Backing up 3rd party apps

[bentliver]

I'm a new palm user and I have a question I have not been able to find the answer to. If I begin to hotsync my palm to a different computer (where I have installed 3rd party applications) will these 3rd party applications be "backed up" on the new computer?

[Stumper]

Yes and no :P If the 3rd party software has a pc version that is syncronized with then the only thing not done is the sync with the pc software. Either way your palm database including your 3rd party apps are all backed up at a hotsync. To ensure this is happening look in your Palm folder and you should see two files under your user name. One folder named back up and the other named archive. The archive houses anything that is installed and removed were as the backup houses everything that is currently installed on the device. In my computer it should look like this.
C:\Program Files\Palm\*your user name*\archive and
C:\Program Files\Palm\*your user name*\backup

Cheers,
Stumper

[Calvados]

Stumper was exaclty right, however there is a case where certain files are not backed up. If the author does not set the backup attirbute then the file will not be backed up to your backup directory during a hotsync. I found this out the hardway when I needed to hard reset and some of my 3rd party programs were not back on my Palm after the sync. I fo course just reinstalled them. If you find that there are some files missing in the directories that Stumper mentioned, then you need to get a program like "filez" (it is freeware) and check the backup attirbutes of these files that are missing. If they are not set to backup, simply change the backup attribute and save the settings and the next time you sync they also will be backed up.

Have a good day,
Calvados

[removed]

Another good app is backupbuddy. But if you want a small one thatll ensure a complete backup to any pc use Backup bitster. (http://palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?sid=65982720020329155735&prodID=5277)
Its really small and you can set all the backup bits to active on all files on your palm