Kris Kumar
06-30-2004, 11:00 PM
Do you transfer Music files or Photos to your mobile device frequently? Do you wish for an easier way to transfer the CAB files to the 'Start Menu\Accessories' folder? Do you copy documents or files to a specific folder on your mobile device? Do you perform one-way file sync, i.e. transfer files from your PC to device? If the answer to any of the above questions is true, you may want to read this Step By Step article.<br /> <br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Copy2MobileSendTo-Res400.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />When you are done reading this article, you will be able to setup the right click shortcut menu options on your PC. You can configure them according to your needs, set them up so that you can easily transfer files to the mobile device folders you access frequently. Once these right click shortcuts are in place, you will no longer have to Copy-Paste the files manually and also don't have to navigate through a maze of folders to get to the target folder, at least not for the frequently used folders.<br /><br />Let’s get started!<br /><!> <br />I have two methods, the first one is simple to setup, and the second one is a little tricky but adds context sensitivity. Let’s say you want the right click shortcut to show up only for .CAB files or for .MP3 files, then the second approach is the one that you need. The first one works well, but don't you want the computer to be smart enough to sense what you want to do :-) This article will focus on the first method. Stay tuned to SPT for another article on method 2, coming soon. :wink: <br /><br />The requirements for this solution are:<br />- Windows 2000/XP based desktop<br />- Windows Mobile Smartphone or Pocket PC <br />- Must be proficient with Notepad :-)<br />- <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=74473fd6-1dcc-47aa-ab28-6a2b006edfe9&displaylang=en">WindowsMobilePowerToys.msi</a> must be installed<br /><br />The heart of this solution is CECopy a free utility provided by Microsoft in the Windows Mobile Power Toys. CECopy enables command prompt based copy of files from PC to device. In this article we will learn to utilize its functionality without getting into the command prompt or DOS hell.<br /><br />The only limitation I am aware of (and it may be a big one for you) is that you cannot select multiple files and copy them to the device. You will have to Right Click each individual file and copy it to the device one by one. Or copy the whole folder. <br /><br /><b>Method 1:</b><br /><br />This approach adds a Copy to Device shortcut to the 'Send To' menu.<br /><br />Once you have installed CECopy (it gets installed when <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=74473fd6-1dcc-47aa-ab28-6a2b006edfe9&displaylang=en">WindowsMobilePowerToys.msi</a> is installed). Locate the CECopy.exe, and note its path. On my machine its path is <i>C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy</i>. Depending on your system drive, the path or drive letter may vary. Check out the ReadMe.txt in the CECopy folder, if you want to learn more about the CECopy functionality.<br /><br />Next let’s launch the friendly editor, the Notepad. And add the following line.<br /><i><span style="color:red">"C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy\CECopy.exe" %1 "dev:\</span><span style="color:green"><devicefolderhere></span><span style="color:red">"</span></i><br /><br />Replace <i><span style="color:green"><devicefolderhere></span></i> with the mobile device folder that you frequently write files to. e.g. If you want to copy CAB files then you may want to replace <i><span style="color:green"><devicefolderhere></span></i> with <i>\IPSM\Windows\Start Menu\Accessories</i>. If you copy MP3 files then maybe you can replace it with <i>\Storage Card\Music</i>. Or for documents and other miscellaneous files - <i>\Storage Card\My Documents</i>.<br /><br />Following are the valid examples:<br />1.<br /><i>"C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy\CECopy.exe" %1 "dev:\IPSM\Windows\Start Menu\Accessories"</i><br /><br />2.<br /><i>"C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy\CECopy.exe" %1 "dev:\Storage Card\Music"</i><br /> <br />3.<br /><i>"C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\CECopy\CECopy.exe" %1 "dev:\Storage Card\My Documents"</i><br /><br />Make sure that the path is valid. And do not forget to include the double quotes (") around the <i>CECopy.exe</i> path and the <i>dev:</i> path.<br /><br />Now save this file as a Batch (.BAT) file. Give it a descriptive name, like <i><span style="color:red">Copy 2 Mobile Device - </span><span style="color:green"><shortfoldernamedescription></span></i>. The <i><span style="color:green"><shortfoldernamedescription></span></i> can be <i>Music</i>, <i>My Documents</i>, or <i>Accessories</i> depending on the command being saved or performed in the file. So the following are valid examples of the file names:<br />Copy 2 Mobile Device - Music folder.bat<br />Copy to My Smartphone - Accessories folder.bat<br />Copy to My Documents on Mobile Device.bat<br /><br />Once the .BAT file is saved, create a Shortcut link for it by right clicking the .BAT file and then selecting 'Create Shortcut' option from the popup menu. You may want to edit the shortcut file name, so that the prefix 'Shortcut to' is removed. You may want to pretty it up, by assigning an icon to the shortcut file. Right click the shortcut, select 'Properties' and then select 'Change Icon'.<br /><br />Now its time to move the shortcut file from its current location to the following folder. <i><span style="color:red">C:\Documents and Settings\</span><span style="color:green"><loggedInUserName></span><span style="color:red">\SendTo</span></i><br /><br />Depending on the way Windows is installed on your machine the drive letter may change. The <i><span style="color:green"><loggedInUserName></span></i> is the Windows login name for whom the shortcut is to be created. In most cases it will be your login id.<br /><br />Copy the shortcut file to the above folder. And its time to test our little utility. Right click on any file and select the 'Send To' option from the popup menu. And you will see your shortcut in the list. Select it and you will see a command console window popup that will transfer the selected file to the target folder on the device.<br /><br /><br /><b>Method 2:</b><br /><br />I will have the method 2 published soon. Don't change the channel and keep watching this site. :-)