Newbie with basic questions...

[verbal]

I have an Axim...

1. Why the hell does clicking the X just minimize the program? Thats really stupid. Is there anyway to close programs besides the switcher bar? I installed Battery Pack and Journal Bar and got the option of tap and hold closing, which is nice. But so far it's cause two crashes requiring a soft reset.

2. Whenever I do the tap and hold close program on the 'programs' window it crashes. Anybody know why? What causes "unhandled errors that require a shell reset?" Anything specific?

3. Program memory is for storing programs. And Storage memory is for basic files? Correct?

4. When I put in a compact flash card, why does it use a secure digital icon to show a card is in? I'm just curious.

5. I installed a game that puts an icon in the 'programs' folder. But I'd like to move that icon to the games folder. But can't figure out how. Please help.

Can't think of anymore right now. But I'd appreciate anything else you think I should know. Any good tips and tricks. Thanks.

[spursdude]

I have an Axim...

1. Why the hell does clicking the X just minimize the program? Thats really stupid. Is there anyway to close programs besides the switcher bar? I installed Battery Pack and Journal Bar and got the option of tap and hold closing, which is nice. But so far it's cause two crashes requiring a soft reset.
Why? It's supposed to be "smart" minimize, but I agree it's ridiculous. You could alternatively check out MagicButton (http://www.trancreative.com/default.aspx) to do the trick.


3. Program memory is for storing programs. And Storage memory is for basic files? Correct?
It really doesn't matter. If by Program memory you mean your internal storage, you can put whatever you want wherever you want. You can put programs on your storage card, or basic files in your internal memory. A lot of people choose to put large programs and multimedia on storage card, but this is mainly just because storage cards provide so much more storage.

5. I installed a game that puts an icon in the 'programs' folder. But I'd like to move that icon to the games folder. But can't figure out how. Please help.
Your Programs folder is located in My Device>Windows>Start Menu>Programs. If you want to put it in games, just navigate there, tap-and-hold the file, select Cut, navigate into Games, and tap-and-hold to paste it there. It's that easy.

[jimski]

1. Don't know about your crashing problem, but I use vBar, a freeware application used for managing and closing programs. You can find it at PocketGear.com. Very small app.

2. Don't know

3. Yes, sort of. Both program and storage memory use the same RAM, but are allocated base don what is running. Any non application files will be allocated to storage memory.

4. Don't know

5. Open File Explorer and naviagte to MyDevice/Windows/Start Menu. Tap and hold your game shortcut. Now navigate to Programs/Games, select Edit/Paste to drop the game shortcut into the Programs/Games folder.

[Crystal Eitle]

1. Why the hell does clicking the X just minimize the program? Thats really stupid. Is there anyway to close programs besides the switcher bar? I installed Battery Pack and Journal Bar and got the option of tap and hold closing, which is nice. But so far it's cause two crashes requiring a soft reset.

2. Whenever I do the tap and hold close program on the 'programs' window it crashes. Anybody know why? What causes "unhandled errors that require a shell reset?" Anything specific?

I use WisBar (http://www.pelmarinc.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?s=3d7563c40b3c15bd;act=ST;f=1;t=288) and so far have had absolutely no problems with it. But I have an HP 1910, so I don't know if that makes a difference.

[PetiteFlower]

1. Because Microsoft is stupid. I got Pocket Plus to fix that, I like it a lot, it's got a useful Today screen plugin too.

2. Don't know.

3. Wrong, if you're talking about the slider thingie on the Memory screen, program memory is for RUNNING programs not storing them. Like RAM on your regular PC. You should leave at least 5 megs for that, 10 if you can spare it(if you got the Advanced version). Storage memory is for storing everything.

4. I don't know, I don't have any CF cards! But it's probably just the default "memory card" icon.

5. Easiest way to do that is with the Explore option in Activesync, then you can navigate your PPC's files just like your desktop files, right click to create shortcuts and drag them to the right folders.

[Janak Parekh]

One more set of answers...

Is there anyway to close programs besides the switcher bar?
As others mentioned, use a different task switcher. Notable free ones are vBar, PocketNav, and Magic Button. I personally, like PF, use Pocket Plus - it doesn't change the X logo, which I particularly like.

2. Whenever I do the tap and hold close program on the 'programs' window it crashes. Anybody know why? What causes "unhandled errors that require a shell reset?" Anything specific?
Sounds like there's a bug in your task manager program. If you have the same problem with any of the aforementioned programs, let us know. :)

4. When I put in a compact flash card, why does it use a secure digital icon to show a card is in? I'm just curious.
Are you talking about File Explorer? That's actually not a picture of a SD or a CF card - it's a generic "expansion card" icon.

--janak

[verbal]

I'm kinda confused with the storage and program slider.

Storage is for program and file storage. Just like a hard drive on a PC.

Program is for running programs. Like RAM on a PC.

Right? How much should I allocate for program memory.

[Janak Parekh]

Right? How much should I allocate for program memory.
Right. In general, you want to leave this slider alone; it floats somewhere in the middle and is adjusted automatically. I haven't touched the slider in many months.

If you keep too many programs open, then you might have a little trouble, but get one of those task managers and you'll be all set. :)

--janak

[mc_03]

You should not need to worry about balancing out program and storage memory, as the OS controls memory allocation automatically. It will always try to balance it out for you. If you need more program or storage memory, use a CF/SD card.

Oh, and about your Programs error you have been having, I think I may know what the problem is:
The Programs and Settings windows are not real applications. They are just shell windows, similar to the today screen. This means you cannot really "close them." Most programs just cause one to dissapear and redisplay the today screen, but apparently what you are using is actually trying to close the Programs window. That would explain why it mentions something about a shell reset.

Use a good task switcher program, like wisbar/icbar/pocketplus and you will not get these errors.

[verbal]

Is this the pocket plus you all use? (http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=1&jid=D9FAFEA4DE47B7ABDBDFB795A1AD2C73&productId=50351&optionId=1_2_2&productType=2&catalog=30&txtSearch=pocket+plus&sectionId=0&platformId=2)

Where can I read about/download icbar? Can't find it on handango.[/url]

[PapaSmurfDan]

1) Actully, as many people here think it is a stupid idea, I think it is the right idea for a PDA. It was stupid of MS to remove easy closing from within an app. I find that the switcher bar is good enough for my needs. You shouldn't get any crashes, so I would check out the programs installed to see if they arn't clobering each other. The only apps I make a habbit of killing are Acrobat Reader (eats up ~12mb of program ram with a PDF loaded), MS Reader, IA Presenter, and any games that don't have an exit button.

2) The Programs window is part of the PPC UI. Closing that may close the PPC UI thread and crash the handheld. This is sorta akin to killing explorer.exe on a win32 machine.

3) See the other pots.

4) Standard PPC UI icon for external storage. My network share folder has the same icon. If you leave it alone, the OS does a good job about allocation.

5) Copy the shortcut from \windows\start menu\programs to the games folder inside of that. You can do this from either your PC while connected or on the device with File Explorer. When you go to remove the game you will have to manually remove the icon due to the uninstaller not finding the link.

Just remember that your PPC is very simular to your desktop.

-Dan

[verbal]

Yet again, I'm confused...=)

I installed battery bar and I like it a lot. But I'm confused about the meters. There is the battery meter, then two memory meters. The first meter toggles between a ram chip icon and hard drive icon. These are the storage/program memory. The next icon is a 'cylinder' with a solid red arrow tip pointing down. When I tap it the file explorer opens and I get a "Build-In Storage" folder. What is this? My axim only has 64 megs of memory, which adds up in the memory settings screen. The built-in storage shows 21.2 megs with 1% used. I don't get it.

[mc_03]

Yet again, I'm confused...=)

I installed battery bar and I like it a lot. But I'm confused about the meters. There is the battery meter, then two memory meters. The first meter toggles between a ram chip icon and hard drive icon. These are the storage/program memory. The next icon is a 'cylinder' with a solid red arrow tip pointing down. When I tap it the file explorer opens and I get a "Build-In Storage" folder. What is this? My axim only has 64 megs of memory, which adds up in the memory settings screen. The built-in storage shows 21.2 megs with 1% used. I don't get it.

The built in storage it is referring to is the extra space in the ROM that you can store files in, since Pocket PC 2002 takes up around 28 MB so you are left with 20.

So, on your Axim you have:
64MB RAM
48MB ROM (21 of which you can use)

[verbal]

I installed pocket plus and I really like it's task manager. But I'm not using any of the other features. I know this takes up some storage space, but does not using the other options still use up some ram? Or is each piece of pocket plus a seperate program?

[Janak Parekh]

I installed pocket plus and I really like it's task manager. But I'm not using any of the other features. I know this takes up some storage space, but does not using the other options still use up some ram? Or is each piece of pocket plus a seperate program?
No, it's all basically one program. I wouldn't bother with trying to split it up - Pocket Plus is tiny in the first place.

--janak