I’ve dedicated several articles (for example, THIS) to tracking Registry changes. In addition to the WinDiff-based method I’ve explained, there are also other solutions doing the same; most importantly, SKTracker and the pretty new, free, highly recommended CeRegEditor (see the Registry Editor Bible for more info on the latter).
Now, however, an, in some cases, MUCH better, dynamic tool, RegLogger has been released for both current Windows Mobile platforms: Pocket PC (Windows Mobile Classic / Pro) and Smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard – man, I DO hate these name changes and the subsequent need for ever entering both names...).
It allows for dynamically tracking what changes there have been in the Registry dynamically (in runtime). Just an example of creating a subkey called “menneisyys da king” (see the, in the first screenshot, highlighted “Create” action) and, later, setting a String value “yeah” (see ID 144 in the same screenshot):
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(WM6 VGA Pocket PC screenshot. Note that the value I’ve given to the new string can’t be seen; neither can be seen the full registry tree I’ve attached the new subkey to. These problems might be fixed in the subsequent versions.)
(WM6 QVGA Smartphone screenshot)
(WM2003 PPC screenshot)
(WM5 VGA PPC screenshot showing Resco Registry Editor’s reading out all the Registry values)
Availability, compatibility
Get the PPC / SP version HERE. It’s compatible with all PPC and Smartphone platforms starting with WM2003. Just unZIP the file, transfer its contents to your handheld and run REGLOGGER.exe. To start logging, enable Log / Capture. Note that, on some Smartphones (NOT on my CID / app unlocked WM6 HTC Vox / s710!) you might also need to import TestCert_Privileged.cer, should you encounter authentication problems.
Tips
Because of the HUGE amount of Registry access going on all the time, there are two text input fields and some checkboxes in Log / Settings you will need to make extensive use of.
First, if you’re absolutely sure the app you’re running and would like to track its Registry changes doesn’t have any active code in \Windows, which would result in the Registry change you’d like to find out, you can just enter \Windows (feel free to just leave out the leading backslash) to filter out most of the, in this case, unnecessary traffic in the “Exclude processes with this sub-str” as can be seen in the following:
Note that several programs put an executable file under \Windows; for example, Pocket Controller 6’s (the best Windows Mobile device controller app with a brand new remote Registry editor) PCCommLoader.exe under \Windows\StartUp. In these cases, you won’t want to filter out \Windows but, instead, enter PCCommLoader (or a substring of it) to the other text input field, “Include only from processes with sub-str”, as can be seen in the following screenshot:
You can also set which operation you’d like to track; by default, everything is logged, even reading (querying). You’ll most probably want to limit the number of the enabled checkboxes at the bottom.
Finally, you may also save the tracking results to a file using File / Save As. Note that, currently (as of version 1.0), it doesn’t contain the missing for example full Registry tree information either.
It runs fine on HTC Kaiser (WinMo 6 Pro), but then my device hung when I run PIE with capture on.
*end report*
Related
Ever wanted to know how the names of the built-in applications / settings applets have changed during the evaluation of the Pocket PC / Windows Mobile operating system?
Microsoft, during the Pocket PC / Windows Mobile maturation / evolution, has changed some of the names of the built-in applications and settings applets (in addition to, naturally, changing their contents and capabilities).
In my articles, I tend to list sometimes two names for a given application so that readers that (possibly) only know their own version of the operating system are not forced to try to guess what I’m talking about.
For example, when I speak of the built-in Web browser in Windows Mobile, I refer to it as both Pocket Internet Explorer and Internet Explorer Mobile. Similarly, when referring to the built-in mailer client, I refer to this as both Inbox and Messaging. Finally, when I refer to the built-in Office applications, I use both “Pocket Word / Excel” and “Word / Excel / Powerpoint Mobile”.
Of course, this tends to clutter up my articles a bit (I have to repeat in all my articles related to, say, Messaging that it was called “Inbox” before the WM2003SE operating system and so on); therefore, I found it necessary to elaborate on this question a bit so that, later on, I can just refer to this article instead of cluttering up my articles with all the possible name versions of each standard Pocket PC application I refer to.
To find out how these names have changed, I, first, recommend Chris De Herrera’s excellent article “Windows Mobile Application Name”, which lists the name changes of the major built-in applications. (Please note that, of the chart, I’ll elaborate on “Internet Explorer” a bit later!)
Second, I also supply an additional chart showing
some other apps missing from the original chart
the changes introduced in the new WM5 AKU’s released after Chris’ publishing the article (more than a year ago) (Not sure what AKU's mean? Read this!)
the Settings applet name changes.
My additional chart is as follows:
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(note that if you have rendering problems, it’s also available here.)
Italic shows the first introduction (when it wasn’t right in PPC 2000) and bold shows the name changes.
What about Internet Explorer?
While the program icon is named Internet Explorer, internally, and as can be seen on their default homepage too, it is called Pocket Internet Explorer (see the screenshot showing this here) under pre-WM5 operating systems and Internet Explorer Mobile under WM5 (screenshot here).
Updated to include WM6 (Crossbow)-related information. (Also see the new, WM6 / Crossbow-related, forthcoming updates to my other articles!)
Some of you may have already played BS Hacker Replay Unlimited, a Cyberpunk / “hacker” game. It’s not a bad game (on the desktop Windows); I certainly recommend this review on it for more info. (Note that the linked review also reviews another desktop Windows "cyberpunk" game of the same developer.)
Now that Handango has cut the price of the Pocket PC port of the game in half, I’ve decided to give it a go, particularly when it comes to comparing it to the desktop version. There doesn’t seem a review of the Pocket PC version anywhere; PocketGamer.org hasn’t even mentioned it, let alone other Pocket PC gaming-related sites.
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Availability, price
(Current, tested version: 1.211)
The title is available for the original $9.99 on the homepage of the developer and, as has already been pointed out, at half the price, $4.99, on Handango.
Compatibility
All devices starting with Pocket PC 2002. This means, in addition to my Pocket PC 2002 iPAQ 3660, both my two other “problematic” devices have run the game without problems:
the WM5-upgraded HP iPAQ hx4700
the “slow” HTC Wizard (has for example no music or similar problems, unlike, say, SuperTux)
Differences between the desktop and the Windows Mobile version
First, you don’t need to enter any text on the Windows Mobile – everything is icon-based and, therefore, happens much faster (you don't need to enter commands on the keyboard, just click the given icon). The generic speedup also applies to functionality that was definitely slow in the desktop version: for example, cracking passwords, which is done much faster on Windows Mobile than in the desktop version.
However, a LOT of the desktop functionalities have been removed. For example, there are no files on hosts any more, you can only transfer money from them (and trash / BNC them if you deem it necessary – it’s only in this respect that it’s the same as the desktop version). Which is even worse, a LOT of functionality (still) present in the desktop version (ability to upgrade hacker apps; several missions or, for that matter, almost ANYTHING except just money transfer etc.) are severely missing from the PDA version.
The built-in, one-page (!) help (screenshot of it here) is in no way as good as the built-in, several-page tutorial of the desktop version. Apart from the differences between the desktop and the WM version (NO filelists, NO file transfer etc) for example it doesn’t even explain how the different BNC connections affect the trace speed – in this respect (too), it’s really poor.
Music
The music is exactly the same as in the desktop version (pretty repetitive, mono). Unfortunately, the Pocket PC version severely lacks the rather basic, but sometimes (for example, when you click a server to hack on the map) really cool sound effects.
Graphics
QVGA only (sorry, no high-resolution VGA support). However, the developers have managed to squeeze everything into this; that is, almost everything important is displayed, without the need for scrolling (which is, by the way, impossible in the PPC version, unlike on the desktop).
Verdict
If you loved the desktop version because of the great missions and the flexibility, you’ll be REALLY disappointed. In the conversion, all of this has been removed; this makes the game really shallow and uninteresting. I really disliked the PPC port because it’s just the best parts (the missions and the sophisticated file lists and options) that have been removed. You may want to give it a try to see whether you like it though.
Now that I’m working on a FULL roundup of EVERYTHING Windows Mobile instant messaging-related, I’ve also scrutinized the current state of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) applications. As I’ve already published several articles on Windows Mobile IRC clients, I’ve decided not to wait for the instant messaging article to be finished, but publish the news (as they are, as is the case with
First, PocketIRC .
PocketIRC has always been one of the best IRC applications for the Pocket PC (see these search results for more information on this question). The brand new version just released adds / fixes the following:
The much requested Favourite Channels list and auto join on connect capability (example screenshot here)
More detailed error messages, and improved disconnect detection
Verdict: a must for all existing PocketIRC users and recommended for anyone that wants to access IRC on his or her Pocket PC.
DXmobile releases Glam IRC, a “modern-style IRC app”
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DXmobile, a newcomer to Windows Mobile development, has recently released a brand new IRC application called Glam IRC. Note that DXmobile doesn’t have a homepage; therefore, you’ll need to download their app (if you bother, that is) from third-party servers like PocketGear and Handango.
Unfortunately, while, on paper, this application seems to be pretty capable, in reality, it is really-really weak.
First, it doesn’t run properly on WM5 and WM6 VGA devices: it has major rendering problems. It seems it’s sensing a QVGA screen as can be seen in for example this Dell Axim x51v screenshot (the same in Landscape). The same stands for WM6 (Crossbow), as can be seen in here. It’s, however, OK with WM5 QVGA (including landscape) and WM2003(SE), both QVGA and VGA, as can for example be seen in this WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720 screenshot.
Unfortunately, this title is one of the worst IRC apps for Windows Mobile I’ve ever tested. It’s very hard to find anything positive about it, except for the DCC and the offline messaging capabilities (which I couldn’t test because of the major trial restrictions, and I, generally, don’t request a review copy of apps I know I couldn’t write anything positive about.)
The problems:
Has a lot of typos - no serious app should contain typos
Major incompatibility problems with WM5 / WM6 VGA models
Absolutely no user control commands (kick etc) (1; in Menu / List channelname Users, there is no context menu and the main menu only offers DCC file sending to the user
No colors, bold, underline, italic etc
Trial mode entirely useless, you can’t even tell anything to anyone
Upon receiving a message in another tab, you don’t get any kind of a notification; not even the color of the tab name is changed
Not any kind of copy/paste support (including clicking URL’s), let alone logging and other advanced functionality that have long been supported by alternate clients
Verdict: forget it, this REALLY overpriced ($19) and REALLY bad application is just not worth bothering. There are a lot of even FREE IRC clients that are way better than this one.
Anyone having read my emulator reviews (particularly the NES (Famicom) and the TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine) ones) knows SmartGear is one of the best 8/16-bit gaming console emulator for both the Pocket PC (Windows Mobile 6 Classic / Professional) and Smartphone (Windows Mobile 6 Standard).
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(the About screen)
Just after my publishing my reviews of the previous, 0.12 version, the developer, Larry Bank, released a brand new, 0.24 version of the emulator.
Let us see how it compares to the previous, well-known version! (Please DO read the two above-linked reviews to find out how the old version fared against the competition, what its major strengths and weaknesses are. In here, I do NOT provide you a FULL introduction / tutorial, “only” an up-to-the-point elaboration on the changes.)
Pros
Fortunately, the new version, as opposed to the old one, does save battery life automatically as can clearly be seen in this screenshot. (The previous version, as can be seen in here, didn’t offer any battery saving as it used the CPU close to 100%. This is great news!
When you pause the game, the menu bars will be displayed at once (on all platforms) as can be seen in here. This also means resuming a game after you’ve done some for example settings changes will work, unlike with 0.12.
There’s a new option, Rapid Fire, with freely definable target button (in here, for example, I’ve made it work together with Button B ). This is certainly welcome!
The menus are also easier to handle (here’s the new Settings screen and here’s the old)– for example, instead of the old “Throttle Framerate”, now, “Throttle to 60 fps” is used, which is easier to understand. As can also be seen, there’s a brand new checkbox, Quick & Dirty Rendering, which also results in some speedup, which can prove pretty useful on lowest-end handhelds.
Now, there is some way to change the video size with the newly added “Video Size” option, which allows for using 75, 100, 150%, Fit2Win and Fit2Win*.
With NES emulation, Landscape mode works OK, unlike previously.
Generic speedup / optimizations.
Cons
There is still no VGA support. You can, of course, play with the new “Video Size” settings, but none of them will help (and some, for example, Fit2Win*, will result in the program immediately exiting on some VGA models)
Screen buttons / tap areas are still not supported
The highly useful (as the emulator, unfortunately, still doesn't have any kind of manual state saving / loading) “Auto Load/Save” option can’t be enabled in the trial version, unlike with the previous one, where it worked (almost) flawlessly.
Compatibility-wise, there don’t seem to be changes. As far as the NES emulation is concerned, BattleToads still stops after displaying “1991”; Elite is still having problems and Famicom Wars (MMC4) still displays the “#10 missing” error. PC Engine emulation-wise, Street Fighter II Champion Edition (J) and Shinobi (if it starts at all – it was only on my HTC Wizard that it did) still have the same bitmap problems. The platform bug of Turrican still exists, making the game unplayable.
Several previously flawlessly running PC Engine games just refuse to start. For example, F1 Dream has refused to start on ALL my test devices. Operation Wolf and Afterburner 2 has only started on my QVGA HTC Wizard (but not on any of my VGA devices – not that it’d be any fun to play a game only occupying the upper left quarter of the VGA screen...)
Verdict
While this emulator still has its share of problems (particularly VGA- and generic game / ROM compatibility-wise), it’s clearly got better and his, as usual, highly recommended (particularly for MS Smartphone users). If it runs your particular favorite games, that is.
It was just a few days ago that a newly debuted Windows Mobile developer, Colin Munro, released a new, commercial ($20) VNC client, zoomVNC.
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(Note that this is a review of the current, initial, 1.0 version.)
I’ve thoroughly tested the client and found some of its features unique, particularly
the ability to connect to more than one VNC servers (desktops) at the same time and really quickly switch between them, without having to exit any of the active connections – an example screenshot showing this is HERE
the ability of freely creating / editing macros (example screenshots: 1 2 3 4 5; an example of the pre-defined Ctrl-Alt-Del macro is HERE)
However, if you don’t need the above features, I’ve found it decidedly inferior to the, currently, by far the best VNC client, PT Pocket Office (PT PO for short). The major disadvantages of zoomVNC, compared to PT Pocket Office, are as follows:
No right click support !!!!! This is a MAJOR problem!
Scrolling on page can only be done with scrollbars – there’s NO mouse dragging (with hidden scrollbars to maximize the available screen estate) and, what is even worse, there’s no full screen support!!! This is another major showstopper for anyone striving for the maximal available screen estate.
Three special buttons only, while PT PO has its own, really sophisticated SIP’s
No cursor hovering possible as no hardware buttons can be assigned to mouse buttons
Other (not that important) advantages over PT PO:
Tracks the desktop cursor (may be useful if there's somebody sitting in front of the terminal and moving it with the local mouse)
$2 cheaper (PT PO costs $21.99), which isn’t much if you take the generic superiority of PT PO into account
Other screenshots & info
Client-side zooming: 25/50/100/200/300% and Fit to screen
Original resolution – if it’s changed, it dynamically changes (as is expected of any commercial tool)
Manual refresh is possible
A screenshot of adding a new connection; it’s in here that you can choose between 8 and 16-bit modes and the update rate.
Note that I haven’t tested its Tight / Tight JPG-compliance; hopefully it does support it. If it doesn’t, then, its bandwidth usage is definitely worse than that of PT PO.
Verdict
Because of the problems above, I still don’t include it in the the Remote Desktop Access Bible, the premiere resource of ALL remote control-related information. I’ll, however, do this as soon as a much more decent version is released. Similarly, I don’t recommend it over PT PO either.
Were it a free software, I’d certainly recommend it. But a title like this that is only $2 cheaper than the MUCH better PT PO is certainly not to be recommended - unless you MUST use its unique features (quick switching between active VNC connections and/or macro support).
(Just a quick note: the main homepage of the app, has severe server-side configuration issues. I’ve tried very hard to contact the author to send him a review before publishing it; however, the server is (mis)configured so bad that it returns PHP scripts verbatim (!!!!) to the client. This means almost nothing works on the Purchase page.)