Starting over, reformat, fresh install, etc. with my Palm TX

[dogbreath]

Hi. little bit new to this, so here goes...I just learned that all the free trials I've installed really slow down the Palm, even after deleting them. And I've also had stability issues and I've been really wanting to do a clean install. How do I go about this?
:confused:

I've also got a new computer that I want to install my Palm desktop software to. Assuming I install the Palm desktop software on the PC, how do I sync to it and keep the current programs that I like on my Palm? Thanks. And anyway, how do I reformat the Palm internal storage memory like it's factory new?

[potter]

Short answer:

I would not try to do the two things together (cleaning the TX and moving to a new desktop), do one then the other. I personally would move to the new box first, then clean the TX, that way if something goes TERRIBLY wrong you might be able to fall back to the old desktop as a backup.


When moving to the new desktop, just get the desktop and hotsync operational, wait on any third party desktop software. That way the associated hand-held components will be reinstalled then.


Just for an extra level of safety, before the cleaning process, install an SD backup software and make a full backup. NVBackup works well and is free.


General steps to clean a device (hmm, not so short; but I could have been more verbose):
Hotsync.
Perform a hard reset, that is a reset while holding the power button. When the second splash screen appears release the power button, you will be prompted if you want to erase all the data.
On the desktop, find the user data folder and then the backup folder off of it.
In Palm Desktop (even if you are not syncing against Palm Desktop), perform a menu 'Tools', 'Options...'.
In the 'Options' dialog box, in the 'General' tab, note the value of the 'Data directory' field.
In the Windows File Explorer, navigate to the directory noted above. Off of this directory are several others. One of these directories will be a shortened version of your devices Hotsync name. (e.g. If your Hotsync name was "Dog Breath", the directory might be named "BreatD").
Navigate into this directory. Off of this directory are several directories such as, "address", "Archive", "Backup", "datebook", "Install", "memopad", and "todo".
Using the Navigator, rename the "Backup" folder so something like, "Backup Pre-cleanup 12-16-2008"
Hotsync. You will be prompted on the desktop as to what data to sync the device against or to make a new user.
Select your old device name. All of your PIM data will be restored to your device, but none of the third party applications or data.
Reinstall those third party applications that you desire. If needed, you will find PRC and PDB files in the backup folder that we renamed above of the third party applications and data that was on your device. However, it is best to do fresh installs when you can.
There are a few rare exceptions that will not be in the renamed backup folder (the IBM Java Runtime being the most notable). These can should be found on the SD backup, but again it is far better to perform a fresh install if you can.

[cyberdude]

It should be noted that with the latest version of NVBackup you can select ranges of files to backup. Depending on the application this may reinstall all the necessary files (if the app names its files with a naming pattern such as <appname>, <appname>db, <appname>icondb, <appname>skinfile, etc), although many apps do not name their files in such a way - so be careful. I would agree with potter that if possible a fresh install is far better (speaking as one who has tried it both ways).