How to copy Palm Desktop data to a PC using Windows 8.1

[SandM]

If like me you still find the Palm Desktop data (address, calendar, memos, etc.) handy and use it long after throwing away the handset and "sync" ability, you may find this useful.  I bought a new PC using Windows 8.1 and had problems transferring data because of a wrinkle that I figured out, which didn't exist in Windows XP, Vista or 7 versions.  Here's a recap of one way to easily transfer data from those earlier versions if you have a USB flash drive (or Dropbox, Google Drive, whatever) handy :

1) Download Palm Desktop 6.2 or 6.2.2 to your new PC.  Then give a user name exactly as it exists in your old PC's database.  This name will be used by Desktop software to create a six letter folder name (an abbreviated version of your name) to hold data that Palm Desktop will look up.  Wait a few seconds for this to happen, then close the Desktop application on your new PC.

2) In your old PC from where you want to transfer data, look for the folder called "Palm OS Desktop" which should exist in "Documents" under "Users" folder and subfolders path like >your name subfolder>Documents in Windows 7 (may be Vista too) or may be under "Documents and Setting" folder in Windows XP. 

3) In this folder "Palm OS Desktop" look for that six letter subfolder of your name, and select that entire subfolder and choose "Copy" or Ctrl-C

4) Locate the same subfolder name in your new PC (which will have null data), delete it, and then "paste" the subfolder you "copied" into the same exact location.  If you've done it right, Viola!  Your new PC desktop should show all the transferred data once you again open the application.

Most of the same procedure works with Windows 8.1 (probably also Windows 😎 PCs.  What I found different was that the data subfolder created under "Palm OS Desktop} had 7 instead of 6 characters with a "0" (zero) added as the last character.  So when you finally copy and paste that subfolder into the new PC you have to rename it and add that "0" for the Palm Desktop to locate this data.

Hope this helps.

[DavidRosenberg]

I'm about to embark on this effort and a bit anxious as I'm not skilled at computers. I believe my folder on my old Windows XP computer is located C:\Program Files\palmOne\David

I noticed that in my Palm Desktop on my computer it says on top right User: David

So I assume that I have identified then the folder on the old PC that needs to be transferred over to the new windows 8.1 PC.

Any thoughts?

Thank you,

David

[DavidRosenberg]

Ok so I tried to install the Palm 6.2 on my windows 8.1 computer and I got an error message that said, "Setup was unable to access the Internet. Check your internet connection and verify that it is working properly. Would you like to try again ?"
So I disabled my anti-virus firewall etc and still got the same problem, so I continued on with the setup anyway.
Then I redid the Installer and elected repair and I don't know what it did but I didn't get the same error message. Not sure what's going on.

[DavidRosenberg]

Well as I feared it didn't work out. I copied all the files from my David folder on my old computer, made a new folder where the other Palm folders are located in my new computer,and copied the old files there, but nothing happened.  The palm desktop doesn't seem to know those files exists so my calendar and contacts dont have any information.

[SandM]

Hi David,

I think the problem is that the data folder you seek does not reside under "program files" in Windows XP.  Instead, if your old XP PC is called, say, "DavidR" and then you need to use a path something like C:/Documents and Settings/DavidR/My Documents/Palm OS Desktop/RosenbergD.  That data folder in my case was named by Palm OS software itself using the convention lastname followed by first initial.

If you manage to locate that folder, then in your new Windows 8.1 PC you should copy and paste this to replace the folder RosenbergD (or RosenbergD0 or if they truncate then may be RosenbD or RosenbD0) which you will find in your new PC in a path like C:/Users/DavidR/Documents/Palm OS Desktop/RosenbergD.  I'm presuming when you loaded Palm desktop in your new 8.1 PC you were prompted to enter a user name and you did so - like David Rosenberg.  That's how a folder by that name RosenbergD was created which has null data, and which you delete and replace with your RosenbergD folder from your XP machine.

Hope this works. 

[WyreNut · Accepted solution]

Data in XP resides in C:\Program Files\Palm (or PalmOne)\<your HotSync name truncated>\Backup.

HotSyncing to Win8 has been available for quite a while now!  See the post at the beginning of this section titled "64 bit Windows USB drivers for Palm Desktop" for instructions and driver downloads.

Palm Desktop 4.x and 6.2.2 use different database formats - 6.2.2 went to .mdb as an extension.

Best way to migrate data is to either perform a HotSync on the new machine, or use the Export/Import option built into Palm Desktop.  Export address and Datebook files, then copy those to the new machine.

Use the Import option to pull the data.

WyreNut

[DavidRosenberg]

Ultimately, yes this was the solution I was seeking thank you.

I still have to note the fact that in my old Windows XP computer the data folder does reside under program files in Windows XP. The path to the crucial data folder is C:\Program Files\palmone\David 

Contained in this file path to the folder is the crucial information I need such as the address book, located in a  subfolder for Address, which in turn has a file entitled address.dat which is 2.6 MB large.

On my new Windows 8.1 PC my new user name is also David.

So what I didn't realize but which you clarified for me was that there was a path under Users, that included the file David that is what the Palm Desktop uses for the information.

For me that path was like what you suggested, C:\Users\David\Documents\Palm OS Desktop\David

So by getting rid of the contents of that David file folder in the Windows 8.1 computer, and replacing it with the contents of the Program files David folder in the Windows XP computer I was able to gain all my address book and my calendar information.  Thank you.

So the old and new computer differed in that the only information I could find in my windows XP computer for Palm  was all in Program Files, versus the new Windows 8.1 which contains software files in the program files, but has the data that the software can read located in a Users pathway.

I have another question.  How come every time I open up the Palm Desktop I get a warning message:

"User Account Control

Do you want to allow the following program from an unknown publisher to make changes to this computer?

Publisher name: Palm.exe

Publisher: Unknown

File origin: Hard Drive in this computer

Program location: C:\Program Files(x86)\Palm.exe

How do I stop this from happening each time?

Also, it says Palm Desktop by ACCESS.  Who is ACCESS ?

Thanks again

David

[DavidRosenberg]

Ok this sounds like probably it would have been even simpler but I didn't realize this. Maybe this information is in the online user manual.

[WyreNut]

To turn off UAC, go to the Control Panel, then User Accounts.

Under the header, "Make changes to your user account", there is an entry titled "Change User Account Control Settings".

Pick it, and drag the slider all the way down to "Never Notify".

Access of Japan is the company Palm hired to write Palm Desktop 6.2.2.  

WyreNut

[DavidRosenberg]

Thanks again.