How to assign a custom data folder in Palm Desktop 6.2?

[Alex Ethridge]

I just loaded up Windows Vista and I'm having to do a lot of casting out of old softwares and some hardware.

I downloaded Palm Desktop 6.2, which is supposed to be Vista-compatible. Problem is, I cannot find how to assign a custom data folder.

The help file says this:Setting General Options

You can choose options that configure Palm OS® Desktop software as a whole in the General tab of the Options dialog.

To set General options

From the Tools menu, choose Options.

On the General tab of the Options dialog, perform one or more of the following actions:

To select an application to display when you open Palm OS Desktop software, click the Startup Application selector and select an application from the list.

To change the directory where information is stored, click the Browse button, select a new directory, and click OK.Problem: There is no Browse button. There was in the previous version but not in 6.2.

Suggestions anyone?

[Josser]

Type-in/copy-n-paste the the new location?

[Alex Ethridge]

There is no browse button and there is no place to type in that information. That part of that dialog box is just plain missing.

[BasilC]

You could try editing the value for PATH in the registry : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\U.S. Robotics\Pilot Desktop\Core

When I installed 6.2 (on an XP Pro machine) it moved the datastore from the C:\Program Files\Palm area to my My Documents (which in my case is on the D drive - I like to separate out software files from data for backup purposes). And I found the current path in the registry key above.

Isn't it fascinating to find a brand new Palm desktop installation still using a registry key that references US Robotics and the Pilot :o

[Alex Ethridge]

Thanks for the suggestion; but, that didn't work. It asks me to create a new user and doesn't recognize the user already set up in that folder.

There must be more to it.

[Alex Ethridge]

I found a work-around. I uninstalled the program (in an attempt to accomplish something unrelated) and then reinstalled, paying careful attention to the dialog boxes. There it was, an opportunity to define a custom location for the data folder.

That method is a step backward. Being able to redefine a data folder in earlier versions with a few simple clicks was far better.

I missed it the first time around because I expected the new version to offer at least as much configurability as the one it replaced. I was certainly wrong about that.

[araj]

Cheers Alex Ethridge, was wondering how to do that.

Found these instructions hidden in the help menu. Under "Data Directory".

Data Directory

You can customize the directory during the initial installation process, by selecting the "Custom" option. You can customize it post install by running the installer again. The installer at this time will run in Repair/Modify mode. Select the Custom install option and enter/ browse the directory in which you save your data files.

Note

Default directory for the data files is located in My Documents\Palm OS