Quick Tips & PC Companion Tricks

Thanks go to all the people who have written tips for, and shared their knowledge of the Handheld PC, Palm-size PC and Windows CE. This includes the folks at Microsoft, manufacturers of the H/PCs, and members of online forums supporting users of the PC Companions. Based in part on these sources, all tips are written by Rich Hall (unless otherwise specified).

Severe cold kills batteries, effects display

Don't leave your H/PC or Palm-size PC (or any PDA) out in the cold. Cold decreases the power output of batteries. If the battery voltage goes low enough, or if the batteries freeze, you can lose all the data you have stored in internal RAM memory. (You will not lose data stored on a Type II PC Flash card or CompactFlash card.) Depending on how long the batteries have been out in the cold, their power level may come back as they warm up. It's probably safer to replace or recharge them as soon as possible.

Cold effects the coin-cell backup battery as well. The backups are lithium batteries, which generally resist the influences of cold better than alkaline, NiCd, or NiMH batteries. But they can still freeze.

It might happen that your main batteries die but your backup holds on long enough to keep your PC Companion's memory alive. When you turn on your PC Companion you'll get a message indicating that your main batteries are running low. Replace or charge the main batteries immediately. If you also get a message telling you that the backup battery is low, replace it, but only after you have replaced or charged the main batteries. If you replace both main and backup batteries at the same time, you'll lose data stored in internal RAM.

Extend battery life

Most PC Companions operate for a reasonable amount of time before you have to replace or recharge their main batteries. However, there are some simple things you can do to make that length of time even more reasonable. Here are a few:
 

1. The number one most important thing is to connect that H/PC or Palm-size PC to an AC adapter whenever you can. Most PC Companions come with one AC adapter to power the unit and recharge battery packs. However, it's handy to have an extra AC adapter at home so you don't have to carry the adapter back and forth. Most H/PC and Palm-size PC manufacturers sell extra adapters for their PC Companions. Check their Web sites listed in the At A Glance section.
2. Note that some users have successfully used third-party adapters with their units. For example, I saw a message on CompuServe's Handheld PC forum that described how a Sharp Mobilon user purchased an adapter from Radio Shack (a popular electronics store in the U.S.) for about $20. The model # listed was 273-1663A and the adapter was described as a variable 3~6 volt, 700mA adapter with 6 or so different tips. The message suggested using the yellow tip, positive polarity. Purchase a non-standard AC adapter at your own risk. If you buy the wrong one and fry your PC Companion, you won't be covered under warranty.
3. Press the Off button when you're finished. Sure, there's an automatic off feature that turns off the H/PC or Palm-size PC after 1 to 3 minutes, but that's still 1 to 3 minutes of wasted power. When you need information, press On. When you're finished, press Off.
4. Use the Backlighting and Voice Record playback features sparingly. They increase power consumption 10-15 times.
5. Turn off LED alarms and notification features. Many Palm-size PCs and H/PCs have LEDs that notify you when a Calendar appointment comes due. As handy as this feature may seem, I hardly ever notice. Of course, a flashing LED also uses up battery power. Think about how much you use this feature and consider turning it off.

Once you get into the Calendar application, the instructions are the same for H/PC or Palm-size PC.
To disable the flashing alarm for individual Calendar appointments, enter the appointment as you normally would, filling in description, date, time, and other information. Then tap the icon with a bell on it, at the bottom of the screen next to the check box labeled "Reminder." In the Reminder Defaults box that pops up, tap the Reminder Options button and uncheck the box labeled "Flashing light."

To disable flashing alarms for all Calendar appointments, open the Calendar application and select the Tools option from the menu bar. Then tap on the icon with a bell on it and in the Reminder Defaults box that pops up, tap the Reminder Options button and uncheck the box labeled "Flashing light."

Replace main batteries first

I just upgraded my 320LX for CE 2.0. (My 360LX is still a much better and faster unit). The unit didn't respond. After spending a while with Hewlett-Packard on the phone I found I had done the obvious -- replaced the backup battery before the main alkaline batteries. For hard resets, users must be sure that the backup battery is replaced AFTER the main batteries. The 320 is working fine!

Randy Sly
bprandy@mindspring.com

Keep your desktop clean

"Desktop" refers not only to the top of the desk you sit at, but to the opening screen of the H/PC. Keeping important files and books on the top of your office desk, at your fingertips, may be handy at times, but if too many items are stored there, the desktop becomes cluttered and you can't find the things you need.

The same is true for the desktop of your H/PC. Not only does icon clutter make it hard to find what you want, but the more icons displayed on the desktop, the slower the desktop screen loads ­ frustratingly slow at times. Eleven icons are automatically on the opening screen (Calendar, Contacts, Pocket Word, Recycle Bin, etc.). On top of that, most third-party software programs automatically install a program icon on the desktop. In addition, you can create desktop icons to access a project folder (hold down ALT, tap the desktop screen and select New Folder). The H/PCs desktop can fill up fast!  

Add folder icons to H/PC desktop for projects

If you are working on a specific project, you can create a folder for that project to keep all documents related to the project. For example, you could save related Pocket Word and Pocket Excel documents to this folder, as well as email messages, HTML documents you downloaded from the Internet, and Pocket PowerPoint presentations related to the project. The idea is to keep everything related to the project in one place, for easy access.

The easiest thing to do is to create a desktop icon for the folder. Hold down the ALT key, tap on the desktop screen and select New Folder. Then give it a name related to the project. For example, I'm working on the sixth issue of Handheld PC Magazine and created a desktop folder named "HPC6." Windows CE automatically creates the folder and places an icon for the folder on the desktop. Whenever you create a document, save it to this folder. Whenever you need to access a document associated with the project, double tap on the folder's icon and then double tap on the desired document to open it.

Save online graphics in Pocket Internet Explorer

One of the wonderful things about the Internet is the graphics you can find there. I was up on a Web site recently that displayed images from cameras positioned in different parts of Honolulu. I just selected the camera view I wanted and I could check out the city (http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/~csp/Trafficam/index.html; the screen refresh rate is pretty slow).

If you spot an image you like, you can capture it as a graphics file with most Web browsers. If you're browsing in Pocket Internet Explorer on your H/PC, hold down the ALT key and click on the desired image. A little box pops up, asking you if you want to save the image as a picture or as wallpaper. Select "Save Picture as..." and give the graphic image a name. Pocket Internet Explorer saves the file in the Windows CE bitmap format. You can copy it to your desktop and have Windows CE Services convert it to the standard bitmap format.

Viewing Help files on your H/PC

Many Windows CE programs from third-party developers include help files in HTML format. This is the standard format for documents written for the World Wide Web. These and other HTML-formatted documents can be displayed and read in Pocket Internet Explorer. Open the built-in Web browser and select File, Open. A dialog box is displayed asking you to enter the address the document you wish to read. Tap on the button labeled "Browse..." and find the HTML document. Double tap on the document and it will open in Pocket Internet Explorer.

You can display any HTML-formatted document using the built-in application that displays help screens. You access this application every time you look for help in an application. (You can also get help from the Start menu.) To use this application to display a specific HTML document, do the following:

1. Tap on Start and select Run from the menu.
2. Type in the path to the application, the application name (PGEHELP.EXE), and path and file name of the HTML document you wish to display. For example, if I wanted to display an HTML file named NEWS.HTM that was found in the "My Documents" folder, I would type the following: \Windows\peghelp.exe\MyDocuments\news.htm

Tap OK and the HTML document opens in the HELP application.

Windows CE Service Pack 1 different from Windows CE Services 2.1

Microsoft has recently announced the release of two upgrades: Windows CE Service Pack 1 and Windows CE Services 2.1. Windows CE Service Pack 1 upgrades the Windows CE 2.0 operating system found on Handheld PCs. Windows CE Services 2.1 upgrades the synchronization software you install on your desktop PC.

These upgrades come in the form of executable files that you run on your desktop PC. They are available through the H/PC manufacturers, not directly from Microsoft. However, information about where you can download these patches and upgrades is available on Microsoft's Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/hpc/support/patches.htm.

According to Microsoft, the following manufacturers offer download of the Windows CE Services 2.1 update: Hewlett-Packard, LG Electronics, NEC, Philips, and Sharp.

According to Microsoft, the following manufacturers offer a download of the Windows CE Service Pack 1: Casio, Hewlett-Packard, and Sharp.

A number of users have reported that even though different manufacturers are downloading the Service Pack, they are downloading the same program. That means that the Service Pack you download from Hewlett-Packard should work on any H/PC. The same is true for the Windows CE Services 2.1 update.

Note that most of the recently-released H/PCs and all of the Palm-size PCs come with these enhancements already incorporated. You won't have to upgrade them with these files.

Synchronizing with Windows 98

After upgrading to Windows 98 I found that I couldn't synchronize my H/PC with my desktop PC anymore. It turns out that Win98 revised the flow control on my COM2 port. Once I got this fixed, I connected just fine.

Here are the steps I followed:

1. From the Windows 98 Start menu I selected Settings, Control Panel, System, Device Manager, Ports, and COM2.
2. Once I got to the COM2 Properties screen, I selected the Port Settings tab and changed Flow Control to Xon/Xoff.
3. I backed up to the COM2 Properties screen and selected Device Manager, Modem, COM2 again.
4. From there I selected Connection and Advanced. I then checked the Use Flow Control checkbox and select Software (Xon/Xoff).

After this, I restarted my computer to reconfigure the port, and everything connected just fine.

Nigel Brown
76535.3120@compuserve.com