Palm Desktop 4.2 on Windows 10 32-bit

[diamante]

This isn't a question, just information for any die-hard Palm users who might be interested.

Because I have some old software that I want to continue using, I installed the 32-bit version of Windows 10 on my HP Pavilion g6-1d21dx.

I used to sync my Palm Centro on a 32-bit Vista machine running Palm Desktop 6.2. Since some handy features (like birthday reminders in the calendar) disappeared in that version, after setting up 32-bit Windows 10 I decided to try using Palm Desktop 4.2, the version that came with my Centro. I'm happy to report that I installed the software, did a HotSync and everything went just fine [WELL, I THOUGHT IT DID--SEE BELOW]. I now have all of my stuff both on the phone and on the Windows 10 machine, complete with birthday reminders in the calendar.

The only trouble I had was settting up the HotSync conduits for some Palm OS apps with desktop counterparts, but in every case I was able to get the conduit installed by temporarily running the counterpart application in Windows XP compatibility mode. Once the conduits are set up, there doesn't seem to be any need to run anything in compatibility mode or as an administrator [WRONG--SEE BELOW].

I haven't heard much talk about the 32-bit version of Windows 10, but I love it. I've found it to be very fast, and I have yet to find an old Windows application that it won't run.

[WyreNut]

Thanks for the info!

Palm Desktop 4.2 will work with Win 10 64bit too, as long as the Aceeca drivers are installed also.

WyreNut

[diamante]

I did run into one glitch. After a day or two I noticed that the HotSync Manager wasn't starting automatically even though it was apparently configured to do so in Startup settings. In an effort to fix this, I selected "Troubleshoot compatibility" for the HotSync Manager executable. Then I opted to test the program using recommended settings (Windows XP Service Pack 3). When HotSync Manager started, I went into setup and selected "Available only when the Palm OS Desktop is running" and then immediately re-selected "Always available (put in Startup folder)." As I did this I had Task Manager's Startup tab open and I could see that an additional HotSync Manager entry was created.

This did achieve the desired result of having HotSync Manager start automatically at startup, but when I tried to look at the HotSync log, I got a file-not-found error in my browser. The file not found was

C:/Program%20Files/Palm/username/HotSyncLog.htm

I manually located the log file here:

C:/Users/username/AppData/Local/VirtualStore/Program%20Files/Palm/username/HotSyncLog.htm

I guess this isn't a surprising result of having run the HotSync Manager in XP compatibility mode. What I don't quite understand is why my original HotSync log was deleted. The new log only contains entries created since I ran HotSync Manager in XP compatibility mode. I tried changing the HotSync Manager settings again without using XP compatibility mode, but the Startup entry affected is the one I created using compatibility mode, not the original entry.

In any case, things seem to be working fine otherwise [WRONG--SEE BELOW]. Does anyone know how to give HotSync Manager back the ability to display the correct log file? It is creating a log, but when I try to view it it is looking in the wrong place. I've looked at all of the .ini files I can find, but I don't see an entry for the location of the log file. I guess that could mean that the information is in the Windows registry . . .?

[diamante]

UPDATE
I eventually noticed that in addition to the log file issue, the databases on my Centro weren't being backed up even though the log file said they were. I closed HotSync Manager, reopened it as an administrator and then did a HotSync. This time, the databases on the Centro were backed up on the PC and HotSync Manager successfully displayed the log file, but with errors. The error messages said that Memos and Contacts had been unable to copy records from the handheld, with record counts indicating that three memos and one contact were missing from the desktop. The desktop record counts were wrong, though--the PIM applications had been syncing properly before and did match. I created a new memo on each side, did another HotSync and found that the new memos were not synchronized even though the HotSync log reported no errors, only successful synchronizations.

I may reinstall the Palm Desktop software, and maybe run everything as an administrator either all the time or never--but I seem to recall that completely removing Palm Desktop can be a challenge. Also, I can't be sure either method will result in perfect HotSyncs after the initial one--and how could one start Palm Desktop in administrator mode the first time it's run, when it starts up automatically after installation? I doubt that running the installer with administrator rights would achieve that. As things stand, when I run HotSync Manager in administrator mode the Centro databases get backed up, but the PIM applications don't sync. When I run HotSync Manager without admin rights, the databases don't get backed up, but the PIM applications sync. Applications with their own desktop versions and conduits seem to work fine either way. There is only one Backup folder (Program Files\Palm\User\Backup), but there are two folders for each PIM application (one under Program Files\Palm\User and another under Users\User\AppData\Local\Virtual Store\Program Files\Palm\User). HotSync Manager goes back and forth between the two folders for each PIM app depending on administrator rights status, without making sure to use the newest data. I have a feeling that there may be a workaround with some combination of administrator rights and compatibility mode, but it may take a while to find a solution. For now I guess I have to sync both with and without admin rights...

[diamante · Accepted solution]

I found a solution that has worked for me. I realized that something about my Palm setup was causing my Palm user directory to switch between C:\Program Files\Palm\Username and C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Palm\Username, which led to duplicate records, missing records, and general HotSync problems. I'm not sure what exactly triggered the switch each time (I don't think it was just the admin rights issue as I at first suspected), but I think it had to do with some of my Palm applications being older than others. In other words, some were apparently designed or updated with newer versions of Windows in mind, while others were not, and HotSync Manager couldn't cope with this as I had installed everything.

In any case, everything started working correctly after I installed Palm Desktop 4.2 directly into the folder C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Palm\

(Of course, in all of the above examples, substitute your own user name for "Username".)

My thinking was to avoid the switching between the traditional Palm directory location and the Vista-style user directory location by installing the Palm software directory into the Vista-style directory. I haven't experienced any significant issues. The one minor issue I have is that HotSync Manager doesn't start automatically despite being listed in the startup tab in Task Manager. I'm not going to fiddle around with compatibility modes and admin rights trying to get HotSync Manager to start when the computer boots. It's easy enough to just run it whenever I need to sync.

You may also have to consider the order in which you install your desktop-side apps. For example, I found that one of my apps needed to be run just once with admin rights so that it could set up its conduit. That seemed to trigger a change in the location of the user directory for another app that I use--one that doesn't allow the user to specify an installation directory. I got around this by setting up these apps in the order that I have mentioned them, so that the second one's user directory wouldn't be changed after setting up the first one's conduit.

Obviously, my solution has its limitations, but it works for my single-user setup.

[johncherrywood]

fascinating reading your post diamante. I have a palm tx connected permanently to my siemens fujitsu, intel(r) core(tm) 2 duo cpu e4600 @ 2.4 ghz 2gb ram 32-bit o/s, x64 processor, (bought in 2004) windows 10 pro(upgraded from vista, then windows 7, then to windows 10). I synced it half an hour ago and then looked for the hotsync log which like you isn't there, it is of course on the palm tx, but it would be ice to have it available from palm desktop. Incidentally when I sync it doesn't sync with my google calendar which I have synced on my galaxy s5 and galaxy tab A. looks like the weather here in beoley is brightening up. john watson