December 2007 - Posts

• Unidentified network on Windows Vista

  For awhile now, every time I connect to a Wireless network, Vista has been telling me that I was connected to two networks: The actual wireless network (Local and Internet) Unidentified network (Local only) These systems were annoying at first, but I started having problems with VPN connections and accessing remote networks. The normal web browsing and email traffic seemed to be fine, but my job requires me to use VPNs pretty extensively, so it was really painful. Finally, after lots of troubleshooting, I found the solution tonight! There were two entries in my routing table for 0.0.0.0, the first being the IP address of my wireless router, and the second being an old static entry from when I was configuring a router weeks ago. So, just a simple "route delete 0.0.0.0" from the command line has fixed this annoying issue. Hope this helps someone else! Posted Dec 26 2007, 08:57 PM by Tom with 5 comment(s) Filed under: Windows Vista, Wireless

• Motorola Q9h customizations

  Last week, my beloved Samsung Blackjack bit the dust. Rather than getting a new Blackjack II, which looks like it has lots of problems compared to the original Blackjack, I decided to get the new Moto Q9h. Besides the sleek look, and small form factor, the keyboard appeared to be the best I had ever used, which was the only real reason that I decided on it. Upon getting the Q out of the store, I noticed that there was tons of crap installed on the device by default. As if it wasn't bad enough that we have to deal with tons of crapware/bloatware installed by default on new PC's, now we have the same problem on mobile devices. Below I have created a list of the modifications and customizations that I did on the phone immediately. Some of the items are simply icons or shortcuts that I removed, and some are registry modifications that were made to change the default behavior. When I was done, clicking on Start took me to a nice, clean UI that contained only 8 icons (two rows of 4, if using icon view) -- Messaging, Calendar, Contacts, ActiveSync, Call History, My Stuff, Applications and System Tools. I know that I could have take things even further, but I was content with this setup. File System modifications: (Note: You will need to use the EnableRAPI tool to get the necessary permissions to remove files from the device. You can find instructions for this, and a link to download the tool here.) Changes to \Windows\Start Menu\ Moved Windows Media Center.lnk from ATT Music to Applications Deleted ATT Music folder Deleted ATT Mall folder Deleted Cellular Video Deleted IM & Email folder Deleted Media Net Changes made to \Windows\Start Menu\Applications Deleted Get MobiTV Deleted Get MySpace Mobile Deleted Get TeleNav Changes made to \Windows\Start Menu\Games Deleted Get Games folder Changes made to \Windows\Start Menu\Office Tools Deleted McAfee Virus Scan Moved all remaining shortcuts to \Windows\Start Menu\Applications Deleted the Office Tools folder from \Windows\Start Menu Registry Modifications: (Note: In order to make the registry changes, you will need to install a registry editor on your device. I used PHM Registry Editor, and because it hasn't been updated for Windows Mobile 6, followed a nicely documented workaround in order to get it installed.) Change the web browser button on the top left of the phone to launch Internet Explorer instead of Opera. Launch the registry application on your mobile device Go to HKEY_Current_User/Control Panel/Keybd Find the value APP3_Path Change the data from OperaLaunch.exe to iexplore.exe Change the default homepage of Internet Explorer from AT&T's Mobile Net to Google. Launch the registry application on your mobile device Go to HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs\ Find the value home_0405 Change the data from http://device.home to http://www.google.com Find the value home_0407 Change the data from http://device.home to http://www.google.com Find the value home_0409 Change the data from http://device.home to http://www.google.com Posted Dec 05 2007, 02:11 PM by Tom with 33 comment(s) Filed under: Windows Mobile, Motorola Q, Internet Explorer, Wireless, Microsoft, Hacks

• How to remove files from a Windows Mobile device

  Anyone who has tried to delete shortcuts or files from a Windows Mobile device, knows the frustration of constant "Access Denied" or "You do not have the necessary permissions" messages. Below is a pretty simple way that I have found to get around these permissions, by using a tool called EnableRAPI. Download EnableRAPI and extract all files from the zip archive. Double click on EnableRAPI.bat and leave the DOS window it launches open Open Folder Options and choose to "Show hidden files and folders" and de-select the "Hide protected operating system files" option. On Windows XP, this would be done by launching Windows Explorer and clicking on Tools --> Folder Options and then the View tab. On Windows Vista, this would be done by going to Folder Options from the Control Panel and then clicking on the View tab. Connect your device to your PC using ActiveSync (Windows XP) or Windows Mobile Device Center (Windows Vista). Browse the device's file system using the File Manager tool in ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center. When you have finished making all of your modifications, close the EnableRAPI DOS window. Please note that I have nothing to do with the creation or support of the EnableRAPI tool, and have included a link to download the file here simply to try and make it easier for someone else to get. Posted Dec 05 2007, 01:51 PM by Tom with 17 comment(s) Filed under: Windows Mobile, Microsoft, Hacks, Software, EnableRAPI