sullivanpt
02-21-2003, 06:21 PM
(reposted from pocket pc newsgroup)
Who is the OEM for the SD Backup program in the T-MOBILE Pocket PC ROM?
This program is GREAT! I've tried restoring my phone two other methods:
- "Fresh" - Reinstall applications using Add/Remove Programs and data using
File Explorer. The problem with this is all the application configurations
and registrations have to be rebuilt from scratch, all the phone and PDA
settings rebuilt, andin ActiveSync I had to delete the old partnership and
make a new one. In addition to all the problems listed for "ActiveSync
Restore".
- "ActiveSync Restore" - The big problem is this is SLOW!! Hours to backup
and restore (and my PPC only actually uses 4MB of storage memory!). Plus
you need to be near your PC to make it happen.
The SD Backup program was relatively fast (20 mins to backup 4MB and only 2
mins to restore!), almost all my applications came back without fuss, the
active sync partnership came back with (almost) no fuss, (almost all) the
device settings came back without fuss. And the backup only takes up as
much space on your SD card as it needs, so I've still got 240MB of space
free on the SD card with the backup. GREAT!
But not perfect :-(
Here are the remaining issues I'd like to see fixed:
1. WORST OFFENSE! There is NO security on the backup file. If you are
relying on the PPC Password screen to protect confidential data on the
device, you are out of luck. I used to feel some confidence that even if I
lost my device, the finder would have to hard reset (thus erasing my
confidential data stored in the device RAM) before they got access to the
device. With the SD Backup file (conveniently) stored on the SD card in the
device, it's a simple matter of hard-reset, restore from SD, reset and
"presto" all my secrets are exposed. (Note that the PPC device pasword set
in the control panel is NOT restored when the backup is restored). The only
workaround I can think of is to use a 3rd party file encryption program to
encrypt the backup file on the SD card, but then you would also have to keep
the 3rd party encryption CAB file on the SD card so you could reinstall the
app, decrypt the backup, restore from decrypted backup, reset, and remember
to erase (and overrwrite if your really paranoid) the unencrypted backup
file. What a pain! I suspect it would be a trivial change for the SD
Backup OEM to use the PPCs built in crypto API to secure the backup file on
the SD card.
2. Second worst offense. The speed dials do not restore! This is because
the speed dial application stores Pocket Outlook contact identifiers, and
the contact identifiers get changed during a restore (This is a Microsoft
Pocket Outlook fact of life, and is also the reason for my pet peeve number
four below). BUT, if the backup porgram were smart, it could follow the
contact identifier for each speed dial entry and save a copy of the
Contact's "File As" field in the backup file. Then during a restore, after
rebuilding the RAM image it could run through the speed dial entries and
relink them to point to the new contact identifier (in the case of rare case
of duplicates it could pick the first or let the user choose, I don't care).
3. Third worst offense. The Pocket Outlook e-mail settings lose their link
to the service database and so all incoming mail gets routed to the
ActiveSync e-mail inbox (Again this is a Microsoft problem, the database ID
is changed during a restore -- with a knowledge base article on it even).
The work-around is to delete the service and re-enter the service (losing
all dtaa in the service folders as a result). One solution would be for the
restore program to automatically do this delete recreate of each service for
us. But ideally, the SD restore program would just patch the Pocket Outlook
files to point to the correct, restored program.
4. Fourth offense. The contacts do not remember their Active Sync desktop
Outlook mapping, and thus must be recombined during the first sync after a
restore. Generally this works Okay, but if it's been a few days since the
last sync, duplicate contacts, appointments, and notes show up and it's
mostly up to the user to painstakingly hunt these duplicates down and
resolve them. The problem is even worse if you synchronize with two
computers. This is a harder fix but not impossible, it may require software
be installed on the PC that mimics the speed dial "File As" relinking
concept above but works with the desktop Outlook file.
5. Annoying. I had to manually reconfigure my PPC device password after the
restore.
Anyway, I really LOVED the fact that after a hard reset, it was literally
only three minutes before I was mostly functional again. It would be near
perfect with just a little bit more effort on the part of the OEM. Now who
can I send my list to have them fix this?
Who is the OEM for the SD Backup program in the T-MOBILE Pocket PC ROM?
This program is GREAT! I've tried restoring my phone two other methods:
- "Fresh" - Reinstall applications using Add/Remove Programs and data using
File Explorer. The problem with this is all the application configurations
and registrations have to be rebuilt from scratch, all the phone and PDA
settings rebuilt, andin ActiveSync I had to delete the old partnership and
make a new one. In addition to all the problems listed for "ActiveSync
Restore".
- "ActiveSync Restore" - The big problem is this is SLOW!! Hours to backup
and restore (and my PPC only actually uses 4MB of storage memory!). Plus
you need to be near your PC to make it happen.
The SD Backup program was relatively fast (20 mins to backup 4MB and only 2
mins to restore!), almost all my applications came back without fuss, the
active sync partnership came back with (almost) no fuss, (almost all) the
device settings came back without fuss. And the backup only takes up as
much space on your SD card as it needs, so I've still got 240MB of space
free on the SD card with the backup. GREAT!
But not perfect :-(
Here are the remaining issues I'd like to see fixed:
1. WORST OFFENSE! There is NO security on the backup file. If you are
relying on the PPC Password screen to protect confidential data on the
device, you are out of luck. I used to feel some confidence that even if I
lost my device, the finder would have to hard reset (thus erasing my
confidential data stored in the device RAM) before they got access to the
device. With the SD Backup file (conveniently) stored on the SD card in the
device, it's a simple matter of hard-reset, restore from SD, reset and
"presto" all my secrets are exposed. (Note that the PPC device pasword set
in the control panel is NOT restored when the backup is restored). The only
workaround I can think of is to use a 3rd party file encryption program to
encrypt the backup file on the SD card, but then you would also have to keep
the 3rd party encryption CAB file on the SD card so you could reinstall the
app, decrypt the backup, restore from decrypted backup, reset, and remember
to erase (and overrwrite if your really paranoid) the unencrypted backup
file. What a pain! I suspect it would be a trivial change for the SD
Backup OEM to use the PPCs built in crypto API to secure the backup file on
the SD card.
2. Second worst offense. The speed dials do not restore! This is because
the speed dial application stores Pocket Outlook contact identifiers, and
the contact identifiers get changed during a restore (This is a Microsoft
Pocket Outlook fact of life, and is also the reason for my pet peeve number
four below). BUT, if the backup porgram were smart, it could follow the
contact identifier for each speed dial entry and save a copy of the
Contact's "File As" field in the backup file. Then during a restore, after
rebuilding the RAM image it could run through the speed dial entries and
relink them to point to the new contact identifier (in the case of rare case
of duplicates it could pick the first or let the user choose, I don't care).
3. Third worst offense. The Pocket Outlook e-mail settings lose their link
to the service database and so all incoming mail gets routed to the
ActiveSync e-mail inbox (Again this is a Microsoft problem, the database ID
is changed during a restore -- with a knowledge base article on it even).
The work-around is to delete the service and re-enter the service (losing
all dtaa in the service folders as a result). One solution would be for the
restore program to automatically do this delete recreate of each service for
us. But ideally, the SD restore program would just patch the Pocket Outlook
files to point to the correct, restored program.
4. Fourth offense. The contacts do not remember their Active Sync desktop
Outlook mapping, and thus must be recombined during the first sync after a
restore. Generally this works Okay, but if it's been a few days since the
last sync, duplicate contacts, appointments, and notes show up and it's
mostly up to the user to painstakingly hunt these duplicates down and
resolve them. The problem is even worse if you synchronize with two
computers. This is a harder fix but not impossible, it may require software
be installed on the PC that mimics the speed dial "File As" relinking
concept above but works with the desktop Outlook file.
5. Annoying. I had to manually reconfigure my PPC device password after the
restore.
Anyway, I really LOVED the fact that after a hard reset, it was literally
only three minutes before I was mostly functional again. It would be near
perfect with just a little bit more effort on the part of the OEM. Now who
can I send my list to have them fix this?