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Hi
I have a complex situation, that probably has a very simple answer. I am probably being paranoid, but hopefully someone knowledgeable about ActiveSync will be able to quickly sort me out.
My laptop was recently repaired, (with a replacement motherboard fitted). When I got it back, Windows XP & Office XP of course both asked to be re-activated.
Windows succeeded, however Office asks me to insert the Office CD to be able to activate. When I do this the activation notification disappears, but Office is left in Reduced Functionality mode (eg I never get to the phone Microsoft to activate bit!)
Unfortunately, my phone is now 6 weeks out of date with Syncing (also due to the laptop being in repair!). I haven't run an ActiveSync since I got the laptop back as I have been worried about running an ActiveSync whilst Outlook is in reduced functionality mode. I was concerned it might lose data (as most Outlook features become read only!), so I have kept them out of sync (and getting more so daily) until I know the best way to proceed.
So, I need to either fix Office re-activating, (which doesn't seem possible) OR to find out how to get ActiveSync to work, with an Office re-install from scratch, without losing or duplicating any of my data. I just don't know enough about ActiveSync to know if it will just work without a problem, or if I need to do things in a certain order.
The current thinking is that I will have to manually remove Office XP (as the uninstall process also doesn't work!), before reinstalling it again, and re-activating the new copy.
So lots of possible paths to the solution, but I'm not sure which order to proceed in.
I ultimately want Office re-activated and fully working again and want the phone fully synced and no lost or duplicate data in either the phone or Outlook.
So some direct questions:
Can the phone Sync with Outlook in Reduced Functionality mode? (or might I lose data?). It seems that if they are synced before I uninstall Outlook, then everything becomes a lot simpler.
Failing that....
What will happen if I forceably remove Office by a manual uninstall. When I re-install Office and put in the my PST files, will ActiveSync cope OK, just pick up where it left off, and happily cope with the data currently being out of Sync? (might I get missing or duplicate data?)
What would be the suggested method to achieve my end result with minimum grief and hassle? And which order should I take these steps?
Thanks for reading this far.
Details:
Windows XP; Office XP Pro (the Product key is valid, I just can't get the software to get far enough to the actual activation screen);
Activesync 4.1; XDA Mini-S;
Mike
If you have a backup program for your phone just make a backup to your memory card. You will now always have a copy of where you are today. Set your active sync in your phone (activesync, menu, options, select your computer, settings) to 'keep the item on your device' and sync away. The worst that could happen is you may have to restore your phone to where it was today when you made the backup. Most likely all will go well and you'll sync up normally. My outlook information on my computer was accidentally erased and fully restored this way. Made my day!
I've always treated active-sync as my backup of the phone, and I am quickly realising why this a foolish approach to have taken!
Your advice seems to be spot on and is what I will do. However, as I don't currently have a backup program for my phone, which would you recommend? I guess it needs to be something that I can install without Active-Sync?
I suspect that a backup to the memory card is a better plan than running an activesync with a new computer (temporarily) as a means of backup - is that right?
Thanks for your help.
Mike
Try putting the office cd in while the PC is booting, so that when it asks, it's already there, which it may or may not detect?
Also, you could do set-up an account on http://live.mail2web.com to sync your contacts, calendar etc too, but you will lose any mail on there. Hopefully this isn't something you are desperate to keep though?
When I to do a "detect & repair" of Office, it actually says "source not available", but it doesn't give that info when I try to re-activate with the CD. However it doesn't give me an option to find the source. I've tried leaving the CD in when booting up, but sadly it made no difference. Certainly if I can just get Office to re-activate without any un-installing then there are no other problems, however that is looking increasingly unlikely. I do have one suggestion to follow there, which is to remove various registry entries before doing another "detect & repair", which might sort itself out.
Failing that I am on a backup PDA, then mannual removal route.
I will look into http://live.mail2web.com and see what it can offer me by way of a backup.
Thanks for your help.
Mike
Final update.
Thanks everyone for your help. I have finally got it all sorted. It turns
out I probably WAS being overly paranoid (but better that, than losing all my
data because I didn't think first!).
What I did:
1) I got a trial copy of SPB Backup for my Phone. (you get 5 runs of the
program before you have to buy - but I will be buying it anyway as I am very
impressed with it). The big advantage of this program is that it can be
installed directly on the storage card which some others can't. It could even
be downloaded as a CAB file (directly in Pocket Internet Explorer) and
executed on the device directly without needing an ActiveSync install. This
was the clincher for me, as I needed to take a backup before running
ActiveSync.
2) Took backups of the phone with SPB and of the PST files from Outlook.
3) Tried an ActiveSync with Outlook in reduced functionality mode. It worked
mostly fine. Came up with some "support code 1" errors for a handful of
contacts, but nothing major. So it appears that ActiveSync mostly works fine
with reduced functionality mode (hence I was probably being paranoid for not
trying this sooner!).
4) With the phone & Outlook now back up to date, there was less of an issue
as to what happened next. However I decided to see which bit of the various
instructions solved my problem. I did this by trying them bit by bit, and
testing with re-activation, re-install, detect & repair etc at every stage.
By process of elimination, I found out that removing the program files folder
made no difference, as did deleting the two Office reg key branches. The
crucial part was the Windows Installer Cleanup. So I restored all the reg and
program files back as they were before the tests, and ONLY ran the Windows
Installer Cleanup program.
5) I was then able to re-install Office over the top of itself, and I was
pleased to note that by keeping the files and reg keys all my settings were
retained.
6) Office happily Activated by the Internet. Hurray!
7) Connected to "Microsoft Update" to get SP3 and all subsequent updates &
patches for Office (re-installing over itself loses all the updates
previously installed)
8) Checked my email accounts, rules, etc and ActiveSync are still working
correctly. Which they are!
So, it seems that if I'd had the guts to go for it, I could have JUST done
the Windows Installer Cleanup trick keeping everything else intact ready to
sync. OR equally I could have just run ActiveSync to get the up to date and
them blown Office all away for a complete re-install. As it happens I am VERY
pleased with the route I took and the end outcome. It is far better than my
expectations of the hassles I would face. The hardest part was gathering all
the information to make me happy enough to proceed... oh and finding the
guts! The actual re-install was totally painless.
Anyway, I hope my findings of using JUST Windows Installer Cleanup, help
someone else who wants to try keeping their settings in the future.
I also hope my findings that ActiveSync mostly works in reduced
functionality mode, also helps others.
Anyway, so thank you to everyone who patiently shared their knowledge with
me. Without you all I would have gone into a flat-spin and struggled to get
my head round it all.
Thanks again
Circumvent Device Lock in Blackberry Connect for Windows Mobile
---------------------------------------------------------------
Description:
------------
BBC features a security module that, if configured and activated, locks the device after a specific amount of time.
In a corporate environment this is usually set up by a security policy which is pushed to the device via Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES).
If the device is locked the user has to enter a password to unlock the device again.
There are two ways a user can compromise the security implied with the BBC security service.
1) Using a task manager a user can deactivate the BB security service (bbsecurity.dll) which is responsible for enforcing the security policy. The BB service itself is not affected by stopping the security service as long as the device is not rebooted. Thus the security policy is no longer enforced but the user is still able to use all other BB features.
2) The BB security service does not block all user actions during device lock. Only the screen overlay is enforced but applications might still be started using hardware keys. There are several ways to misuse this flaw. One for example is if a voice command software is installed, the user can still send voice commands to the device. If Microsoft Voice Vommand is installed and bound to a hardware key and the device gets lost or stolen a malicious person can press the voice command hardware key and ask for upcoming appointments, dial numbers etc. which leads to information leakage.
Affected:
---------
Blackberry Connect (BBC) for Windows Mobile PocketPC 4.0.0.97 (only version tested, but suspectable all currently available 4.x versions)
Not Affected:
-------------
Blackberry Connect (BBC) for Windows Mobile PocketPC 2.x
Workaround / Fixes:
-------------------
None
Vendor Contacted:
-----------------
14.05.2008
Vendor Response:
----------------
None
How to deactivate it?
Hi,
I am looking for long time how to deactivate this security feature and would be interrested how to schedule with a task scheduler the dll??
Could you please advise how to do this?
Thanks
jsimpson said:
Hi,
I am looking for long time how to deactivate this security feature and would be interrested how to schedule with a task scheduler the dll??
Could you please advise how to do this?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cannot deactivate it completely since the policy is enforced after each softreset. As I wrote you can use a task manager to stop the service, but you should under no circumstances stop it permanently because your device will not come up anymore if the service is completely disabled.
So to get back to your question; No, I cannot tell you how to do it with a task scheduler as the only way I know is using a task manager.
One can write a small utility to stop the service and after a softreset one can run this program to avoid using a task manager for that, but AFAIK there is no such program.
mmm After being happy when I put the WWE HTC rom on my TMO Vario IV and after managed to install and initialize Blackberry Connect .103 I got disappointed when the BB security lock came in the first time.
I cannot set the lock-timer higher than 15 min.
Its extremely nasty when I am driving using Tom Tom navigator.....have to type the password every now and then (I have the feeling not exact 15min's!).
I tried the stop-service trick, but that one appears non working with (at least) BBC version .103 and .104 on my device.... Without running BB security service the device wont wake up or soft-reset itself.
Has anyone encountered these new issues with BBC 4 security lock and has anyone found a solution yet???
Was thinking to let the security lock active (preventing my device from locking up or soft-resetting spontaneously) and to build a script that runs in the background checking whether or not the security lock screen is present. And once it is...pastes the security code in the box and pushes OK.
Does this sound do-abe?
edsub said:
Was thinking to let the security lock active (preventing my device from locking up or soft-resetting spontaneously) and to build a script that runs in the background checking whether or not the security lock screen is present. And once it is...pastes the security code in the box and pushes OK.
Does this sound do-abe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do the same for GOODLINK and you got a deal!
Well I managed to fix this like I mentioned.
Attached are 2 Mortscripts that to run in background from \Program Files\Mortscript
(I have a shortcut in \Windows\StartUp to make sure it is run when my devices is reset, so i do not have to start it myself after every reset, but thats optional)
The 1st script is for general purpose: It just makes sure you will not be bothered again by the BBC security screen
The 2nd script only works when TomTom navigator is active.
You simply choose which script suits your needs best. Both can be run at he same time also I suppose.
The 1st script, BBCUnlock.mscr, simply waits for the security screen, sends the appropriate keystrokes (leftsoftkey, password, leftsoftkey) and restarts itself (to wait for the next security screen popup).
Beware:
1. Enter your own password in the right placxe in the script before using it.
2. Comment-out the last line until you are absolutely sure the script works (remember: 10 wrong passwords deletes all BBC data on your device!!)
It runs in a couple of seconds (which you see happening)
The 2nd script, NoLockTTNVGA.mscr, only works when TomTom Navigator is running: Every 10 minutes it taps the zoom-in and zoom-out hot-spots in TomTom's 3D view (based on VGA resolution!!), before re-launching itself again. This makes the security time-out will never happen as long as TomTom is running.
Update:
The NoLockTTNVGA script works flawlessly, but only fixes the issue when TTN is active
The BBCUnLock script has some glitches. Apparently it locks up my device when
- a reminder 'stays active' for some reason.
- TomTom Navigator is active (but that can be fixed whith the other script!)
The script can be run simultaneously. And when you have TTN: for now they must!
Not sure how to make the BBCUnLock script more stable, any help appreciated.
Hi edsub,
Thanks for your efforts so far. Up to now I have used MemMaid in my startup files so that after a soft reset, I have to firstly unlock the Blackberry and secondly the MemMaid then kicks in and I disable Blackberry Security in Startup Services. This means the security is overridden until my next soft reset as you already know. Therefore, I don't need to install the mortscript for TomTom.
However, I am particularly interested in the other mortscript you have given. I want to be able to simply soft reset my Diamond and then just leave it, without having to (1) input my password and then (2) disable the Blackberry Security in MemMaid.
I think your mortscript is possibly the answer to my prayers.
However, I have installed it to my device and also installed MortScript v4.3.0.2 Beta. I am concerned that (1) I am a beginner & this is too advanced for me and (2) running mortscript will eat up my battery.
I have renamed the extention on your file with .doc and input my password overwriting the appropriate parts) on my desktop and then renamed the extention back to .mscr and then installed in the MortScript folder back on my Diamond.
In MemMaid, I have put the Mortscript and Autorun .exe's into the Startup Items section, so this should run after a soft reset.
However, my Diamond does not unlock itself. What am I doing wrong?
I really appreciate any help you can give me. I am very much a newbie with this program!
I am persevering with this, but cannot get it working. I have put a shortcut for Mortscript.exe and the BBCUnlock.mscr into my Windows Startup folder using MemMaid. I have also tried to change the order of the programs starting on MemMaid, but this does not seem to have any effect on inputting the password. I have obviously changed the word "secret" to "mypassword" in the BBCUnlock.mscr file. I have also tried just putting the BBCUnlock.mscr (without the Mortscript.exe) in the Startup folder.....
I would appreciate your help edsub...
Update:
I have managed to get the BBCUnlock.mscr work during normal operation, but it does not work for the password immediately following a soft reset (it does work thereafter).
This is already a huge improvement as I don't need to then disable the Blackberry Security from MemMaid following a soft reset. However, how can I get it to work for the password immediately following a soft reset?
Please help edsub!!! This is the final ingredient to my perfert Diamond!!!
I think the Mortscript does not run until AFTER the Blackberry Security has been unlocked for the first time following a soft reset. I have tried to change the order of the shortcuts on MemMaid, but haven't managed to succeed. Can anyone offer any help PLEASE???
I have tried some more things too:
Added in a sleep timer of 5 seconds from sensing the "owner information" to pressing the left soft key and also increased the time from pressing the left soft key to inputting the password. It works great in normal mode, but still doesn't work for the single password required immediately following a soft reset.
Also I have tried to put not just a shortcut into the startup folder, but the actual mortscript itself. Plus the shortcut!
I can't believe there aren't more people with this problem. Edsub has certainly created a wonderful mortscript here. It is nearly perfect and I'm sure others would want it if it worked for ALL password inputs required.
Can anyone please help????
I guess Mortscript is not running before the password is given for the first time. I have this behaviour too. So i have to give the password myself right after reset. After that the Mortscript takes good care of it.
edsub said:
I guess Mortscript is not running before the password is given for the first time. I have this behaviour too. So i have to give the password myself right after reset. After that the Mortscript takes good care of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Edsub, nice to see you back! Thanks for the reply & PM. Your Mortscript programme is still the most important programme on my device! I did try to re-order the start up processes on SK Tools so that the mortscript would start before the Blackberry security, but I couldn't get it to be more important in this way!! Now I have a Diamond 2 and am hoping not to have to soft reset at all. I have another problem now - I can't seem to get BBC working at all on this phone, but that's another story.....
EdSub, as you are my hero for getting the Blackberry security to sort itself out via your Mortscript programme, I wonder if you can write another Mortscript programme for this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4381321&postcount=89?
I would be very grateful!! I think other Blackberry users would be too.
Hi,
Maybe the question is idiot, but reading the first post, I was wondering why not create a small script which would simply deactivate bbsecurity.dll on startup... If I read it well, doing this once would be enough, and have no impact on the BB service itself...
Using a small sleep, it would be easy to put this script directly in the windows startup folder so that the sleep leaves enough time for the dll to start, and then deactivate it...
Isn't this possible?
Thanks
bbdoc said:
Hi,
Maybe the question is idiot, but reading the first post, I was wondering why not create a small script which would simply deactivate bbsecurity.dll on startup... If I read it well, doing this once would be enough, and have no impact on the BB service itself...
Using a small sleep, it would be easy to put this script directly in the windows startup folder so that the sleep leaves enough time for the dll to start, and then deactivate it...
Isn't this possible?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edsub already did this with Mortscript. It doesn't de-activate it completely, just senses when the code is required and then enters the code. I would like a script which does what you are suggesting.
mitsi said:
Edsub already did this with Mortscript. It doesn't de-activate it completely, just senses when the code is required and then enters the code. I would like a script which does what you are suggesting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know this script, and I'm using it... It's working quite good, even if it sometimes misses the code, don't know why... but I'm a bit worried about battery consumption linked to the fact a script is constantly running only for typing this password every 20 minutes... Deactivating the dll would probably be a more efficient solution, but maybe this is not possible using mortscript...
bbdoc said:
Deactivating the dll would probably be a more efficient solution, but maybe this is not possible using mortscript...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use the attached program to stop the service. Just execute it and the service will be stopped. However, you have to do this after each softreset. I recommend to wait until the connection is established to the RIM network and then use BBStopSec.exe
Hope this is what you were looking for.
That's indeed what I was looking for... I'm just surprised it's an .exe and not .mscr...
Is it something you compiled yourself? The idea I had with the mortscript was to add a sleep before stopping the service, because this way, I can simply put it in my startup folder and it will launch automatically after a soft reset... As far as the first lock screen will only come after 20 minutes, I could even put a sleep of 10 or 15 minutes before stopping the service and I would never get my screen locked...
I had no luck finding a software that will automatically syncronize my laptop with the device using activesync when the devices are in BT proximity - if someone knows of such a software please let me know.
well the concept i am trying to achieve is a script that will have a running time interval and will :
1) verify that the device is in standby
2) wake up the device
3) connect via BT and sync
4) go to standby again (syncing in the background)
this way the whole calendar and files syncing is user transparent (like in Nokia s60 devices)
I tried using the new BlueStarter freeware to launch a script but it's too laggy and won't work when the device is in standby.
the help i'm after is this :
1. if someone has any knowledge of the activesync (repllog.exe) command line syntax, i couldn't find it anywhere. if there's a way to have it connect and sync through BT it would spare me the need to go through the menus with emulated key presses (which can be a bit buggy as i noticed)
2. a way to wake up the device from standby using a mortscript command. or running a file. probably also a way to bypass any screen locking SW will be needed but let's cross that bridge when we'll get there.
3. more important is a way to indicate that the device is in standby prior to waking it. (i don't want this script to launch during calls, videos etc...)
so that's it for now, if someone knows of something that might be helpful please repond as this lack of automatic BT sync drives me crazy (i am a former nokia user).
1. this thread will be moved to the Q&A section.
2. this is a guide i wrote on how to do that.. including a mortscript and the use of bluestarter...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=466909&highlight=guides
Does the HTC Raphael have any kind of Safe Mode that you can boot into which would disable any auto-run programs and allow you to use the device in a "plain vanilla" mode?
My specific problem is that I've managed to install a program which apparently sets itself up to auto-run at startup, and which has effectively bricked my phone. The device isn't completely unresponsive. Using keyboard shortcuts I can run certain programs such as Opera or the mail client. Unfortunately, I can't get into the Remove Programs settings applet.
I also can't get it to sync with my PC, which would be another way to remove a program. When I plug the USB cable in, I get the "Choose a connection type" dialog, but the PC doesn't recognize that the device is plugged in. So that's a dead end.
I've done multiple soft resets, to no good effect. The phone hangs at the same place each time, which is before the Today screen appears BTW. I'm viewing a hard reset as a last resort, since I really don't want to spend the rest of the day reinstalling and reconfiguring applications and system settings.
Any ideas would be appreciated. I've been searching the forums and wiki for about an hour, but haven't found anything relevant except for something for a different HTC device. I've spent several hours trying different things that I've thought of with varying results, but the basic problem remains. And finally, while I'm new to this forum, I'm definitely not a noob. I've been a serious PocketPC user back to the days of the Casio E-100, and a mobile device user starting with the original Newton.
Thanks in advance.
Scott Trotter
i know the older versions of spb mobile shell had a safe mode, i havent use spb since my nike tho so i dont know if its still included
obviously as you cant install programs in your current state i suggest u try a hard reset
it was wkTask or ILauncher that had it. Check it out
What did you install? And how does it run at startup? Is it just a link in the windows/startup folder, or a reg entry? If you can launch a file explorer, reg editor, or sk tools, you should be able to disable it.
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that the culprit is SPB Wireless Monitor. I had a discount coupon for SPB software that expired last night at midnight, so I installed a couple of trial version programs to check them out. Everything worked fine until I tried Wireless Monitor, which apparently bricked the phone. I say "apparently" because its possible that the problem is caused by some type of interaction between Wireless Monitor and something else. In any event, I'm not able to run anything on the phone that will help me diagnose or fix the problem...whatever it is.
I'll probably wait until tomorrow to see if anyone comes up with a reset-saving solution, then throw in the towel and do a hard reset. Probably take the opportunity to try a different ROM while I'm at it.
SPB Pocket plus brings a safe mode to every windows mobile device; it deactivates all autostart proggies & has helped me a lot of times. i have one more cab to install safe mode, but i dont know where its from, and i remember that it does not work so good as SPB Pocket plus does ...
hope it helps
Boris
In my own situation, I ended up having to hard reset and start from scratch. Oh well, such is life.
To wrap up, based on the responses above or the lack thereof, it appears that the following is true:
1) There is no "safe mode" capability in the Raphael, neither as a hardware feature, nor as an operating system feature.
2) There are some third-party software alternatives which offer this capability, but you need to have the foresight to have them installed so that they are available in an emergency situation.
Thanks for everyone's help.
Very much bolting the stable door etc etc but
Get a decent backup client and schedule it to backup every day (week, hour, month - depending on how often you change the data on the phone).
If you envisage more than a few hard reboots in a year (changing / testing roms, trying software you might decide you hate, or just a geek etc etc) spend a little time creating a UC setup (there are a few different versions / ways now so i wont prejudice by linking to any one).
I know its not a fix, and requires a little preperation, but for a few $$ and a handful of hours, its can save a whole load of grief later on.
borisku said:
SPB Pocket plus brings a safe mode to every windows mobile device; it deactivates all autostart proggies & has helped me a lot of times. i have one more cab to install safe mode, but i dont know where its from, and i remember that it does not work so good as SPB Pocket plus does ...
hope it helps
Boris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeeah spb pocket plus not mobile shell thats what i ment lol
Beeble said:
Very much bolting the stable door etc etc but
Get a decent backup client and schedule it to backup every day (week, hour, month - depending on how often you change the data on the phone).
If you envisage more than a few hard reboots in a year (changing / testing roms, trying software you might decide you hate, or just a geek etc etc) spend a little time creating a UC setup (there are a few different versions / ways now so i wont prejudice by linking to any one).
I know its not a fix, and requires a little preperation, but for a few $$ and a handful of hours, its can save a whole load of grief later on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've given that lecture many, many times myself. Its embarrassing to be on the receiving end.
I'm surprised that the Safe Mode feature isn't in SPB Mobile Shell. After having it in Pocket Plus, and it being so useful, why take it out?
So since we can do bump charges by simply restarting the phone and not having to do the whole unplug turn off, replug, etc..., i was wondering if there is an app that i can have automatically restart my phone once at 5:30am and then again at 6:45am. That way it would have effectively bump charged twice before i leave to school for the day... any ideas?
Never heard of such a thing?
if you use titanium backup you could set up two jobs to back nothing, essentially, up and then reboot the phone.
this is not a signature I type it in every time maybe sent from my phone or my computer
That or am init.d script should be able to do it.
-sent via 1.21 giggawatts of android.
Maybe Tasker can do it.
Tasker/locale + locale execute plugin should do the trick. Use the plugin to execute "!/system/bin/reboot".
Note that it will prompt for root the first time through.
Tasker would be the solution.
Just curious, why do you want to schedule a reboot on a specific schedule? These are not BlackBerries. LOL.
See this Wiki Page for Tasker: Android Device Reboot (root required)
I have Rom Manager set up to do an automatic nandroid backup at 4:00 every morning.
This could work for you and provide an extra benefit.