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View Full Version : What would happen? Connecting my PPC to a PC w/o ActiveSync installed firstly...


famousdavis
11-19-2004, 05:10 PM
What I want to do: Use my PPC as a USB storage drive by just plugging in a sync cable to my work PC's USB port. My work PC doesn't have ActiveSync installed.

What I want to happen is to have my PPC recognized as a USB storage drive by the operating system. Then, I want to use the desktop Explorer to drag-n-drop files onto the PPC's storage.

When you buy a new PPC, there are ample warnings saying that ActiveSync must be installed before plugging in the sync cable to connect the PPC to a PC.

So I'm wondering: What would happen if I didn't do that? I'd experiment to find out, only I don't want to mess up the stability of my PPC right now.

applejosh
11-19-2004, 05:25 PM
The apocalypse. Mass pandemonium! Bill Gates is the evil one.

I doubt much would happen other than a bunch of errors or popups on the PC (cannot install such and such hardware, etc.) Of course I don't know for certain, so user beware.

Sven Johannsen
11-19-2004, 05:59 PM
applejosh is essentially correct. The OS will notice a new USB device, and not having a clue what to do with it, open the new device wizard. That will let you install the device automatically, which will fail, because the OS has no idea what do do with your PPC, or it will allow you to point to the drivers.

The drivers are on the AS CD and actually can be installed without AS, and then your machine will dutifully connect the Dell X50 or hx4700 or whatever as a USB device. Note I said device, not drive.

Unfortunately you can't do anything with that device. It is not seen as a USB drive with or without AS installed. So...what you want to do "Use my PPC as a USB storage drive by just plugging in a sync cable to my work PC's USB port," isn't going to happen. You are not alone though, many of us would like to do that.

P.S. the stock suggestion is to get yourself a usb reader for your SD or CF card. You can then at least move files back and forth from your work PC to your PPC.

famousdavis
11-19-2004, 08:14 PM
P.S. the stock suggestion is to get yourself a usb reader for your SD or CF card. You can then at least move files back and forth from your work PC to your PPC.

Thanks Pope Sven and applejosh. I won't even bother experimenting now. :)

I do have both an SD and CF card reader which I use for moving files back and forth, but I don't usually carry those readers with me to work. My PPC, however, I bring daily to work. My business partner periodically wants me to transfer his phone pictures onto a CD for him (he doesn't have a CD burner), and it'd be easy to do if my PPC acted like a USB drive. :(

surur
11-19-2004, 11:34 PM
As some-one who occasionally trolls palminfocenter :) , I must in fairness say that palm has solved this "problem" with the palm t5, which has the ability to be used as a USB hard drive by simple activating a switch/app.

I sometimes feel not enough low level hacking of the pocketpc platform takes place. I dont see why some-one with a low level understanding of the USB protocols could not write a similar app for the pocketpc.

I guess we can afford usb memory car readers though, while the poor palmistas need an cheaper, more limited solution :devilboy:

Surur

ctmagnus
11-19-2004, 11:43 PM
In my experience, the desktop "bongs" every couple of minutes.

yankeejeep
11-20-2004, 08:34 PM
If you have IR capability on your desktop (which is unlikely; this is typically an option with notebooks, not desktops), you can create a connection between the computer and your PPC by aligning the ports (as long as IR is active on both). This would allow you to send files to the PPC (through its own dialog, not File Explorer) without ActiveSync.

frankenbike
11-21-2004, 10:33 PM
You *can* however, map your PC to a PPC through WiFi using BizzDev's (free) "Net Use" software (on the PPC) and transfer programs that way.

Of course, then you have to invest in an Access Point or wireless router (they're pretty cheap these days).

Sven Johannsen
11-22-2004, 12:06 AM
Of course, then you have to invest in an Access Point or wireless router (they're pretty cheap these days).

They can be extremely expensive if you hook one up at the office, without talking to the IT guys. ;) Famousdavis's initial desire was to transfer files at the office. I would guess that wireless and IR aren't options there. Actually talking the IT guys into letting him install AS might be an option. Don't even need to partner really. Just connect as a guest.

That's a solution for one PC though. It would be great if we could just walk up to any PC and connect up with a USB cable and transfer some files as if the PPC where a USB flash drive. I can do that with every MP3 player I own, Palm users can do it, iPod owners can do it, why can't I do it with my PPC?

CESkins
11-22-2004, 12:34 AM
...Actually talking the IT guys into letting him install AS might be an option. Don't even need to partner really. Just connect as a guest...
I would recommend this also as the ideal option (installing ActiveSync and logging in your PDA as "guest"). I do this all the time with my wife's PC so that I don't end up with my PIM database info on her PC and mine. Once logged in as a guest, I can easily transfer files back and forth and even install software. :)

famousdavis
11-22-2004, 03:08 AM
They can be extremely expensive if you hook one up at the office, without talking to the IT guys. ;)

Hey! I am in IT with my employer! 8O So, I "get away" with installing non-standard software from time-to-time. I think I'll give that a whirl this week -- it should be a slow week at work -- and see if that might not be the best solution, given that the ideal solution would be to just have my PPC act like a USB drive, but that's not viable yet with PPCs.

Sven Johannsen
11-22-2004, 04:07 AM
Well then, that changes everything :D Maybe you should pick up a little Access Point on the way in to work too ;)


If you are going to be installing AS at work (and you can just download it from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/downloads/activesync37.mspx when you get there), you have two choices. You can choose to create a second partnership at work, letting you keep your PIM stuff sync'd between home, work, and the PPC, or you can choose to connect as a guest. If you choose to connect as a guest you have two choices. You can select guest everytime you connect when the partner wizard comes up, or you can use Chris De Herrera's ActiveSyncKeys program that lets you set a workstation to default to guest partnerships. You can find that here. http://www.cewindows.net/applications/undocumentedactivesync.htm

Note this isn't a good solution if you want to hook your wife's PPC to your machine now and again, because it will see your PPC as a guest too. You'd have a choice of toggling the Guest connection default on and off, or just selecting Guest in the Partner wizard. No real gain. Been there, done that. :)

If you do decide to partner at work, note that your work PIM and home PIM will be merged on all three platforms. There are ways using catagories to just keep the merged data on the PPC, but it is a pain to set up and manage IMHO.

famousdavis
11-22-2004, 06:43 AM
Whew! Being a PPT Pope must be a rough job. I'm glad I'm just a Thinker right now... :)

Well, tonight I setup ActiveSync on my laptop, and established a 2nd partnership with my PPC. So, tomorrow, I'll install ActiveSync on my work PC and establish just a Guest partnership. I don't want my personal PIM data to be anywhere on my work PC's harddrive. Moreover, we use Lotus Notes at work, not Outlook/Exchange, so it wouldn't do any good to establish a 2nd partnership anyway because I don't even have Outlook installed (yeah, I know I could install, that, too, but I that'd probably be just asking for someone from desktop support to pay me -- or worse, my manager -- a little visit.

All this, just to help my business partner get his cameraphone snapshots burned onto a CDROM.... :roll:

Note this isn't a good solution if you want to hook your wife's PPC to your machine now and again,

My "wife's PPC" is my old iPAQ 1910, and it's still sitting atop my rolltop desk, which is the same place I put it a few weeks ago after I got my X50v. Not too worried about her PPC right now. :wink:

ctmagnus
11-22-2004, 07:10 AM
Just to make sure, you do realize that you can establish a partnership without synching anything? When you get to the appropriate stage in the partnership setup process, uncheck all the boxes for all the information types and nothing will be synched either way in the partnership. It saves a few clicks every time.

famousdavis
11-22-2004, 07:17 AM
Just to make sure, you do realize that you can establish a partnership without synching anything? When you get to the appropriate stage in the partnership setup process, uncheck all the boxes for all the information types and nothing will be synched either way in the partnership. It saves a few clicks every time.

Well, uhh, no, I, uh, hadn't actually thought of that...on my own...

How many active partnerships can a single PPC have?

ctmagnus
11-22-2004, 08:01 AM
afaik, two out of the box. However, somebody came up with an app that lets a PPC have more than two partnerships. Just don't ask me what the name of it is ;)

ipaq_wannabe
11-23-2004, 08:20 PM
well, i too would like to have the functionality of having the PPC be recognized as a USB drive (actually, ive already made a previous post on this)...

you see, the PPC is a versatile device wherein one could expect to bring anywhere - during client calls, on-site inspections, etc., and it would just be impractical that you would still have to bring extra stuff (like a card reader) for something that a PPC can supposedly handle...

i would have to say that most are missing the point here - by having the PPC too dependent on AS, then basically we're limiting its functionality, and its usefulness... i know there is a way to connect the PPC without AS, but i would want to connect it as a drive, wherein i could plug in a gig of CF memory and transfer files back and forth...

some would say that you could do the same with WiFi - but that doesnt it make the PPC versatile and useful in most generic situations... or does it?

i would then have to say that why the competition can do it, and we cannot? for something that is technologically advanced as the PPC (where the filesystem resembles MORE its desktop counterpart), why cant we have it?

i then imagine something akin to M$' not improving Pocket Word/Excel, and have to rely on third-parties to provide what M$c can essentially do... as well as the OEMs...

-@PIE@Loox