It may seem that I'm dreadfully behind on my spring cleaning, but that's not it. Let me explain...
As of late I had been receiving error messages on an all-to-regular basis, so I decided to follow the "spring cleaning your palm - why..." guidelines that I found on Palm Addicts literally years ago. I wish I would have kept the name of the person who put them on PA, so I could give credit and say thanks, but I lost their name.
Although this is not a "fun" project, I can definitely recommend the process, so I'm adding them here in case another Palm Addict needs to know...
"Spring Cleaning your Palm" Why...
- sometimes your Palm can start acting weirdly due to a software interaction.
- when you remove programs from your Palm, sometimes they leave bits and pieces behind
"Spring cleaning" takes time, but it leaves your Palm cleaner and functioning better.
Follow the steps below:
1. Back up your device -- move or rename this directory, (or when you HotSync all your data will be restored automatically) -- found in {path}/Palm/{username}/Backup
2. Hard reset your Palm --- hold down the power button, and while holding it down, press the reset button. A screen should appear asking you "Erase all data? Yes -- "up" scroll button. No -- any other key." Press "Up" to commit the hard reset -- go through the normal Palm setup
3. Go into your renamed backup directory and start re-installing your apps and data by dragging the files to the Palm Quick Install Tool. Don't drag them all across at once: the whole purpose of this exercise is to weed out apps and data you don't use any more. Don't copy over files you don't immediately recognize -- once you've re-installed in the next step, if you need them you'll find out.
4. Once you have the apps you need in the Palm Install Folder -- HotSync. When you hit HotSync, it will detect that your Palm has been hard reset and will ask you to identify the account that belongs to the Palm. Choose your user name from the list that appears and hit "OK".
The apps and data you selected should be restored, minus the cruft you left behind. Try out various apps to make sure everything still works -- if something complains about missing files, check the archive directory (your old backup directory) for them.
NOTES:
1. After the HotSync, your Backup directory was automatically recreated and populated with the new contents of your Palm.
2. This procedure can be very handy for troubleshooting problem apps. In this case, reduce the number of applications you install at a time, testing as you go.
3. Yes, it takes a long time, but it can mean the difference between frustration and a stable, reliable device.
