PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide, Second Edition

Chapter 17. Troubleshooting

Part of the PalmPilot’s wild success has come from the fact that as computers go, it’s uncomplicated. It doesn’t have to boot up. It doesn’t have a system folder. It doesn’t need Norton Utilities. And in this world, “uncomplicated” usually means “trouble-free.” (When’s the last time you called for technical support with your mouse pad?)

But the PalmPilot is still a computer, and as such, it still displays the occasional glitch. Fortunately, a PalmPilot hangs or freezes far less often than a “real” computer. In fact, if you use only the built-in applications, you’ll probably never encounter freezes or hiccups, and you’ll quietly wonder what all the fuss is about. Still, it’s wise to be prepared.

Palm snafus are almost never serious. Thanks to the HotSync concept, even if your palmtop croaks completely, you always have a backup on your desktop machine.Still, if you’re one of the unlucky ones, let this chapter be your guide to recovering smooth operation of your palmtop.

Warning

In a perfect world, everything on your PalmPilot would be backed up when you HotSync—including any add-on programs you’ve installed. That’s true, however, only if the programmer correctly wrote the add-on program. A few applications, unfortunately, don’t get backed up automatically during a HotSync because the programmer neglected to turn on one subtle internal software switch.

This issue, and others like it, explains why 3Com instituted the “Platinum Certification” program described ...