Pocket PC saving to a 256sc Card

[GraphicArmy]

Have do I set all my appz to save on my new 256 sc card? I don't want to to be saving on my pocket pc because if my battery die.


thanks

[milkman dan]

? I only know of a few PPC's that destroy your data if the battery dies, and they don't have an SD slot :)

[marlof]

? I only know of a few PPC's that destroy your data if the battery dies, and they don't have an SD slot :)

In fact, most of the Pocket PCs destroy data in RAM if the battery (and the backup battery/part) dies. The problem with installing applications to a SD card is that they almost all the time install parts (registry, some system files) in RAM as well, so you wouldn't be helped a lot. Invest in a good backup application (most Pocket PCs come with one, and otherwise Sprite Pocket Backup (http://www.spritesoftware.com/products/pocket_backup_plus.html) should do fine), that allows you to schedule backups to your SD card in stead. When your batteries fail, you can always restore from your SD card, even when you're on the road.

Installing applications on a SD card is a good thing if you want to leave as much RAM as possible free to run programs in (program memory in stead of storage memory). Just select "do not install to the default path" when installing, and choose the memory card from the drop down list in the Activesync install menu.

[Pony99CA]

Have do I set all my appz to save on my new 256 sc card? I don't want to to be saving on my pocket pc because if my battery die.
Most applications will allow saving data to an SD card, but I'm not aware of any system setting you can use to cause all applications to do it by default.

Perhaps you could tweak the registry to force the My Documents directory to be on the SD card, but I don't know how well that will work. Check the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Explorer\Shell Folders\My Documents key to see where it might be done.

WARNING: I haven't tried this, so don't blame me if it causes problems. Ensure you back your iPAQ up before trying it yourself.

However, if you sync regularly, saving to an SD card is probably not necessary. Remember that, if you synchronize files, data saved in your My Documents folder will get synchronized by default to your PC, in essence providing a backup; data saved on your SD card will not be synchronized. This means that, if your SD card dies (which many people have experienced), you could lose your data on the card.

Steve

[ghostppc]

Though this isn't an automatic way, and I do the backups too. I set to install to a card when installing on the desktop through active sync. Then for those pesky apps that install to main memory, I move the folder over to my card and create shortcuts pointing to the new folder. And I throw all these shortcuts into a folder on my card.

If you have lots and lots of folders, it takes a while. But it's nice to not have to reinstall everything to get your stuff back. So for the ocassional hard resets or if a my battery dies, I only have to reinstall apps which require registry keys and such.

[GraphicArmy]

thanks all!!!

[Pony99CA]

Then for those pesky apps that install to main memory, I move the folder over to my card and create shortcuts pointing to the new folder. And I throw all these shortcuts into a folder on my card.
I'm not sure GraphicArmy was asking about installing applications on the SD card, but, if he was, realize that moving an installed program to a storage card like that will have some problems.

First, if the application installer created a registry key that pointed to the application directory, that will break.

Second, even if the program works, I think you'll will break the Remove Programs settings applet. When programs get installed, they seem to set registry keys that point to where they are that Remove Programs uses. If you ever try to uninstall that application, you'll probably get an error and the application won't uninstall completely.

Steve

[GraphicArmy]

I just can't reintstall all my application to my PocketPC, when my battery is low. I own a Mac and I can't install exe files with this computer. I would have to wait till I find a PC so I can install exe. You can see I can't let my PocketPC battery to be back-up low. I would lose all my appz and data.

I would love to back-up all my data and appz on to my 256 SD Card or my Mac HardDrive. I am using PocketMac to sync with my PocketPC HP Ipaq 2200.

What is the best way to solve this little hick-up?

Thanks again for the great help.

[JimPAQ]

I install almost all of my programs to SD card. Then, I move them on the card to be organized, such as under Program Files, Games, etc. Then, I make new shortcuts for them under start. I have never had a problem uninstalling a program or upgrading one that has been moved. I do have a few programs which require dlls that are in the system directory. I have to reinstall them, which I did a while back when I upgraded the ROM and couldn't get every thing back from ActiveSync restore. Also, I have found that if you make a My Documents directory on the SD card, you can save data from most application there. So you don't loose the programs or the data. Of course I also have ActiveSync set to do partial backups every time I put my PDA in its cradle.

--Jim