the iPAQ and Outlook were often incomplete. Only my Contacts were affected - my Tasks were unaffected.

Can anyone explain to me why my sync went bad?

[schmenge]

I am guessing you had a timing issue. If you made the changes on your PPC and *then* in Outlook, Active Sync would see Outlook as having the most current data and use what you had in Outlook. I am not sure how the file stamp will be seen if you recover the Outlook data, but it seems worth a try.

[Hooterdawg]

Originally Posted by schmenge

I am guessing you had a timing issue. If you made the changes on your PPC and *then* in Outlook, Active Sync would see Outlook as having the most current data and use what you had in Outlook. I am not sure how the file stamp will be seen if you recover the Outlook data, but it seems worth a try.

Thanks for the reply. In the past when I sync'd from diferent sources ( two diferent computers) , I was asked if I wanted to add - or overwrite - data files. I thought syncing was updating data. How can data be destroyed?

Actually, when I tried to resync the recovered Outlook files, the system says '182 files not syncronized'. Very odd. Now it is refusing to allow me to update the iPAQ, where before it destroyed the existing data on it.

I don't know if this has anything to do withthe complicated Sync Rules on this device. Is there any explanation anywhere of what those settings should be? It sems to me that there should be a restore point set on the iPAQ in case just this type of thing happens - all data is lost. I previously permanently saved my contacts into flash memory in case power is lost, but I guess that is overwritten in case of a sync?

[schmenge]

This is true for files in your My Documents folder, but is (at least in my experience) not the case with the PIM related files like contacts. It is destroyed as that is what AS thinks you wanted.

[Hooterdawg]

Originally Posted by schmenge

This is true for files in your My Documents folder, but is (at least in my experience) not the case with the PIM related files like contacts. It is destroyed as that is what AS thinks you wanted.

I am a little concerned about syncing my iPAQ now. I don't know what ActivSync will do. I know what I want it to do, but you imply that it might misunderstand and delete files during transfer.

On a different issue, do you know how I can delete data in my iPAQ File Store? There is a backup function in iPAQ that allows you to backup files to the internal memory. I have instead decided to use a storage card, but I cannot figure out how to delete my backed up contacts from the limited internal memory. I have used Find> files larger than 64K > and identified the file, but it will not let me delete it. It says it is not a valid Pocket PC application. I KNOW THAT. It is just a backup file that I wish to delete.

[schmenge]

Originally Posted by Hooterdawg

I am a little concerned about syncing my iPAQ now. I don't know what ActivSync will do. I know what I want it to do, but you imply that it might misunderstand and delete files during transfer.

On a different issue, do you know how I can delete data in my iPAQ File Store? There is a backup function in iPAQ that allows you to backup files to the internal memory. I have instead decided to use a storage card, but I cannot figure out how to delete my backed up contacts from the limited internal memory. I have used Find> files larger than 64K > and identified the file, but it will not let me delete it. It says it is not a valid Pocket PC application. I KNOW THAT. It is just a backup file that I wish to delete.

AS is only going to delete information that you have deleted, so unless you had contacts deleted that were not deleted by you (either on the PPC or the PC) AS should not be a problem. Once you had reorganized the contacts on your PPC you really should not have needed to do anything on the Outlook side (assuming you already had a partnership established) as AS would have applied those changes to Outlook for you.

That's odd that you cannot delete the backup file. I don't have filestore on my current device, but did on my previous. I don't recall filestore being any different that any other part of memory. Assuming you give another sync a try, filestore is accessible via your PC when you are connected. I would try and delete it that way.

Another option, and I don't know how much work this would be for you, is to hard reset and start over. Then you could have your restored contacts in Outlook, fix them there, sync, and have everything match up.

[Hooterdawg]

Thanks for the advice. I was able to delete it from my PC. There seems no way to delete it from the iPAQ itself. All is good now on the device. The only question I have now is how to properly set up Options - the rules for how to arrange synchronization. The CD doesn't have a Users Guide like most CDs - it is just a software CD. I hope I can find it online.

[schmenge]

There really are not rules for syncing, but there are options. You cannot set the options until you are connected and synced. Then in the AS window go to Tools|Options. Click on an item you are syncing (like the calendar) and the the settings button. The settings, and not everything even enables settings, are pretty intuitive.

[Hooterdawg]

I bought my 3835 new back in 2003, but have not used in for several year because the DC plug went bad and i could not charge the unit. I was annoyed with this unit because I lost all the data everytime the battery went dead while I was on a trip. Because I have not used it in awhile, it still has ActiveSync 3.5 installed. There have been several upgrades since then - all the way to 4.5. I don't want to upgrade the ActivSync if it is going to cause me other headaches. Just what are these upgrades needed for? They seem to make ActivSync compatible with Mobile 5 and Mobile 6, but I only have PC2002 on my unit. What are the main reasons to upgrade activeSync, and which upgrade do I really need - 3.6, 3.7, 3.8,---> 4.5? I have read that 4.5 requires a hard reset. Other than that, what other problems are encountered with upgrades?

[Shogun]

To answer your first question. This website/forum is not organized by manufactured hardware nor cell phone providers.

So rest assures that whatever you say on here, we won't report it to your providers or anything

[Hooterdawg]

Originally Posted by Shogun

To answer your first question. This website/forum is not organized by manufactured hardware nor cell phone providers.

So rest assures that whatever you say on here, we won't report it to your providers or anything

HaHA. Well, I can't really curse my 3835 either....it is so old, I am lucky it is still working. It must have been trick back in its day. I am curious how it can be tricked out to operate in todays world where Smartphones act as a PDA. This 3835 works well for scheduling and contact organization, but I am unsure how it could replace the function already found in other devices.

Which version of ActivSync would work better for this PDA - I still have the standard 3.5 installed, but there are much more recent versions available. I am not sure what I gain with a more recent version. I have no problems with 3.5.

[nateshuntsvegas]

if you upgrade to activesync 4.5 it probably wont recognize your device.