Microsoft Windows CE Resource Kit

Windows CE Services 2.2

Windows CE Services is the software that runs on the personal computer that creates a synchronization partnership with a PC Companion device. Version 2.2 adds support for devices running Windows CE Handheld PC Professional Edition software. It also contains functionality improvements for users of Windows CE Services versions 2.0 and 2.1.

If users in your organization want to continue using their version 1.0 Handheld PC, Windows CE Services should not be installed on their desktop PC. This will remove the version 1.0 software on the desktop PC breaking the synchronization services with the version 1.0 device.

If users with version 1.0 Handheld PCs want to upgrade their devices and take advantage of Windows CE Services version 2.2, they will first need to upgrade the ROM in their Handheld PC to Windows CE version 2.0 for the Handheld PC or later. The Handheld PC Explorer software, the predecessor to Windows CE Services version 2.0, on the desktop can then be overwritten by Windows CE Services 2.2.

Here are the new features for Windows CE Services version 2.2:

Feature Benefit
Support for unattended installation with software distribution products like Microsoft Systems Management Server Now IT departments can install and maintain custom Windows CE installations without user intervention or the need to dispatch a technician.
Simplified installation for Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 The CD-ROM version of Windows CE Services now installs on Windows NT Workstation-based PCs without the need for swapping CDs.
Compatible with
  • Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows 98
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 5.0 Beta 2
  • Microsoft Schedule + 7.0a, Microsoft Outlook 97 and Microsoft Outlook 98
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 Beta 1
 Works with the software investments you have today, as well as the environment you are planning for the future.
Selection of synchronization services during initial setup of the partnership between your Windows-based PC and Windows CE-based Handheld PC or Palm-size PC. Enable all the ActiveSync options you need in a single step.
Synchronization service default settings conform to the capabilities of your Windows CE-based device The services that are enabled for a Windows CE 2.0 based H/PC or P/PC, or a Windows CE 2.11-based H/PC, reflect the ActiveSync services installed on that given device category.
new New ActiveSync Options
  • Control the display of ActiveSync progress information and errors during synchronization.
  • Filter e-mail attachments to restrict the sizes of files that synchronize with your Windows CE-based device.
Help files for Windows CE 2.0 and Windows CE 2.1-based devices Continued support for devices you have, as well as new devices coming soon.
Enhanced synchronization troubleshooter and error messages Helps resolve synchronization setting problems fast. Helps point out likely sources for trouble, including synchronization speeds set faster than the PC and device can handle.
Synchronization for Pocket Access data!
  • Drag and drop .MDB files from the desktop to your Windows CE 2.11-based H/PC.
  • Synchronize Pocket Access Databases with Microsoft SQL Server.
Support for Pocket Outlook data on PC Cards or CompactFlash cards! Store data outside of the Windows CE 2.11-based H/PC's RAM, and keep it in sync with ActiveSync.
Embedded bitmap images in the Notes field of Outlook's Calendar, Contacts and Tasks modules synchronize with their counterparts in Pocket Outlook. Embed pictures of contacts, maps and other data to help you manage your business and personal life.
Faster synchronization with Microsoft Outlook 98, and other improvements.
  • You will be ready to go with your data up to date in only 2/3 the time that Windows CE Services 2.1 required.
  • Synchronization is more reliable and trouble free than ever before.

Please review the system requirements for those computers that will have Windows CE Services installed.

When you install Windows CE Services 2.2, the default ActiveSync options for H/PCs powered by H/PC Pro Edition software are:

ActiveSync services turned on: Appointments (Calendar), Contacts, and Tasks

ActiveSync services turned off: Files, Message (e-mail Inbox), and Channel Item (Offline browser content), and Table (Pocket Access and ActiveX Data Objects data)

Appointment settings: prior two weeks and all future appointments

Contact settings: all contacts

Tasks settings: all incomplete tasks

When Windows CE Services v2.2 is installed, it also places additional file conversion options into Microsoft Word version 6 or later on the desktop PC. This makes it possible for users to save Word documents as Pocket Word Documents (*.pwd) and InkWriter/Note Taker (*.pwi) documents.

Timesaving tip: It is faster to enable and configure all ActiveSync options while the PC Companion device is not connected to the PC. However, in order to configure these settings offline, you must first establish a partnership between the PC Companion device and the PC.

These are the options available for each ActiveSync setting:

Feature Benefit
General settings Synchronize mobile device clock upon connecting
Synchronization settings
  • Enable/disable synchronization
  • Synchronize manually
  • Synchronize automatically once when device is connected and then manually while connected
  • Synchronize continuously while device is connected
Appointment (Calendar)
  • Synchronize all appointments
  • Synchronize only the x past weeks of appointments
  • Synchronize y future weeks of appointments Synchronize appointment by category
Contact
  • Synchronize all contacts
  • Synchronize individual contacts
  • Synchronize contacts by category
Task
  • Synchronize all tasks
  • Synchronize only incomplete tasks
  • Synchronize only the x past weeks of tasks
  • Synchronize y future weeks of tasks
  • Synchronize tasks by category
Message (email Inbox)
  • To save space, copy at most n lines
  • Limit e-mail received in last y days
  • Include file attachments
  • If attachments setting above is enabled, limit attachment size to xK
  • Automatically send all messages in Outbox using these services
  • If the Outbox setting above is checked, you may check one or more installed services from the list that appears below this setting.
File You may use the ActiveSync Options dialog for file synchronization to manually add or remove files from the synchronized files folder for a given PC Companion, or you may simply drag files to or remove files from the folder. This dialog also shows the location of the synchronized files folder. When you drag a file to the synchronized files folder, you are given the option to create a shortcut to the folder on your PC's desktop. You also see the location of the backup version of the particular synchronized file that ActiveSync creates for you.
Channel Item (offline browser items) You may select channels to synchronize, and add them through the general tab of this setting.

The advanced tab enables you to control whether images and sounds are downloaded, whether to automatically connect to the Internet, and whether to enable page hit counting.
Table (Pocket Access and ActiveX Data Objects data) Add or remove tables, and check the properties of each table to be synchronized.

Operational notes

These notes are intended to document some of the lesser-known behavior of PC Companion devices. The notes listed here do not cause data loss or system malfunction, however they may help you understand the relationship between your PC and PC Companion, and help you to manage storage more effectively.

Third party synchronization tools--add-ins for Windows CE Services

There are a number of ways to get your PIM information into Handheld PCs and Palm-size PCs. The first step is to decide whether you wish to continue to use your current PIM or convert to Microsoft Outlook or Schedule+. Outlook 98 is the latest PIM offering from Microsoft that synchronizes with PC Companion devices. To learn more about Outlook, visit this web site: http://www.microsoft.com/outlook/.

If you wish to move your data into Outlook you can take advantage of a number of included converters including data stored in tab/comma separated, Dbase, Access, Excel, FoxPro, Personal Address Book, and Schedule+ formats.

Third party tools are available to move data into PC Companion devices. Here is one example:

If you wish to continue using your current PIM, there are a number of the third party solutions for keeping your PC PIM data in sync with Pocket Outlook on the Windows CE device. Here is a list of some of products and the PIMs they can synchronize. Please visit their web sites for the most current information about their products:

If you want to have your Pocket Word documents converted back to another word processing format other than Microsoft Word, there are several options:

  1. Use RTF as the interchange format (i.e., save the documents as a .RTF files before transferring between the PC Companion device and the desktop).

  2. If you have access to a PC running Microsoft Word 95 or 97 that has Windows CE Services v2.2 installed, you can set up the ActiveSync to automatically convert Pocket Word format to any format handled by the converters installed in Microsoft Word on the desktop. You can see all converters by running Microsoft Word on the desktop, selecting the File, Save As function and clicking the "Save as Type:" drop down box. To customize ActiveSync's conversion process run Mobile Devices, select the Tools, File Conversion…, pull down menu option, select the tab with the appropriate direction of conversion, and Edit the specific file types you wish to convert. It is recommended that you write down the original default settings before making changes in case you want to revert back to the defaults. If you make changes to this conversion process and do not remember the original default settings, you will need to reinstall Windows CE Services on the desktop.

  3. Use plain text as the interchange format. This approach may lose more formatting than it saves.

Documents saved in the HTML format on the desktop can be viewed in Pocket Internet Explorer on the H/PC. Third party browsers make this possible on the Palm-size PC as well.

Supported server-based synchronization products

Customers have expressed a need to directly synchronize PC Companion devices with information on a corporate server. The H/PC Pro Edition has the ability to synchronize email directly with a server using the IMAP4 protocol. Third parties provide additional server synchronization options: