Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is the operating system found on many Smartphone (non-touchscreen) and PocketPC (touchscreen) model cell phones. In October 2007, I purchased a Sprint Mogul which is the HTC Titan PPC-6800 model phone. The phone features Windows Mobile 6, Office Mobile 6, and Windows Live Mobile. This page is my documentation of how I’ve configured my phone and how I use it on a daily basis. I’m also posting the downloads to the programs I use as well as documenting the registry changes I’ve made, because I hope that others who see this page are able to get the same benefits from their phones as I have.
Before we begin, I have a few important notes to document:
WARNING: These settings and programs only work great for my needs, and they are only confirmed to work on the Sprint Mogul phone (and variation phones like the Dash, Tilt, Wing, and other XV6800 variants). They are only confirmed to work on Windows Mobile 6.0– not 5.0 and certainly nothing older. They may not suit your needs, work on your phone, or any number of other issues. If something breaks, hard reset your phone (consult your documentation) and don’t complain to me.
WARNING: None of these settings can or will permanently damage your phone, regardless of phone. If something goes wrong, do a hard reset and you’ll be back up and running.
NOTE: Speaking of hard resets, I *always* do a hard reset before applying any of these installs or tweaks. This guarantees the best performance when you’re done. On a Mogul, hold both soft-key buttons and use the stylus to press the "Reset" button next to the USB connector port. After the reset, I skip the "Customizations" by pressing just the reset key when the "3-second" prompt appears.
NOTE: All downloads are CAB install files, and they can be installed by clicking on them from your phone (no complicated extract/copy operations). The program file contents have not been modified in any way, however, I have customized the _setup.xml files so that they are compatible with Windows Mobile versions 5.0 through 7.0 and that the "Remove Programs" listing is the official name of the product. To install these files, save these files to your phone and click on them in File Explorer. The versions posted here are usually the newest available, although I may be a week off from time to time.
NOTE: By downloading and using these programs, you recognize and accept the license agreements of the programs’ manufacturers. All of these programs are Freeware except for the Microsoft Office and OneNote programs. I am posting them out of convenience only, because most phones include these programs by default. However, if you aren’t licensed for Office 2007 and Office Mobile 6.1, you should not install them.
Programs Installed
The first thing you should do for the Mogul is update the firmware with the latest version posted here.
The first programs I install on my phone are from Microsoft. My phone comes with an older version of Windows Live Messenger so it’s the first to be updated. I also install Windows Live Search because it lets me search for cheap gas prices and movie theatres. After that, I install Office Mobile 6.1 (actually the latest Mogul firmware already has this) and OneNote Mobile, so that I am fully compatible with Office 2007 on my desktop systems.
From there, I install the Adobe/Macromedia Flash Player. This allow me limited access to see Flash-based web sites in IE. I also install a plugin for Outlook Mobile called "Inbox Extender" that was released by a Microsoft Developer on the MSDN blogs, and this allows me to have "Mark All as Read" and "Delete All" options.
After that, I install the HTC Task Manager (already installed on latest Mogul firmware) program and the PHM Registry Editor. The Task Manager makes it so that when I click the "X" button to close a program, it really exits the program rather than just hiding it. PHM Registry Editor does exactly what the name says, it allows me to make changes to the phone’s registry for custom settings and performance tweaks (more on this in the Registry Tweaks section below).
Finally, I install my non-Microsoft productivity applications– Palringo and Google Maps a. Google Maps is a mobile-friendly version of their Maps service, so I can quickly lookup directions. Palringo is multi-client Instant Messenger that lets you connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and other accounts from one program. I don’t use it on a regular basis, but it is useful if I need to talk to someone in a pinch. I will post a new version or better alternative if I find one.
That’s it. That’s what I use on my phone to get things done. I use Outlook Mobile to check email at home and work (via Exchange servers), and my desktop copy of Outlook pulls my RSS news feeds into my Exchange mailbox every hour, so I use this as a simple RSS Feed Reader too. I use Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader (both bundled with my phone) along with Office Mobile to view documents and attachments from work. I use Windows Live all the time for instant messenger and email. The other programs are just utilities to keep things tuned up.
Registry Tweaks
This part is somewhat complicated for new users, so to make things easier I’m posting the necessary registry files to make these changes. To use them, you must have PHM Registry Editor installed. Then, save the registry files to your phone (using ActiveSync) and click on the file to import it. Wait 60 seconds after importing, and then reboot your phone.
WARNING: STOP! If you aren’t running Windows Mobile 6 on an HTC-based PPC-6800 phone, do not apply these tweaks unless you know what you’re doing or have assistance from someone who knows what they’re doing.
Power Management Tweaks — Configures the screen backlight to dim after 2 minutes of idle time when on battery, 10 minutes when plugged in. Enables the keyboard backlight for automatic (recommended). Sets the phone to automatically sleep after 5 minutes of idle time on battery and never sleep when plugged in. Finally, it allows configures several ActiveSync parameters to allow better power management, so that using DirectPush for email doesn’t kill off your battery.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\BackLight]
"BatteryTimeout"=dword:00000078
"BrightNess"=dword:00000003
"ACTimeout"=dword:00000258
"OnO
ffBatt"=dword:00000001
"OnOffAC"=dword:00000001
"QKeyLedOnOff"=dword:00000001
"QKeyLedTimeout"=dword:0000000A
"AutoSensor"=dword:00000001
"ACBacklightOnTap"=dword:00000001
"BacklightOnTap"=dword:00000001
"OnOff"=dword:00000001
"BatteryTimeoutUnchecked"=dword:00000000
"ACTimeoutUnchecked"=dword:00000000
"ACBrightness"=dword:0000000A[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power]
"WakeupPowerOff"=dword:0000003C
"ExtPowerOff"=dword:00000000
"BattPowerOff"=dword:000000B4
"SystemIdleTimerResetEvent"="PowerManager/SystemIdleTimerReset"
"DisableGwesPowerOff"=dword:00000001
"ScreenPowerOff"=dword:0000003C
"SystemPriority256"=dword:000000F8[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\Timeouts]
"ACSuspendTimeout"=dword:00000000
"BattSuspendTimeout"=dword:0000012C
"BatteryPoll"=dword:00001388
"BattUserIdle"=dword:00000000
"ACUserIdle"=dword:00000000
"BattResumingSuspendTimeout"=dword:0000000F
"ACResumingSuspendTimeout"=dword:0000000F[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\AsyncMac1\Parms]
"DisablePowerManagement"=dword:00000000[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\Irsir1\Parms]
"DisablePowerManagement"=dword:00000000[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\PPTP1\Parms]
"DisablePowerManagement"=dword:00000000[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\L2TP1\Parms]
"DisablePowerManagement"=dword:00000000
Low Powered Vibration Setting — The default vibration setting is pretty obnoxious, so this setting makes it a little less kinky.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\OEM\VIB]
"STRENGTH_LOW"=dword:00000001
Glyph Cache Performance Tweak — This setting increases the amount of memory used for the Glyph Cache setting which allows the screen to draw much faster. The down side is that the phone loses 8MB of memory to do this, so if prefer to run more programs and sacrifice a few seconds of screen-draw time this tweak isn’t for you. The other settings enable ClearType font smoothing, which some people either like or don’t like. If you don’t like ClearType, you can use this version of the patch that only changes the Glyph Cache setting.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\GDI\GLYPHCACHE]
"limit"=dword:00004000[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"ClearTypeText"=dword:00000001[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\GDI\ClearTypeSettings]
"OffOnRotation"=dword:00000000
SMS Text Message Sent Notification — This setting disables the sent notification when sending text messages.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Inbox\Settings]
"SMSNoSentMsg"=dword:00000001
Temp File Tweak — These settings force the applications bundled with the phone and those listed above to always use the \Temp folder for temporary file storage rather than scattered across a myriad of folders.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\FileSys]
"TempPath"="\\Temp"[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IA Style\IA Zip\1.20\Strings]
"Temp"="\\Temp"
E-Mail Storage Tweak — These settings allow you to adjust the location of your e-mail and attachment storage. The settings below are my preferred settings of putting them on my MicroSD storage card in a folder called Inbox.mst, but you can adjust it to your own preferences. NOTE: You must create these folders before using this patch.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Inbox\Attachments]
"AttsDir"="Inbox.mst"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Inbox\Settings]
"AttachPath"="\\Storage Card\\Inbox.mst\\Mail Attachments\\"
"PropertyPath"="\\Storage Card\\Inbox.mst\\"
Internet Explorer Storage Tweak — These settings allow you to adjust the location of your temporary Internet Explorer files. Again, I use a folder on my storage card called Pocket.IE, but you can adjust it to your own preferences.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]
"History"="\\Storage Card\\Pocket.IE\\History"
"Cookies"="\\Storage Card\\Pocket.IE\\Cookies"
"Cache"="\\Storage Card\\Pocket.IE\\Temporary Internet Files"
Date/Time Format Tweak — These settings will change the way time and dates are displayed on your phone. It also enables the clock to display on all menus. I prefer the longer formats that show the 4-digit times (HH:MM) and 6-digit dates (MM/DD/YY). Note, the length of these values MUST remain the same, even if you prefer the shorter date formats. Therefore, for example, if you want to use m/d/yy for the short date style, you must add TWO SPACES after yy, and likewise if you want the h:m
for time. Also there must be a space between the time and AM/PM stamp (tt). (This write-up has an extra space in the time format for display reasons.)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\nls\overrides]
"SSDte"="MM/dd/yy"
"STFmt"="hh:mm: ss tt"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shell]
"ShowTitleBarClock"=dword:00000001[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shell\TaskBar]
"LimitedClock"=dword:00000000
Security Prompt Tweak — These settings will disable the security prompt when installing root certificates (for self-signed Exchange servers).
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Policies\Policies]
"00001001"=dword:00000001
"00001005"=dword:00000028
"00001017"=dword:00000090
"0000101b"=dword:00000001
Disable Error Reporting — I like Microsoft a LOT, but even I don’t want to waste resources submitting "errors" to them. These settings turn off Error Reporting.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ErrorReporting\DumpSettings]
"UploadClient"="\\Windows\\dw.exe"
"ExtraFilesDirectory"="\\Temp\\ExtraDumpFiles"
"DumpDirectory"="\\Temp\\DumpFiles"
"DumpEnabled"=dword:00000000
"MaxDiskUsage"=dword:00080000
"MaxLogFiles"=dword:00000064
"CabDirectory"="\\Windows\\System\\DumpFiles\\CabFiles"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ErrorReporting
\UploadSettings]
"NoConsentRequired"=dword:00000001
"DontUpload"=dword:00000001
"UploadFailedDlg"=dword:00000000
"UploadSucceededDlg"=dword:00000000
"MaxDailyReports"=dword:00000000
"MaxWeeklyReports"=dword:00000000
Internet Explorer Settings — These settings auto-configure IE with a 5 day browser history setting, turns off security prompts, and enhances throughput performance. It also sets your home page setting.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs]
"home"="http://www.aaronhall.net/"[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"DaysToKeep"=dword:00000005
"MakeFit"=dword:00000002
"HistoryBackListLen"=dword:0000000A
"IntegralPaging"=dword:00000000
"Display Inline Images"=dword:00000001
"Play_Background_Sounds"=dword:00000001
"Load_WML_over_HTTP"=dword:00000001
"EnableHighResolution"=dword:00000001
"BlockStaticActiveX"=dword:00000000
"LinksToKeep"=dword:00000032[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"AllowCookies"=dword:00000001
"WarnOnPolicyDisallow"=dword:00000000
"WarnOnZoneCrossing"=dword:00000000
"SecureProtocols"=hex:\
A0,00,00,00
"DisableCachingOfSSLPages"=dword:00000000
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000004
"EnableAutodial"=dword:00000000
"DialogTimeOut"=dword:000493E0
"ShowDialogFullScreen"=dword:00000001
"AggressiveCacheFlush"=dword:00000000
"ProxyHttp1.1"=dword:00000001
"EnableHttp1_1"=dword:00000001
"EnableNegotiate"=dword:00000001
Auto-Suggest and Auto-Correct Settings — I hate the suggested word drop down list, but I love that it will correct i with I, so I use these settings to disable the suggested word drop-downs while keeping auto-correct.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\IME\CompIME]
"SuggWordsEnable"=dword:00000000
"SuggWords"=dword:00000000[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\Sip]
"SuggWords"=dword:00000000
"SuggAutoCorr"=dword:00000001
"SuggTypedBon"=dword:00000004
"SuggPrevPen"=dword:0000000F
"SuggMapBon"=dword:0000000F
"SuggCorrPen"=dword:0000001E
"SuggTwoCharPen"=dword:00000001
"SuggOneCharPen"=dword:00000005
"SuggDynWordBon"=dword:0000000C
"SuggWordLenMin"=dword:00000004
"SuggContDictCount"=dword:0000001F
"SuggSpell"=dword:00000001
"SuggSpace"=dword:00000001
"SuggWeight"=dword:00000000
"SuggChars"=dword:00000000
"AllowChange"=dword:00000001
Today Settings — These tweaks configure the softkeys to be Calculator and Contacts, and they configure the Today Screen items to be (in order), Date (Single Line), Voicemail, Email, Calendar (upcoming appointments), Tasks (due, high priority, and overdue), Windows Live (without Search bar), Device Lock, and the HTC Homeplug quick-icons.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today]
"AutoSingleLineDatePlugin"=dword:00000001
"Date"=dword:00000001
"Enabled"=dword:00000001[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\112]
"Open"="\\Windows\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Calculator.lnk"
@="Calculator"[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Today\Keys\113]
"Open"="\\Windows\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Contacts.lnk"
@="Contacts"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\"Voicemail"]
"Order"=dword:00000002
"Type"=dword:00000004
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
"Options"=dword:00000000
"Selectability"=dword:00000002
"DLL"="\\Windows\\SPCSPlugin_Voicemail.dll"
"Flags"=dword:00000000[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\"Messaging"]
"Order"=dword:00000003
"Options"=dword:00000000
"Flags"=dword:00000000
"Selectability"=dword:00000002
"DLL"="tmailutl.dll"
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
"Type"=dword:00000004[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\"Calendar"]
"Order"=dword:00000004
"Flags"=dword:00000001
"Selectability"=dword:00000001
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
"Type"=dword:00000001[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\"Tasks"]
"Category"="All Tasks"
"Order"=dword:00000005
"Flags"=dword:00000007
"Selectability"=dword:00000001
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
"Type"=dword:00000003[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\Windows Live]
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
"Order"=dword:00000006
"Dll"="WLMTodayScreen.dll"
"Type"=dword:00000004
"Selectability"=dword:00000002
"Options"=dword:00000000
"XMLFile"="res:WLMDeckCode:201"
"Height"=dword:00000032
"Transparency"=dword:00000001
"MenuBarDll"=""
"MenuBarID"=dword:00000000
"Flags"=dword:00000000[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\Windows Live Search]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
"Order"=dword:00000007
"Dll"="WLMTodayScreen.dll"
"Type"=dword:00000004
"Selectability"=dword:00000002
"Options"=dword:00000000
"XMLFile"="res:WLMDeckCode:207"
"Height"=dword:0000000F
"Transparency"=dword:00000000
"MenuBarDll"="WLMHSSearchBarResources"
"MenuBarID"=dword:0000012C
"Flags"=dword:00000000[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\"Internet Calling"]
"Selectability"=dword:00000002
"DLL"="voipphonecanvas.dll"
"Order"=dword:00000001
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
"Type"=dword:00000004[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\"Device Lock"]
"Options"=dword:00000000
"Flags"=dword:00000000
"Order"=dword:00000008
"Selecta
bility"=dword:00000002
"DLL"="shutil.dll"
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
"Type"=dword:00000004[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\HTCHomeplug]
"Order"=dword:00000009
"Selectability"=dword:00000002
"Options"=dword:00000000
"DisplayName"="HTC Home Plugin"
"DLL"="\\windows\\htchomeplug.dll"
"Type"=dword:00000004
"Flags"=dword:00000000
"Enabled"=dword:00000001[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\"Owner Info"]
"Order"=dword:00000028
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
"Flags"=dword:00000000
"Selectability"=dword:00000001
"Type"=dword:00000000
All-in-One Settings — If you like what you see here and want the whole package, download the All-in-One patch.
Manual Tweaks
These are the settings that can’t be done by registry settings (yet), so I have to make these by hand whenever I perform a hard reset on my phone.
- Cleanup Start Menu and Startup Programs — OK, technically, I wrote my own script to customize my Start menu items how I want them, but unfortunately, user preferences and phone configurations vary way too much to post a one-size-fits-all patch.
- Cleanup Inbox.mst and Attachments — Anytime I hard reset I have to remember to clean these folders out before I try syncing my mail again, because it will leave a big mess if I don’t.
- Phone Settings — I make sure that my Owner Identification settings and Phone Settings in Start > Settings are set the way I want (especially roaming settings for the phone).
- Beam and USB Settings — Absolutely, positively TURN OFF the Incoming Beams option and the USB Advanced Networking options except as needed, because they kill battery life and cause ActiveSync errors.
- Disable Customer Feedback — Disable this for the same reason as Error Reporting above (though this setting can’t be done by registry setting for some reason).
- Setup Accounts and Email Settings — This is pretty obvious, since you have to re-establish ActiveSync settings each time you reset.
Finally, to really personalize my setup, I apply my Stargate SG-1 "Prometheus" theme. Of course, you can always head over to WM6Themes.com for more great themes.
Oh, and if you want the whole kit-and-kaboodle, download this CAB installer. If you install all of the above programs and follow it up with this patch, you’ll have the complete AaronHall.net Mogul experience.