Phantom SMS and e-mails messages on an XDA11 after full restore

[MasterIce]

This might be a bit long winded so my apologies in advance.

My XDA11 dumped itself and did a hard reset a couple of days back.

Luckily I had an oldish backup.stg file and was able to restore virtually everything to it's prior, if a bit old, state by restore via active sync.

However I discovered that my SMS and e-mail inboxes were full of messages which were niether readable or deletable.

Interestingly none of them have the envelope icon beside them.

Tapping a message produces a screen activity as if opening the message but nothing appears.
Similarly, tapping and attempting to delete a message results in nothing happening.

However any new SMS messages and e-mails react as usual.

I was able to remove all the 'ghost' messages for my e-mails by deleting all the accounts and then reinstating them however it appears this can't be done for the SMS account.

Through file explorer I deleted all the .mpb files in the /windows/messaging folder. This did not remove the ghosts either.

I have spoken unsuccesfully with O2 who merely think I should hard reset again and then reinstall everything from the ground up. This seems a bit screwy as there has to be folder/file/registry value in which these headers are held.

So has anyone else had this problem and sorted it I wonder?
I can live with these headers but it would be nice to lose them.
I am trying every forum I can find for this and so far - no joy!

Slim

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Welcome to PPCT Slim

This seems a bit screwy as there has to be folder/file/registry value in which these headers are held.


Actually they're kept in a database - to access them, you'll need a database viewer. I can't for the life of remember how to get one (there are at least two), but let me get back to you on that.

[MasterIce]

I can view the databases via explorer with the XDA in the dock via active sysnc however I can do anything to them as I guess you're aware.
I keep my fingers crossed and i will look for a pocket PC database manager as well myself.
Thanks

Slim

[MasterIce]

I downloaded PHM Pocket Powertools which has a database viewer and editor.
With this I was able to track down the database that was holding all 660 (!) records.
For interest it was called FLDR1001893
I erased all the records it held and - voila - all the ghost messages disappeared.

Thanks for your help

Slim

PS: As a point of interest I would suggest deleting all emails etc before doing making a backup.stg file via active sync as it seems that was where the problem lay

[Menneisyys]

I downloaded PHM Pocket Powertools which has a database viewer and editor.
With this I was able to track down the database that was holding all 660 (!) records.
For interest it was called FLDR1001893
I erased all the records it held and - voila - all the ghost messages disappeared.

Thanks for your help

Slim

PS: As a point of interest I would suggest deleting all emails etc before doing making a backup.stg file via active sync as it seems that was where the problem lay

This is a very common problem. Instead of manually editing the WinCE mail-related databases (which, BTW, I've thoroughly described in several of my articles - make a search for my Mailer Roundup here at PPCT), just get the file at http://www.winmobiletech.com/sekalaiset/cleanmail.zip , transfer it to your PDA and execute it there.

(Only works on pre-WM5 devices!)

[MasterIce]

Well what can i say !
Thanks very much for that link - it's downloaded and ready to roll if I manage to cock it up again! :D
I guess I have been lucky as this was the first time in nearly 2 years that the thing ever did a spontaneous hard reset.
Shall i tell O2 about that piece of software ? - nah! sod 'em! :devilboy:

Thanks again and i'll definitely have a looooong browse of your articles.

All the best

Slim

[freemans]

That happens sometimes, you might need to clean up your mail system and rebuild your accounts, Or you could try Jeyo to backup your messages or use Sprite Backup (http://www.spritesoftware.com) to ensure you can avoid data loss. :wink:

[MasterIce]

I had already removed and re-established my e-mail accounts which had removed the phantom messages associated with them.
The problem remained with the SMS messaging service which you cannot disable and re-enable in the same way.
However once I located the database files for them and erased the data held there the problem vanished.
Normal service has been restored and the XDA is working perfectly again.

Backing up my e-mail messages isn't a problem anyway as the XDA only holds an image of the received messages. The originals stay on the mail server so I download them normally later on.

But thanks for the advice

[freemans]

still be better to backup before you need it. that how we got so many insurance comp.

[MasterIce]

Yes I agree about backing up - which is why I do.
The back up .stg file was how I restored the XDA.
It's also why I never upgraded to version 4.x of Activesync where Microsoft removed the backup/restore option.
However as I said, all my mails stay on my host servers.
The XDA merely receives a full copy. I then just download as normal to my PCs when I am back in the office.
Backing up the SMS and mails on the XDA isn't necessary to me anyway as I always have the originals stored where I really need them.
The problem came about because I was too lax in deleting the mails from the XDA.
Consequently the databases (full of crap) got backed up in the .stg file.

[Menneisyys]

It's also why I never upgraded to version 4.x of Activesync where Microsoft removed the backup/restore option.

It's a common misconception, which has also been pointed out in the Backup Bible. AS 4.x DOES have backup / restore capabilities with pre-WM5 devices like the XDA.

[freemans]

Microsoft Active Sync didnt give you much option, did it. Well you could try Sprite Backup to backup your device, and go ahead upgrade to Active Sync 4.2.\

Besides, Sprite allows you to restore selectively. Means you get a way to delete things: hard reset, restore without selecting it, then it get deleted.

pretty sweet, right? :roll:

[freemans]

Microsoft Active Sync didnt give you much option, did it. Well you could try Sprite Backup (http://www.spritesoftware.com) to backup your device, and go ahead upgrade to Active Sync 4.2.\

Besides, Sprite allows you to restore selectively. Means you get a way to delete things: hard reset, restore without selecting it, then it get deleted.

pretty sweet, right?

[jonnypow98]

Hi guys,

I have also been having this 'phantom SMS' problem. Its fine with an older backup.stg, but a newer (much larger) backup.stg produces a restore with inaccessible SMS messages, where I can only see the first few words in each SMS shown in the list.

I however do NOT want to delete them, I wish to restore them, its a sad story, but I wish to retrieve some messages I had from someone who has just passed away, and I'd listen to any advice on how to access these messages again.

thanks in advance.

Jonny