The Ultimate thread for Windows Mobile users !!!

Hi all,
I was having a little discussion with desiibond in another thread when I realized that there is no "special" thread for users of Windows Mobile based Smartphones and PDAs, so I decided to start one. To the best of my knowledge, no such threads are existing in Digit forum yet; if I have overlooked any, please let me know, so that I can notify the Mods to merge them.

Windows Mobile is a versatile mobile OS with tremendous amount of special features and an extreme degree of customization capability. It is THE MOST customizable mobile OS out there and easily pwns Symbian in this sole aspect. You can directly modify the OS (except the kernel) and thus create you own customized version of the OS with all your needed tweaks and necessary softwares. The resulting process is known as "ROM cooking" and can be done using software "ROM Kitchen" available for free.

Similar to all other Windows products from Microsoft, Windows Mobile is loaded with bloatware and "junk" out-of-the-box (different for different manufacturers and service providers), which tend to make it slow and painful. It is something like using the factory installed Windows XP/Vista, which is there on your newly bought laptop or branded desktops, contains heavy bloatware/unnecessary "junk", which slows the system down and thus needs heavy tweaking and customization to improve its speed and functionality.

The largest manufacturer of Win Mo phones is HTC, a Taiwan based company. Also Samsung, Asus, LG, Sony Ericsson also make some phones with Windows Mobile. The latest avatar of Windows Mobile OS is Windows Mobile 6.1 (WM 7 will soon follow-up next year).

In order to make this thread as useful as it can get, I want to assert certain facts and suggestions, which I hope every user will follow up...

1) The main source of knowledge in this thread will heavily rely on information from XDA-developers forum, so I would suggest that you visit their main forum for advanced knowledge about stuff. In this aspect, we are all thankful to the ingenious developers on XDA-devs, who share their hard work for free with the rest of the World and who I think, are the ONLY reason to get a Windows Mobile based phone.

2) Very Important Points:

>>> Flashing custom ROMs and bootloaders nullifies the warranty on the Windows Mobile device. Although you can restore the OEM bootloader and OEM issued ROM to restore your warranty.

>>> Flashing custom ROMs requires a thorough idea and understanding of the procedure. If improperly flashed, they can render a device partially or completely unusable or BRICKED (i.e. must be sent for RMA)

>>> Cooking a ROM requires some degree of advanced knowledge (though the newest cooking tools are very easy to use).

>>> Please read very very carefully and make sure you understand every detail and risk in flashing procedure before you begin to flash your device. I will NOT take any responsibility if you brick your device during flashing.

3) Please DO NOT post anything illegal like warez and illegally hacked software. Please complain if you see someone posting about illegal stuff.

4) There are lot of free utilities and software available to serve your purpose....also there is a wide collection of awesome paid software for Win Mo platform.

5) While posting about the device you own, please make sure you provide all its details and the exact procedure of flashing. Please let us know about your experiences with the device before and after flashing, which ROM you are using and related stuff.

[I will post about my At&T Tilt (a.K.a. HTC Kaiser, HTC TyTn II, MDA Vario 3 etc etc) at a later post. I will update this post if anything else comes into my mind, till then please pour in your suggestions and tutorials]

A

gr8 so you started it.
Hope this becomes sticky.

O

It's good,we should have a thread like this for all WM users.

A WM guide posted here will be very useful,IMHO.

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87010

D

I have a Windows Mobile 6 Smartphone. htc S710. When I go to Start -> Settings -> Windows Update -> Check Now, always I get this error "Connection to update server was not available. Check your data connections settings and ensure the device date and time are correct." I have subscribed to Mobile Office Airtel, and checking email works before and after checking whether Windows Update is working. Date and time are also correct. What should I do?

S

I own an HTC Touch with WM 6.0

Using an awesome shell for it , Point UI.

*www.pointui.com/Home.aspx

*xs231.xs.to/xs231/08384/home_01522.jpg

Hope u all find it useful. And to top it off, its free!!

one of the best video players out there is TCPMP:
*picard.exceed.hu/tcpmp/test/

G-Alarm (better than default alarm):
*forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=422362

S2U2 (Lock device like ipone)
*forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=412418

PocketCM (Contacts,Keyboard & Calender):
*www.pocketcm.com/

Caller info (Location) -lets you know where the number belongs to:
*forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=435328

Diamond Opera 9.5:
*forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=401643

here is manila2d (touchflo 2d):
*forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=398173

manila2d customiser:
*forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=427392

manila2d skins:
*forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=425974

.....there you go, some for now

This is mine.. samsung i710 ..

read here *www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99998

its win mo 5.... any idea to upgrade it????

*lifehacker.com/software/hack-attack/turn-your-windows-mobile-phone-into-an-iphone-269055.php

Whether we admit it or not, we're all at least a little in love with the iPhone. However, a lot fewer of us are $500-in-love with the iPhone. If your clunky old Windows Mobile phone is just sitting around collecting iPhone jealousy dust, you can either scrounge together 500 leafy Sacagaweas, or you can customize your Windows Mobile phone to emulate several of the iPhone's more interesting features, like the iPhone's home screen, flick-scroll contacts, and the fancy slide-to-unlock.

@madjeri.... try this

*forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=321084&page=2

trying..lets see.. someone said it will void my warranty...is it true??

true..but how often have you taken your phone to the service center ????

^^^

whhat? ..

i only bought it last night.....

K

It is very depressing to see 'closure' of a famous magazine,"Smartphone & Pocket PC" due to lack of support to Windows mobiles.

The mag is getting converted to "iPhone Life". !!!!!!!!!!?????????????

not many are using windows mobile , its just too costly to afford..baring very few

R

deepakchan said:
I have a Windows Mobile 6 Smartphone. htc S710. When I go to Start -> Settings -> Windows Update -> Check Now, always I get this error "Connection to update server was not available. Check your data connections settings and ensure the device date and time are correct." I have subscribed to Mobile Office Airtel, and checking email works before and after checking whether Windows Update is working. Date and time are also correct. What should I do?

That is because HTC has blocked the update feature for some reason. There was an official ROM update by HTC for the S710 in Jan'08 where I think this feature was enabled (and also an automatic settings creator for GPRS ).

Although I suggest you update to this ROM, it is still WM6. I suggest you browse through
*forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=358
and once you have enough know-how of flashing, update you're S710 to WM6.1

BTW I own the same phone, and IMO it rules

@madjeri...did u flash it?

na..

warranty issues.. hellgate said i710 will develop pblm..for a year ineed to use it..after that the experiments...

I already posted this in another thread, but still posting may be helpful 4 someone,
HTC offering free upgrade to WM 6.1
check out here:
*www.htc.com/in/

Does anyone knows about any custom Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM that works on HTC P3400i (not P3400) and is bug free (i mean superficially at least)?? I tried a lot on XDA forums but it seems that all of those upgrades are for P3400.

And people BEWARE! : Never install a P3400 ROM on P3400i, that will BRICK your device and you will have to opt RMA.

O

I found a htc skin here and a free iphone style media player there, hope u like it
*bestmobilesite.blogspot.com/2008/10/windows-mobile-software-download-zone.html

anyone tried bluehoo ?? live search it

xdaforums is a pretty awesome place for any kind of cooking i cooked my won rom from gyan i took there

Here is my addition to it:

TCPMP Master Codec Pack (Includes all codecs available including proprietary ones)

For Windows Mobile 5 Users :

*www.mobilitysite.com/boards/new-so...-tcpmp-master-codec-pack-2-cab-installer.html

For Windows Mobile 6 and 6.1 users

*www.mobilitysite.com/boards/new-so...added-tcpmp-master-codec-pack-2-wm6-cab.html

OFFTOPIC: Welcome Back Shantanu Sir!

thanks man !!! TCPMP is a great player and Codec pack.. you can also use Pocketdivx encoder.. to encode the files within seconds to small size and good quality for winmobile

Here is an awesome one.

Total Commander is an advance file manager available for both Windows XP/Vista and Windows Mobile/Pocket PCs/Smartphones. The default file manager on Windows Mobile 6 lacks tonnes of features and this one has all of them including :

* Copy, Move whole subdirs
* Inplace rename, create dirs
* Delete (no recycle bin)
* Zip and unzip
* Properties dialog, change attributes
* Built-in text editor
* Search function (also for text)
* Select/unselect groups of files
* Select with [Sel] button
* FTP client
* File Association Editor
* LAN access
* Send/Receive multiple files via Infrared or Bluetooth (OBEX)
* Brief, full and large icons mode
* Single or two file window mode
* Option to hide all files in ROM
* Directory hotlist as in Total Commander
* Directory history through dropdown list
* Tree view
* Configurable button bar
* Simple help function
* Shortcut creation and maintainance (changing the target of shortcut if the original file is moved, deleted etc)

Current version is 2.51 and gives PC like file management experience on the phone. Download it form here:

*www.ghisler.com/ce.htm

I use resco for navigation, its really good

*www.resco.net/pocketpc/explorer/

and since windows phones dun get detected on linux, i use a utility called card export which makes the phone work as a usb media

*www.softick.com/pocket-pc/cardexport2/

If you are the Geekiest of the Geekiest ones and want to get total control of your mobile OS too (like you do on your PC) then here are some great tools for you. All of these are available at www.dotfred.com

1. Task Manager : Beware, this is not an ordinary task manager, it combines many features under its hood which are available as power tools on Windows XP/Vista. It includes following tools:
Process manager
- Process Manager : Like the process view on task manager on Windows XP/Vista, really helpful for killing tasks run secretly in the background.
- CPU usage Monitor
- Application Manager : Like the Tasks tab in the Task manager on Windows.
- Service Manager : Control services on your windows mobile (like services.msc in XP/Vista)
- Device Manager (only WM2005 and above)
- Windows Manager : Shows a hierarchical list of Top level and child windows open.
- Notification Manager : Shows which apps are registered for system level notifications and you can even register your app through it.
- IP Config utility : Similar to ipconfig on PC
- Ping utility
- Net Stats utility
- Registry Editor : Really powerful one. Edit registry just like on Windows Regedit.
- Run program utility

2. PIM Backup : Great tool for backing up your data to your memory card. You can later move it to your pc, if you want to.

3. Softkeys Applet : Windows Mobiles do not have any GUI option to change what the two softkeys do and the factory setting is Calender and Contacts which is good, but if you like to change it, this is the app. It appears in the settings folder of phone. Personally i dont use the calender that much as the apponitments display on Today screen can also be used for that so i assigned the phone dialer to it

.

4. Start Menu : This is a cool one and greatly simplifies the start menu of Win mobile. It adds cascading facility to programs and settings menu and provides an option to soft reset or suspend your device. By default it comes in a large icon mode. if you dont like it, use the registry editor in the Task Manger to change the value given on the download page.

5. Task Switcher: Assign it to one of your hardware buttons and you can quickly list, switch between, and close task no matter where you are. no need to minimize all apps and then use the task manager to switch or kill.

And for people whp are having difficulty typing on the small keyboard of your touchscreen,

6. SPB Fullscreen Keyboard is the ultimate keyboard for you. Its a paid app but it does wonders for your typing, specially for sms and e-mail junkies. It offers both landscape and portrait mode (and believe me, its the only keyboard that really is usable in protrait mode with Fat Fingers too) as well as autocorrect and suggestions. Download a trial or purchase from

*www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/fsk/?en

Or you can search....... anyways

You know what.

@KENSHIN : Ya Resco Explorer is a good one, but i think its too heavy for the functionality it provides. Its only advantages are a Recycle Bin and Finger Touch Friendly Mode, as for me. Otherwise @ 600KB, Total Commander does everything that Resco does along with a two pane layout.And FTP and Registry functionality is also included in it while resco needs additional plugins over its already big 2.0 MB size. And best of all, Total Commander is totally free while Resco is a paid app. No offences, just comparing them.

@Krazy_About_Technology: Coooooooool

Thanks a lot for sharing...

@Krazy_About_Technology

Thanks, will try total commander,

My latest discovery

iContacts Burt's Edition 6.4.5
-----------------------------

Download URL : *burt.vndv.com/index.php?ind=downloads&op=section_view&idev=1

*burt.vndv.com/mkportal/modules/gallery/album/a_27.png

This is a cotact management application that you can use as a replacement for your outlook contacts app. It is designed to be used by Fingers and has the TouchFlow kind of scrolling using finger.

Supports all major options you need with contact, like Searching, Adding, Editing, Deleting, Dialing, SMSing a contact, a favourites list, photo support etc.

Its very easy to use and i found it one of the best, usability wise, among 4-5 other apps i tried in this category. Try it, its a FREEWARE!

Nice tread
*digi2.notlong.com
*digi1.notlong.com

Hey Guys,

Now here's something different this time: All the programmers out there who cant stop programming even when they are away from their computers, introducing........

1. Pocket C# (includes PocketC#, OpenC#IDE and Pocket CMD.exe) (Freeware)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Download Location : *freewareppc.com/download/utilities/pocketccombo.shtml

Homepage and Documentation : *pocketgcc.sourceforge.net/pcsharp/index.html

This package allows you to create, edit and compile simple command line and gui programs using the .NET Compact Framework 2.0. It Includes :

Pocket C# : The compiler and related tools.
OpenC#IDE : A simple c# IDE with color coding and project management support.
PocketCMD : CMD.exe for pocket pc

and a support package for cmd.exe.

This package must be installed in the phone memory in order for it to work properly. And if you have any problem running cmd.exe then follow these steps :

1. Using any Registry Editor software (many freewares are available, google it), navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Drivers\Console.
2. Change the value of OutputTo to 0x000000(Hex) from 0xFFFFFF. Edit the editor.

This will make the cmd.exe run properly.

2. Pocket GCC - GCC Port for Pocket PC (FREEWARE)

Download Link *www.freewareppc.com/download/utilities/pocketgcc.shtml

Homepage and Documentation: *pocketgcc.sourceforge.net/index.html

This is the Pocket PC port of the GNU C Compiler (GCC) 3.2 and BinUtils 2.13. It can be use to compile command line as well as GUI apps complete with resources and everything right on the pocket pc. What else should i say

3. WordNETCF Dictionary for Windows Mobile (Freeware)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Download URL : *www.ebswift.com/PocketPC/WordNet/
This is an ultimate english to english dictionary for Windows Mobile 5/6 and runs on the same database of its PC based sister application WordNET. The pocket version is a port by a person named Troy from EBSwift.com.

Its supports colour coded presentatition, Regular Expression as well as normal search and a vast database of words that is sized around 34MB!!

Its just great!

And have a look at this, its one hell of a cool app!

4. Remote Keyboard - Control your Windows Mobile using your PC's Keyboard and Mouse (FREEWARE)

Download Location : *www.trancreative.com/rkb.aspx

This cool app comes with a PC executable and a PPC installation file and allows a Windows Mobile Device which is connected to active sync via cable or bluetooth to be controlled using PC's keyboard and mouse.

This can also be used under linux using the telnet protocol.

Cheers!

I hav HTC P3300 wit WM 6, can i install WM 6.5 on it. My fone is under warranty, will htc service center install it for free ? or i hav to pay for tat.

Great initiative dude! Already some immensely helpful threads.

Congrats bro, for the thread.

I am using a windows mobile smartphone MotoQ9h

I used it as my main device till i get my iPhone 3G

I still had the phone for the Office Mobile and some of the enterprises features.

Just for my curiosity, can I upgrade from WM6 to WM6.1 in my MotoQ9h?

A how-to guide will be appreciated.

ruturaj3 said:
I hav HTC P3300 wit WM 6, can i install WM 6.5 on it. My fone is under warranty, will htc service center install it for free ? or i hav to pay for tat.

HTC 3300 (Artemis) - there is no official WM6.1 ROM,you can download and install 'cooked' 6.1 ROMS from 'xda-developers' website.

Regarding WM6.5 ROM for Artemis,you can check PDAmobiz and PDAviet sites,few are available,but stability is questionable.

Now,microsoft has announced WM7,which will be official from next year (source:gsmarena.com).

So,choice is yours!

dhan_shh said:
HTC 3300 (Artemis) - there is no official WM6.1 ROM,you can download and install 'cooked' 6.1 ROMS from 'xda-developers' website.

Regarding WM6.5 ROM for Artemis,you can check PDAmobiz and PDAviet sites,few are available,but stability is questionable.

Now,microsoft has announced WM7,which will be official from next year (source:gsmarena.com).

So,choice is yours!

Ok. Ya i know tat WM 7 will b launched next year. I ask since my fone is under warranty. So i thought i can upgrade os from service center. Like Nokia and SE for free.