How Often Do You Hard Reset Your Pocket PC

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24782">Last week I asked</a> you how often you soft reset your Pocket PC - you can still vote in that if you like. This week I'd like to know how often you <i>hard</i> reset your Pocket PC, wiping the memory out and restoring it to that factory fresh state, complete with that new car smell. :wink: <br /><br />I used to do mine about once every six months. It just seemed to work out that I was either getting a new device or applying a full ROM upgrade. So far though with my 2215, I have gone eight months since buying it in late June of 2003 and currently see no reason to hard reset. For me, a hard reset is a colossal pain. It is a major undertaking to get <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14194">MS Reader working with Audible</a>, not to mention the hocus pocus you have to go through to get your device activated.<br /><br />Then, for whatever reason, I have the tweak gene that means no matter how basic the software is, I <i>have</i> to change one of the defaults. :D Apps like <a href="http://www.handango.com/brainstore/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&productId=10226">Pocket Informant</a> make this a snap because you just copy its .reg file from the My Documents folder on your PC to the freshly reset device and PI does the rest. Most other apps store their settings in the registry though and have to be manually reconfigured. Yeah, I could export registry keys and import them but that is as much a pain making sure you have everything.<br /><br />Lately, Pocket PC OEMs haven't been real keen on releasing ROM upgrades so there has been nothing on that front to encourage me to go through a hard reset. So how about you?

[suhit]

Do you mean how often do I hard reset my PPC or how often does [/i]it[/i] decide to surprise me by hard resetting itself? :(. I have been having this problem where every couple of weeks, I find I have a plain vanilla 2215. Luckily I use Pocket Backup, and carry around an image on my SD card at all times.

Suhit

[dlangton]

How about an option for "2 or 3 times a year: I beta test lots of stuff."?? Seems a little more realistic to me- at least, it's where I am.

[David Prahl]

I've hard reset my Axim X5 only once EVER. I had installed some text-to-speech software that made itself the default media player, and couldn't use Windows Media Player anymore.

Bought this X5 the week they came out, and it's still running strong!

Edit: Oh yeah, when I upgraded the ROM that was technically a hard reset

[surur]

I only hard reset out of necessity, else I have to track down all the installation files for all the various software apps and tweaks I have on my system, and invariably some will be left behind (not to mention having to find and enter all the serial numbers and 10 character unlock codes :( )

The last hard reset I did was when I unlocked my XDA2, and I anticipate doing another when the official new rom comes out.

The less hard resets, the better.

Surur

[Jereboam]

Only once deliberately, before doing the Windows Mobile 2003 upgrade on my 5450.

And I dropped the bloody thing once, which did no physical damage to it, but resulted in a spontaneous hard reset, which resulted in purchasing Sprite Backup (or Pocket Backup as it was known then).

I am really hoping that the rumoured hard-reset PIM data protection feature is coming with the iPaq 63xx - much peace of mind to be had.

J'bm

[Paul]

My only hard reset on my 2210 was done before sending it in for warranty work.

[yslee]

Intentional hard reset, no. Losing all data like a hard reset, yes. once due to a repair, twice due to letting the battery drain by too much. :oops:

[klanum]

Need to have a intentional versus unintentional category as well! For me, its been a lot and not by design, my HP2200 just decides to hard reset itself. :evil:

Been happening for the last 3 months and it will lock up, not respond, hit the soft reset and it becomes a hard boot instead. I have even had it do it from the cradle. So my vote is a little aschewed. :D

[arnage2]

i hate hard reseting!

[SeanH]

I still use a iPAQ 3630 and since i bought it back in Oct 2000 I have had to hard reset it twice. The first time I was curios on what you loose. The second is when I upgraded to PPC 2K2

Sean

[David Prahl]

I still use a iPAQ 3630 and since i bought it back in Oct 2000 I have had to hard reset it twice. The first time I was curios on what you loose. The second is when I upgraded to PPC 2K2

Sean

Wow - A solid device! 8O

[Jonathon Watkins]

Only once - when I upgraded the X5 from PPC2002 to PPC2003.

[nasaman007]

The last few months, my 2215 just acts up, so I'll do a hard reset. It takes me about an hour from start to finish. I keep a word doc both on my pc, my pc at work, and my ppc with all the registration and unlock codes for the different software titles I install.

I keep a backup copy of a freshly reset ppc with all the software installed as well as my daily back ups. I find a hard reset takes about an hour for me to do and it isn't too painful. The worst is taking the time to remember what programs I had on my program bar and in what order.

Oh well.

[Kevin Jackson]

When I got the extended-life battery for my e755 I had problems where it would hard reset when I tried to switch the battery out, but those issues have passed. Other than that I have hard reset twice since I got it last year.

Look here (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25026&highlight=) for a brief account of my latest hard reset "adventure."

Cheers

[Jacob]

I've only hard reset my device when it has gotten too clogged with left over databases that weren't uninstalled by apps such as cash organizer.

I like to do that with my desktop too, but unfortunately it doesn't hard reset so easily. :?

[Christian]

I've found that my 2210 has a couple of bugs that are quite irritating when taken together:

1) Occasionally, it will turn itself on to display a calendar alert.
2) In instances where it turned itself on, it will never turn itself back off again, no matter what the power settings are. I suspect it thinks that it is still turned off despite the screen being powered.
3) So, if I forget to check on it for a couple of hours, it will drain its battery and hard reset itself. :cry:

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Kevin Jackson]

I like to do that with my desktop too, but unfortunately it doesn't hard reset so easily. :?

Yeah, if only the operating system would reinstall itself things would be easier. :D

Seriously, though, when I "hard reset" my desktop I have to think about it for a few days first, then get everything together that I need for a reinstall, then steel my nerves and . . . fdisk away! That is one of the scarier moments in my computing life.

Don't you just love technology :? :mrgreen: Unfortunately, I do -- it's a dysfunctional codependent relationship in which I keep enabling my devices and allowing them to ru(i)n my life.

I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Cheers

[szamot]

hard resets to me are like pogo stick jumping on a beach. I avoid them like a plague!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil:

[Zack Mahdavi]

I've been doing a hard reset about once a week recently (my PocketPC is only 2 weeks old) and restoring a Sprite Backup file.

The problem I've been having is sometimes, the Inbox application will complain that "Messages cannot be downloaded" or something to that effect. At first, I found that a hard reset along with a restore fixes it, but now it seems I have to delete my email account and add it back in. :(

[Paragon]

I seldom hard reset. I have developed a method of backing up that seems to work very well for me. When I get a new device I play with it for a few days trying different apps on it till I find the ones I want to keep. I then do a hard reset to clean out all the crap, and reinstall them. I then do a backup and save it. I usually name it "clean" From there on I schedule Sprite Backup to backup every morning. If something happens that my daily backup is messed up in some way I can still go to my original "clean" backup and all my core apps are there but it is otherwise very clean.

Slightly OT...Ed, I noticed you are using MS Reader. Have you tried using Audibles PPC app lately? I used to use MS Reader like you because the pain of using Audible wasn't worth the effort. When I got my XDA II I didn't bother going through the process of making Reader work and I found that Audible now works very well. I still don't bother transfering files with the desktop manager. I just copy over the complete file as you would if you were going to use Reader by sticking a card in my card reader. It opens much faster now. As an example, I just opened a 6hr file, about 40mb in under 15 seconds. Personally I find the controls on Audible much easier to use. They are bigger....."fingerable"

Dave

[felixdd]

I keep a backup copy of a freshly reset ppc with all the software installed as well as my daily back ups.

That's what I do with all my PDAs I've had -- I think everyone should do it -- it saves a lot of headaches if you have a "clean" image with you at all times!

[Pat Logsdon]

I'm in the "every 2-3 weeks" range. I fiddle around a lot with my apps, I'm always installing a different piece of freeware, etc. So something inevitably gets messed up, doesn't uninstall correctly, etc.

It doesn't really bother me - I sync daily, so I don't lose any of my writing, I do twice weekly backups to SD, and I keep all of my serials in a text file in File Store. I find that it only takes me about 15 minutes to get everything up and running after a hard reset, unless I enter the serials as I need the programs - then it takes just a few minutes.

[nwd]

The worst thing about hard reseting is that many of my apps require not only reinputting reg codes, but that some apps need NEW reg codes, ie that I have to contact the software developer to register agian with a new device ID.
This is an unbelievable pain - I have several specialised medical apps that do this (as does pocket hack master - new device ID even after restoring from a backup !!!!)
THe result is having to dig out oall the emailed reg codes and emailing for new ones -
I now studiously avoid any activation schemes that require new activation codes after a hard reset.

Interestingly several software cos dont even know if their products will require new codes after a hard reset on the same device.

So - the upshot is that I hang on to my old PDA as long as possible and avoid draconian unlock/activation schemes. ie Spend less $

[Jason Dunn]

The worst thing about hard reseting is that many of my apps require not only reinputting reg codes, but that some apps need NEW reg codes, ie that I have to contact the software developer to register agian with a new device ID.

I agree, this is a hideous pain... :-( I really wish developers wouldn't do this!

[brent_anderson]

Need to have a intentional versus unintentional category as well! &lt;snip>

I agree, I never intentionally hard reset. It is always a fault of the OS that forces it.

Brent

[Mitch D]

The last hard reset I had to do was when my first X3i died. All the buttons stopped working except the power button. People who frequent the Dell Forum here on PPCT might remember my rant! :evil:

[gohtor]

i've only had to hard reset once with my 1940 and it was because i believed there was something wrong with my ipaq filestore. I posted my thoughts on what was wrong with it on the newsgroups just a few days ago. needless to say the hard reset didn't fix the problem and now it's in the process of RMA.

It's funny you should bring up the poll now. cuz a week before i would have otherwise said not at all =)

[dean_shan]

I hard reset min when every my battery falls/runs out. :oops:

[Gerard]

Ed Hansberry wrote:

Most other apps store their settings in the registry though and have to be manually reconfigured. Yeah, I could export registry keys and import them but that is as much a pain making sure you have everything.

Well, there's a new tool to help with this sort of problem. The latest version of Inventop's CabBackup (http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=1&jid=D68691784E42495DE8B5FXE1DD44EF84&platformId=2&productType=2&catalog=0&amp;sectionId=0&productId=96787), 1.2, automatically backs up user-configured registry settings as a part of re-compiling CAB files for any selected application. It also 'remembers' the installed location of the program files, so if you've customised the location using CabInstl or Activesync, placing executables on a card or file store, there is no need to repeat such excersizes on re-installing from the freshly made CAB file. Just tap it, and automagically unpack to the same location you had things in before the uninstallation or hard reset. Pretty cool. Makes this application a lot more interesting than it was in version 1.0 a few weeks ago. Seems Inventop is eagerly developing this tool.

Paragon; you mentioned the possibility of a corrupt Sprite Backup file being something you hedged against with this 'good setup' backup file. I don't know your storage media situation, but if you have room, it makes sense to use the advanced backup configuration tools in Sprite. My routine is to have the latest 3 backups always available on SD, as automatically named files, compressed, in EXE format. Total space taken averages about 30MB, around 10MB per backup. If I happen to want to make more than one backup in a given day, I'll just rename the last one slightly (date followed by 'a' or suchlike), then run the backup program. Still, I've not yet seen a corrupt backup file from Sprite, except during beta testing, when they were having trouble with the self-extracting EXE files not working as such - they were still usable, just not by tapping directly.

[dma1965]

I hard reset when my device starts acting wacky and refuses to sync, or when I format and reload my laptop, which is about twice a year. The biggest pains are definitely software that requires new reg codes, and activating reader. I have actually paid for software and then downloaded key generators for legally purchased software to avoid this headache. I found that with Microsoft Reader, all you have to do is copy and archive 4 files from your actrivated device, found in the Windows directory. These are serep.dat, secrep.dll, secrep.xml, and serepid.dat . I keep them on my storage card and when I reload I just put them back in the Windows directory, and my device is activated again. I discovered this after trying to activate a device to read my legally purchased books, and having to wait until support contacted me for help. It took 2 weeks to get them to help me. Deplorable.

[yawanag]

The worst thing about hard reseting is that many of my apps require not only reinputting reg codes, but that some apps need NEW reg codes, ie that I have to contact the software developer to register agian with a new device ID.
This is an unbelievable pain - I have several specialised medical apps that do this (as does pocket hack master - new device ID even after restoring from a backup !!!!)
THe result is having to dig out oall the emailed reg codes and emailing for new ones -


For this reason, I would rather take a beating than hard reset.

During the past month, I have had to format my desktop PC. (I lost the "Search" and "Add Remove Programs" It was weird. Think some third-party software caused it.) Shortly after I formatted the PC, I had to do the same with the PPC.

The problem I have with hard resetting my PPC is that I have the software saved and the Reg. Codes but frequently the version I have has been upgraded and the old Reg. Code does not register.

[Paragon]

Paragon; you mentioned the possibility of a corrupt Sprite Backup file being something you hedged against with this 'good setup' backup file. I don't know your storage media situation, but if you have room, it makes sense to use the advanced backup configuration tools in Sprite. My routine is to have the latest 3 backups always available on SD, as automatically named files, compressed, in EXE format. Total space taken averages about 30MB, around 10MB per backup. If I happen to want to make more than one backup in a given day, I'll just rename the last one slightly (date followed by 'a' or suchlike), then run the backup program. Still, I've not yet seen a corrupt backup file from Sprite, except during beta testing, when they were having trouble with the self-extracting EXE files not working as such - they were still usable, just not by tapping directly.

A few weeks ago while in Las Vegas for CES my XDAII did a hard reset while doing a backup. I awoke that morning at 7:18 according to the clock on my XDA II. I then got in the shower. I have it set to do a backup at 7:30 am. When I came out my PPC had hard reset and my backup file for the day was 35kb instead of 35mb.

Dave

[Gerard]

ouch. very. But that's why I opt to have Sprite Backup manage backup files, setting it for a maximum of 3 backup files on my SD card. At worst I stand to lose 24 hours' worth of data, as there's always an older one there to fall back to.

[Paragon]

ouch. very. But that's why I opt to have Sprite Backup manage backup files, setting it for a maximum of 3 backup files on my SD card. At worst I stand to lose 24 hours' worth of data, as there's always an older one there to fall back to.

Yup, you're right Gerard.

Mostly what I meant by messd up backups is that if what ever problem I'm having that facilitates a hard reset has been present for awhile then it is easy to go all the way back to the clean backup.

dave

[i_spock]

Wow timely thread! I actually came to the site tonight to search for other people who might have had spontaneous hard resets with their 2200's. Looks like I'm not alone. I've had hard resets happen twice when I've dropped the PDA, and once when I was simply removing the battery to put in my spare. FWIW I've seen the problem where the HP 2200 wakes up during the night and doesn't turn itself off many times. I keep my cradle next to my bed for charging the PDA and spare battery to avoid this causing my battery to run down and cause a hard reset.

[allenalb]

i never had the problem with my 3975, but since getting my 5555 several months ago, it spontaneously hard resets itself at least once every 3 weeks (closer to once a week). :evil:

one day soon, i'm gonna hard reset it against a wall and get the toshiba e805 :D

[Gerard]

If a reboot is a 'soft reset', and a formatting operation back to bare-bones OS is a 'hard reset', then wouldn't throwing it against a wall be impossible, semantically speaking? Unless there's a word in that series I'm missing...

[Janak Parekh]

If a reboot is a 'soft reset', and a formatting operation back to bare-bones OS is a 'hard reset', then wouldn't throwing it against a wall be impossible, semantically speaking? Unless there's a word in that series I'm missing...
I think he's leveraging the fact that there are rather unorthodox ways of doing hard-resets to provide the motivation for that euphemism. To the best of my knowledge, a sufficiently hard impact will cause a hard reset. Whether the device will ever turn on again is a legitimate question. ;)

allenalb: Sounds like your 5555 may be defective, or there might be an application incompatibility. For all of you guys who suffer spontaneous hard resets, I haven't seen one for the last 2 years; and the ones I had before that were due to battery drain.

--janak

[Gerard]

The most recent spontaneous hard reset I had with this iPAQ 3835 was apparently due to boredom; I'd been reading some LAN driver pages in a few open PIE windows, and was about halfway done with the top page, scrolling down with the Stowaway and on AC power, when suddenly the device soft reset... I thought, for a few seconds. Then that little dingy doorbell sound told me to swallow my tongue. Dang, lost a few saved links and a couple of saved pages since the previous backup. No big deal, as I mostly figured out where I'd been and went those places again. Still, I wasn't doing anything weird, and the battery was fully charged at the time.

The two before that one seem to relate to placing the iPAQ on the Stowaway while the screen was on. Maybe there's a funky contact in my adapter for the keyboard? I can't see anything bent in there, but it could be defective I guess. Worked fine for well over a year though...

Lots of others have happened due to problems with software install locations, like putting Photogenics on an SD, or over-filling the file store (seems to have about a 4.5MB limit on this iPAQ, and on a 3870 I was using for a few months, so I always leave about 1.5MB free there). Once I nailed the set of weird setup rules for the iPAQ myy hard reset schedule slowed right down, from about one a week to one every month or two. That's still not nice, but tolerable, sort of.

[David Prahl]

If you drop an Axim X3i from one meter and it lands on your foot it hard resets itself - or so I've read. :wink:

[Perry Reed]

Every few months (2-6), and NOT by choice. About that often my Jornada 568 will hang and cannot be recovered by a soft reset. I keep a folder of all the install files for the programs I use and keep the reg keys in Outlook notes. I do use this as a filter of sorts; any program that I didn't use much since the last hard reset doesn't get reinstalled.

[ChristopherTD]

My ipaq 5450 (the first PPC I owned) was rather unstable, it had several spontaneous hard-resets, and several initiated by me as I either upgraded OS, or decided to go back to a clean system. It developed a fault, and HP messed up the repair so much they replaced it with a 5550 (as compensation).

The 5550 has been extremely stable so far, even though I have installed lots of software. Not a hard reset at all.

[Evee Ev]

ed,

you mentioned the .reg file for pocket informant, but i'm not sure which file you're referring to...

in my webis folder on my pocket pc my documents folder, i see webissettings. is that the file you're talkin' about?

thanks.

[Ed Hansberry]

ed,

you mentioned the .reg file for pocket informant, but i'm not sure which file you're referring to...

in my webis folder on my pocket pc my documents folder, i see webissettings. is that the file you're talkin' about?
Yes. You should actually grab that whole folder. It contains:
• SearchViewCharacters.reg
• PICustomerViews.reg
• WebISSettings.reg

Plus several other files.

[Mitch D]

If you drop an Axim X3i from one meter and it lands on your foot it hard resets itself - or so I've read. :wink:

Hmmm... I have dropped mine twice in as many days and my X3i has not done a hard reset. Although a 1940 I am testing here at work has done three hard resets by itself in the last 6 hours.

:?:

Me thinks it will get RA'ed back to HP today when my tech gets in!

[Jeff Rutledge]

I hard reset about once every 2-3 months. I also beta test a few apps so that rate may increase if I'm testing a very new app or a very new version of an app.

[pocketpcfox]

Jinxed! I voted for 1-2 hard resets in the life of my PDA. Then, I'm not kidding, the next day I built up enough static electricity that when I touched my ipaq 2210, it suddenly -- you guessed it -- hard reset. Damn!

[Godsongz]

along the drop-test-hard-reset lines... when driving back from Boston last night, my friend in the passenger seat was using my 2215, then shut it off and placed it on the dashboard. Not more than a minute later I hit a pothole the size of some small countries and my precious 2215 bounced off the dash, bounced off the center console, and landed on the floorboard. After cleaning the mud off of it I found that it was mostly undamaged (one small scratch on the screen I hadn't noticed before, was probably from the fall) but it had hard reset. I was very thankful for Sprite's Pocket Backup and my daily 2:00am backup file on the SD card!

[nickrowlands]

Have to do it at least once a month when the DBNotifyEvents database gets corrupted and the alarms stop working as a result. Still got no solution for this problem. After 3 troubled years of using a pocket PC and 9 years of trouble free PDA use prior to PPC with Palm &amp; Psion. I've spent £450 on trying to resolve the problem by replacing my Dell with an HP5550 &amp; now I'm ready to either go back to paper or move back over to Palm or even buy a 5 year old obsolete Psion 5mx to restore basic alarm functinality to my working day. I feel totally shafted by Microsoft &amp; I'm not normally an anti-microsoft person. :evil:

[Janak Parekh]

Have to do it at least once a month when the DBNotifyEvents database gets corrupted and the alarms stop working as a result.
It's sad there appears to be no ROM updates for this, but there are free third-party solutions for the DBNotify database. The best-known one is the one by ScaryBear Software (http://www.scarybearsoftware.com/ppc_cn_overview.html).

--janak