ActiveSync after IPAQ battery rundown

[Michael Hooker]

Please bear with me - I've had Psions, a Palm and now I have an Ipaq 2210, and every single device has driven me nuts when it comes to synchronization, whether by RS232, USB, IR or Bluetooth, so the whole issue just makes my head hurt.

The current problem is total battery failure on my Ipaq at a time when I wasn't there to recharge it. Sometimes, you just can't take it with you. I vaguely remember that the last time this happened I attempted to synchronise with my laptop and the result was that the data on the laptop ended up wiped. I don't want that to happen again, but I can find no settings in ActiveSync which govern the transfer direction and will guarantee that laptop data will go to Ipaq and not vice versa (ie the laptop data being wiped). Surely there should be a "one-way" option somewhere? And will ActiveSync recognise the Ipaq as the right one?

The data I'm interested in is basically notes and contacts, neatly saved in Outlook 2002 on the laptop after earlier syncs. I presume that if I take a copy of the Outlook.pst file and save it under a different name I can restore it in case of disaster and accept that the only way of getting data back in the Ipaq is by typing it in again :(

Can anyone offer any helpful advice please?

Thanks

Michael Hooker

[AnswerDude]

Simply delete existing partnership on desktop activesync and create a new partnership with it and you should have no problem syncing outlook data to the iPAQ. The easier way is to do a regular backup to storage card or desktop and if it runs out of battery then do a restore. You won't need to deal with activesync.

[Michael Hooker]

Many thanks - that worked nicely. I tried replying last night, but something happened half-way through and the system told me I wasn't allowed to post - net dropout I guess.

>>Simply delete existing partnership <<
Anything beginning "simply" relating to a Microsoft program is usually the cue for disaster around here. Not this time, fortunately.

>>The easier way is to do a regular backup to storage card<<
I have yet to persuade the Ipaq that when it does this, it should NOT backup what's already on the card - ie about 500 megs of mp3s, jpgs and pocket Excel files. I guess the answer is a different card just for backups.

What baffles me is why I seem to end up with different versions of datafiles in different folders. When I load something from the card, the application doesn't always save the amended version back there. But that's another issue...

Thanks again

Michael Hooker

[AnswerDude]

In iPAQ backup, i believe you can click to expand the directory folder structure and selectively choose which files to backup.

[Michael Hooker]

You're right, though it takes a bit of finding. Though even now, I have some file directories which refuse to allow themselves to be selected.

[AnswerDude]

Perhaps those are system files in ROM, there is no need to back them up.