Why is that if I install an application, but then decided I do not like it a small portion of my space is gone even after the uninstall and a run through with a registry clean-up software. Any way to get this fixed?
Well the best way to get this done would be to use an application that thoroughly cleans out all traces of any installed application from your device. Shortcuts, folders, customizations, Registry entries, skins, upgrades etc. Most uninstallers aren't able to get all that done. I use SK Tools and it works pretty effectively. Gives me all my space back
the main problem is that it doesn't delete some of the files from the /windows folder.
registry keys aren't space consuming (relatively speaking of course).
usually uninstalling an application DOES delete the created folder from /program files/ or wherever.. unless you've put your own files inside the folder and then you need to delete them, and the folder, by yourself.
yeah i deleted the files there too and even used sktools and such but the more space than before is taken.
well, some files are replaced in the windows folder which are necessary to other applications. since the uninstallation of an app can't bring back the old files, it won't delete the necessary files and if they're larger than the old ones.. it'll take some space.
so i guess there is nothing I could do then?
bugtoday said:
so i guess there is nothing I could do then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well! you could do it the hard way. Hard reset the device which will wipe out everything you loaded and install by hand (i.e. not restore from a backup) all the applications you like and want one by one. Obviously not something one would want to do after every trial install and de-install. But after some number of different apps have been tried out and rejected perhaps it is worth the pain.
Related
Hi - is there any way on PocketPC 2003 to disable access to Solitaire and Jawbreaker. I'm pretty sure I can't remove them all together as they're in the ROM - but some registry hack to prevent access to them would be sufficient.
Try this...
You don't list what device or WM versions you are using, but here are two possible solutions you could try:
1) Read through the forums specific to your device, and learn how to cook your own ROM, removing the offending software.
2) Any file in your ROM can be "overwritten" by syncing to your pc and draggin a file with the same name to the folder containing the file you wish to replace. IE. I have a small, written for the pda application, which when run, displays a pop-up saying "This software has been removed because I do not wish for anyone using this device to have fun doing so!" or similar. I then name it solitare.exe and drag it into the Windows directory from my PC. It asks me am I sure I wish to overwrite the file, I click yes and bam! the file is "replaced". (I believe what actually happens is the OS delinks the file and places the new file in the old ones placeholder on the filesystem, it is still in the ROM as that is unwritable unless flashing, but it is no longer accessable, which is what you want to happen.
tried & failed...
I've created a solitare.exe as you suggested and placed it in the Windows directory - it doesn't seem to get run when executed however - The original game still gets run - I fear I may be doing something stupid.
Re: tried & failed...
gremlin said:
I've created a solitare.exe as you suggested and placed it in the Windows directory - it doesn't seem to get run when executed however - The original game still gets run - I fear I may be doing something stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you want to block them?
Re: Try this...
pneuma said:
You don't list what device or WM versions you are using, but here are two possible solutions you could try:
1) Read through the forums specific to your device, and learn how to cook your own ROM, removing the offending software.
2) Any file in your ROM can be "overwritten" by syncing to your pc and draggin a file with the same name to the folder containing the file you wish to replace. IE. I have a small, written for the pda application, which when run, displays a pop-up saying "This software has been removed because I do not wish for anyone using this device to have fun doing so!" or similar. I then name it solitare.exe and drag it into the Windows directory from my PC. It asks me am I sure I wish to overwrite the file, I click yes and bam! the file is "replaced". (I believe what actually happens is the OS delinks the file and places the new file in the old ones placeholder on the filesystem, it is still in the ROM as that is unwritable unless flashing, but it is no longer accessable, which is what you want to happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey pneuma.
2) Isn't working for me either. I thought gremlin was doing something wrong, but I just tried it myself, and, although my "fake" solitaire.exe (a renamed app) file is there, so is the original solitaire.exe. Tapping on the Solitaire icon under games runs the game as if nothing happened, although just opening the Games folder would tell you that it didn't work (the Solitaire icon is still the cards)
What did you do that we didn't? I'm using a Universal.
Peculiar...
Personally I haven't tried this specific to the games, but there was a nasty spash screen in the new WM5 for my Himalaya that I replaced in the method detailed above. It would appear however that solitaire might be a system program, as the following files:
\windows\solitaire.lnk
\windows\start menu\solitaire.lnk
have the following Target: ":MSSOLITAIRE"
but don't despair!
If you have resco explorer or some similar mobile based explorer replacement, try edit the links to point to the replacement exe, or even delete the links altogether, as well as the Games directory under "\windows\start menu\" (might not work deleting them though).
If the deletion or edits don't work you may well have to do the same trick, replacing these .lnk files with something else.
--Marc
Thanks to pneuma I think I've got a workable solution without having to hack into the ROM!
I've created two programs (using PocketBuilder) called Solitare.exe and Jawbreaker.exe which just pop up a response window saying "This Application Has Been Disabled"
I've also created two .lnk files - solitare.lnk and jawbreaker.lnk which contain:
22#"\Windows\Solitare.exe"
and
23#"\Windows\Jawbreaker.exe"
respectively
In my boot process I copy the executables and .lnk files to the \Windows directory and also copy the .lnk files to the
\Windows\Start Menu\Program\Games\
directory.
I don't think our users (sorry to diss them) are bright enough to figure out they have to remove all of these files to get the games working again.
Thanks for all your help.
Gremlin.
gremlin said:
(sorry to diss them)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But you're dissing them all the way by treating them like this.
Why shouldn't they be able to play Solitair or JawBreaker every now and then during a coffee of lunch break. A bit of light releif never did anyone any harm.
I'm glad I don't work with you. (Bah Humbug)
I have no say in how the users are treated - I am merely a developer - I get told what needs to be done and I do it. I can offer my suggestions at design time but ultimately it is not my decision how the users are treated on the shop floor.
If I was in management it would be a different story.
I'm lovely to work with - I make the tea and everything
gremlin said:
If I was in management it would be a different story.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Point taken. :wink:
I would argue that it's hardly worth the effort just to piss people off.
I'll have my tea with milk and no sugar.
I would like to modify my PDA behaviour:
1- Change the welcome screen during boot and place a personal one.
2- Modify the menù i see on the desktop, such as menù entries like MSN pocket PC etc...
3- Eliminate cprog.exe from startup, i don't want it, i would like to start my own application instead.
Do i need to manipulate the ROM/registry for these modifications?
If yes, about ROM i'm almost a noob yet, is there any tutorial/start up guide?
Thanks.
With my psychic power, I'm gathering all the information about your phone... and giving you the following answers..
1. Search (forum and wiki) on how to modify your splash screen
2. Read the manual
3. Remove it from the \Windows\Start up ?
No
hanmin said:
With my psychic power, I'm gathering all the information about your phone... and giving you the following answers..
1. Search (forum and wiki) on how to modify your splash screen
2. Read the manual
3. Remove it from the \Windows\Start up ?
No
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhm.. i think cprog.exe resides in ROM :-| how could i remove it and their icons
like signal quality ? I can't remove cprog.exe from the windows directory and it's lnk
doesn't appear inside \Windows\start up
Thx.
At least...
If i can't remove cprog.exe, at least i would like to remove the signal quality icon on the top right of the screen and the warning balloon coming from cprog.exe. Or... is there a way to cover all the screen (also the taskbar) with my application GUI?
Thx.
If you can make a dummy exe and have it named cprog.exe, just copy it over. When the OS saw that there is a file with the same name in the storage (and also one in ROM), the OS will launch the one in storage instead of the ROM. Now, it is a matter of getting a dummy EXE.
Just incase, backup your system first.
Thx for help...
Are you sure i can overwrite cprog.exe inside \Windows directory?
I cannot move/copy or delete it. The OS is saying i cannot copy
file and resources present in ROM :|.
How do i backup my system, if i overwrite it, how i get it back?
First, backup. Use backup software such as SPB Backup your system. If things went seriously wrong, you will hardreset your phone, and use the backup EXE file to restore your phone. Just make sure you backup before modifying.
You can use software such as Total Commander for PPC to over write the EXE. I'm very sure (been there, done that) it can over write (cover up) files in ROM, but I'm not sure if it is possible to write over an EXE that is currently running. Try your luck. To recover the overwritten (e.g. original) EXE, just delete it (e.g. delete the new, modified EXE) to expose the original EXE inside the ROM.
There should be no problem overwriting a ROM exe once even if its running. The change will simply not take effect until you reset the device.
To disable it though, you will have to rename the exe first (you will not be able to delete your copy while it is running) then reset so the original will be called instead.
And just to make it clear: you will not overwrite anything. A copy of the file will be created in your storage memory. The original system file will remain as it is, it will simply be "hidden" until you remove your copy.
The backup hanmin suggested is for your data and installed apps. If you are still at the stage were you are experimenting with the phone and don't mind getting it back to factory settings if something goes wrong you can skip it.
What you should investigate though is the notification system. It is somewhere there that cprog.exe is triggered in the first place and if you want your app to pop up instead on incoming call you will most likely have to register a notification for it.
(Though I do not have much experience with TAPI, so I am not really sure about this)
What I do know for a fact is that opening a full screen window (covering both top and bottom bars) is very easy:
Right after the window is created (not in WM_CREATE handler) call SHFullScreen API.
hanmin said:
First, backup. Use backup software such as SPB Backup your system. If things went seriously wrong, you will hardreset your phone, and use the backup EXE file to restore your phone. Just make sure you backup before modifying.
You can use software such as Total Commander for PPC to over write the EXE. I'm very sure (been there, done that) it can over write (cover up) files in ROM, but I'm not sure if it is possible to write over an EXE that is currently running. Try your luck. To recover the overwritten (e.g. original) EXE, just delete it (e.g. delete the new, modified EXE) to expose the original EXE inside the ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, it worked fine, i've just built a dummy exe with a little main returning 0 immediately. And when services.exe starts it, it just returns 0.
I suppose if i hard reset my device cprog become the original.
What kind of APIs should i call to customize taskbar look and feel?
levenum said:
There should be no problem overwriting a ROM exe once even if its running. The change will simply not take effect until you reset the device.
To disable it though, you will have to rename the exe first (you will not be able to delete your copy while it is running) then reset so the original will be called instead.
And just to make it clear: you will not overwrite anything. A copy of the file will be created in your storage memory. The original system file will remain as it is, it will simply be "hidden" until you remove your copy.
The backup hanmin suggested is for your data and installed apps. If you are still at the stage were you are experimenting with the phone and don't mind getting it back to factory settings if something goes wrong you can skip it.
What you should investigate though is the notification system. It is somewhere there that cprog.exe is triggered in the first place and if you want your app to pop up instead on incoming call you will most likely have to register a notification for it.
(Though I do not have much experience with TAPI, so I am not really sure about this)
What I do know for a fact is that opening a full screen window (covering both top and bottom bars) is very easy:
Right after the window is created (not in WM_CREATE handler) call SHFullScreen API.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for help.
I'm just dealing with cprog.exe becouse it is dropping the data call i make using RIL api. This happens becouse cprog.exe is taking the ownership of the call through TAPI, so since there is no other application using TAPI, cprog.exe believes it's the only owner so it just drops the call. Since i'm not using TAPI but RIL i cannot claim for the call ownership while answering the call. The process cprog.exe gives problems only for answering incoming calls.
The only solution i found is to kill cprog.exe or just replace it with a dummy exe as explained here. That's why i was asking for it. Now my RIL application works fine and i don't need to kill cprog.exe/TSP anymore within my code. I'm forced to use RIL instead of TAPI becouse TAPI doesn't expose some bearer options i can set through RIL.
Bye.
Here is the article abut customizing the taskbar. Unfortunately, as far as I know there are no APIs to deal with it (short of sticking an annoying notification icon there), you have to replace the whole thing or whatever parts of it you do not like with a child window (see LVMTime and LVMTopBat).
levenum said:
Here is the article abut customizing the taskbar. Unfortunately, as far as I know there are no APIs to deal with it (short of sticking an annoying notification icon there), you have to replace the whole thing or whatever parts of it you do not like with a child window (see LVMTime and LVMTopBat).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot.
Im new to Windows Mobile and did my first Hard Reset on my Xperia yesterday. Now I am missing the programs installed on my Memory Card, for example TomTom, in the list of programs in WM. The only way I am able to access these programs is through a file explorer.
How do I fix this?
Thanks in advance // Thorell
thorell said:
Im new to Windows Mobile and did my first Hard Reset on my Xperia yesterday. Now I am missing the programs installed on my Memory Card, for example TomTom, in the list of programs in WM. The only way I am able to access these programs is through a file explorer.
How do I fix this?
Thanks in advance // Thorell
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Thorell:
To reuse these programs all you need to do is create shortcuts to them under the windows->startmenu->programs folder and they will reappear in your programs under start menu.
This way you don't need the file explorer to reach the programs .
Thanks! It works!
If I may ask another (stupid/simple) question: How do I make a shortcut? I solved this by copying and editing an allready existing shortcut, but I assume that there is an easier way.
// Thorell
@thorell,
Just hold your stylus on the application and the menu will pop up. There is an option in there that says "Send Shortcut to Programs..."
One small correction though to what thesire has written. He is right but not all programs behave the same way. A lot of programs copy most of its files in the location that you select. However, there are many programs that must write things into the registry and even copy some files in system memory. In other words, even though you will see programs in your memory card, you will not be able to run them... not even by clicking directly on the .exe. You only need to reinstall the app.
Good luck
egzthunder1 said:
@thorell,
One small correction though to what thesire has written. He is right but not all programs behave the same way. A lot of programs copy most of its files in the location that you select. However, there are many programs that must write things into the registry and even copy some files in system memory. In other words, even though you will see programs in your memory card, you will not be able to run them... not even by clicking directly on the .exe. You only need to reinstall the app.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what you're saying means that there is no benefits except more free memory in the internal memory when you install on the memory card regarding some programs? I thought/hoped that you could install on the card in order to not have to reinstall every program after a hard reset. This time I had only the TomTom Navigator on the card, and it works now, but if I had installed, for example SPB Mobile Shell or some other programs that in my (not on knowledge based) opinion are more integrated (spelling?) in the system, it wouldn't have worked?
How do I know that a program will run from the memory card after a hard reset?
Thanks /// Thorell
egzthunder1 said:
@thorell,
Just hold your stylus on the application and the menu will pop up. There is an option in there that says "Send Shortcut to Programs..."
One small correction though to what thesire has written. He is right but not all programs behave the same way. A lot of programs copy most of its files in the location that you select. However, there are many programs that must write things into the registry and even copy some files in system memory. In other words, even though you will see programs in your memory card, you will not be able to run them... not even by clicking directly on the .exe. You only need to reinstall the app.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are absolutely right egzthunder1, because wm behaves the same way as traditional windows and when hard reset everything that is copied to the windows directory and registery for the program to function is lost. I definitely overlocked this small, but important pointer. Thanks.
I accidentally erased a name of a file using total commander and can't undo myself.
My files show:
//Plugins
Application Data
ConnMgr
Content
Documents and Settings
Music
My Documents
Programs
Storage Card
Temp
Windows
and "wrong name because I deleted it" (in the folder is Manilla_20100401....)
Can someone please let me know what that file name should be? Most of my programs won't fully launch now because of it.
Thank you for your help.
Michael
Just hard reset your phone. That's always an easy fix that's sure to work
I just had this phone replaced due to warranty and had finished reinstalling lots of items but stupidly hadn't made a backup. I was in fact only opening total commander to make certain it was working when I accidentally deleted the file name. I would hate to hard reset when it is just a single file name that needs replaced .... I hope.
Do you have SK Tools? If so, this is a piece of cake. Open the database tool and export Replstor as an .xml. Open it with notepad on your PC and find the name of the file or folder (and its contents) in the list. There could be a few thousand entries, so it may take a while.
Farmer Ted--I don't find any of my file names from my device in this document. Thank you for the suggestion but I am still at a loss for the original names of the folders under My Device.
If only I knew someone with an HTC Fuze, I could just look on their panel under My Device. Unfortunately, most of my folk are Iphone zealots. Their advice usually involves a different purchase!
Michael
Well, I realized after I posted that if you somehow deleted one of the databases, then it won't show up in replstor, because they're all excluded from replstor. Most of them can't be deleted, though. You should have mxip_initdb.vol, mxip_lang.vol, mxip_notify.vol, mxip_swmgmt.vol and mxip_system.vol. If you're missing one of them, then look in the\windows folder and find the rom version and copy it to the root of the device. It may not have everything it needs in it, though. Just post up if you're missing one, and I can probably tell you how to fix it (well, maybe, lol).
Thanks FarmerTed, I'll give it a go as soon as I understand what it means! Just to clarify, I didn't delete any files. I renamed it. Not on purpose. These are just the basic files under My Device.
I've renamed stuff before, too. The best thing to do if you catch yourself is to delete the entire name, then highlight another file. The messed up file will go back to the original name.
shoot. doesn't work. It would have if I would've done that in the first place though, so that is good to know.
Hey guys, this is my first thread, and I'm a bit confused on the app. Today I'll tell how did I stop the freaking google 'malware' from installing and updating every single day. This would work on any rooted device that has access to the data partition, maybe it could be reproduced via adb without root.
First off, I searched everywhere looking on how to disable, uninstall, break, or do anything to this forced battery hog. The best answers were using 'pm hide' on the package but this caused a very high battery usage, due to the file dependencies. So I searched where it was installed. Luckily enough, it is an user app, so it means I would find it on /data/app and /data/data. I will use solid explorer, but any file manager with root access and chmod to change permissions should do just fine.
Once we locate the folder (/data/app/com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor-1 in my case) we delete it. Utterly. After that, we will create a file, and name it exactly the same as the folder did. This is a dummy file that the system will believe it is a folder, and will try to install the application inside it. We fill that file with enough random characters for making the system think it can't just delete it (sometimes cleaners point empty files as worthless and wipe them out)
Now we need to make the dummy file unremovable for anyone but us, by using chmod. Solid explorer has a nice interface for that. We long press the file, enter to properties and set the permission to 0 0 0 (attributes tab). This makes play store unable to delete the file to recover the old folder, and when it tries to download the package, it will fail because it won't have a respective folder to be sent to.
After this, we reboot the phone and see that google play services for instant apps has lost roughly 90% of it's size, and when we enter settings>google>google play instant it'll ask for installation. I was bold enough to accept, just for getting an error dialogue when it tried to install itself.
Known issue: The app reinstalls once again after reboot. The cause is that, when android can't install the app in the first folder (the one that ends with a -1), it can create a second one (ending with a -2 instead), like an alternative. This is solved by just doing the same procedure above on the second folder, and you will end up having two dummy files instead of one. A third folder cannot show up, or at least it didn't in my phone.
Notes: You can repeat this with the folder in /data/data and any other data partition level instant app folder, but I wouldn't do it because I already broke all functionality since I deleted the base apk, and the app size is less than 300KB now so I don't think the trouble is worth it.
You must whitelist these files from any memory cleaner, i.e SD maid corpse finder will delete it thinking it's a leftover of an old app
WARNING; I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MISLEADS, WRONGS, OR PLUTONIUM-UNSTABLE ROMS THAT MAY EXPLODE IN ANY WAY. YOU ARE THE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR DEVICE'S SAFETY AS THIS ISN'T EVEN FULLY TESTED IN MY PHONE AND I DON'T KNOW THE ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCES OF DOING THIS. YOU ARE WARNED.
PD: Please make some suggestions about how I made the thread, I did what I think it's my best