Synchronising your Palm device with your desktop computer converts your handheld computer from a needle into a Swiss knife, says Ashish Gupta

To enjoy your Palm handheld computer to the fullest, you must learn how to synchronise it with your Desktop. Synchronisation enables you to install new, essential and useful software onto your Palm device. It also allows you to exchange data between your desktop computer and your Palm handheld computer.

The ability to synchronise your device with your desktop computer converts your Palm handheld computer from a needle into a Swiss knife; a caterpillar into a butterfly.

The process of synchronising your Palm handheld computer with your desktop computer is called HotSync-ing. A HotSync operation synchronises data between the two. New addresses, memos, etc, from the desktop computer are added to the handheld device, while new entries made in the handheld device are updated to the desktop. In this way, you don’t need to type all your information twice. Typing it either on the desktop or in the handheld computer will automatically transfer it to the other after a successful HotSync operation.

In order to perform a HotSync operation, you need: A Palm handheld computer, a HotSync cradle, and the Palm Desktop software.

Have cradle, will rock
Note that a few models of Palm OS-based handheld computers (e.g. Handspring Visor Solo) are sold without a cradle. If you have one of these models, you can purchase a HotSync cradle, borrow a friend’s, or use the Beam Receive option of your device to install new software. You can even use a modem to synchronise and/or directly download software to your Palm handheld computer.

First, make sure the HotSync cradle is connected correctly to your computer. Some cradles have a serial connection that connects to the serial or COM port of a computer, while others have a USB connection that connects to the computer’s USB port. A USB cradle is preferred to a serial cradle. A situation may arise wherein you have a serial cradle but no serial port available, or a USB cradle and no support for USB on your motherboard. There are solutions for these issues. Feel free to e-mail me if you have such a problem.

Next, get the latest Palm Desktop Software, available free for download from http://www.palm.com/software/desktop.

Install the Palm Desktop Software onto your computer and follow the instructions on the screen.

HotSync operation
Once this installation is complete, you can begin a HotSync operation. Load the HotSync manager software. You will see a red/blue circular icon in your system tray. Right click on this icon. Make sure Local USB is ticked if you have a USB cradle. If you have a serial cradle make sure that Local Serial is ticked.

Right click the red/blue icon and select Setup from the menu. Under the General tab, select how you would like to enable the HotSync manager. Tick on ‘Always Available’ if you synchronise often. Use the other options if you prefer to start the HotSync manager manually or if you do not HotSync on a regular basis.

Tip: HotSync at least once a week with your desktop in order to keep your data backed up and to avoid a catastrophic loss of data in case of loss or theft of your handheld computer.

Proceed to the Setup/Local menu. Select the serial port that your cradle is connected to. Note that if you select the wrong serial port, not only will your handheld device not synchronise, but also your desktop computer’s dial-up modem, if attached, may also not work. Selecting the correct serial port will solve the problem. If you have a USB cradle you can ignore this setting. Set Speed to ‘As fast as possible’.

Now, right click on the HotSync icon in the system tray, and select Custom from the menu. Here you will find a list of the items that will be synchronised during a HotSync. You can set any of these items to ‘Do Nothing’ status if you wish not to synchronise them. Set System to ‘Handheld overwrites Desktop’ and make this the default setting. Set Install to ‘Enabled’.

You can view a log of the last HotSync operation by right clicking on the HotSync icon in the system tray and selecting View Log from the menu. This will tell you whether there was a problem during HotSync, and, if so, what the problem was. You can then easily correct any error that might have occurred.

Install software
Now you will be able to install new software onto your Palm handheld computer with the touch of a button. Try it by downloading some software from www.palmgear.com and installing it. When you double click on the downloaded .prc file it will be added to the Install directory of your Palm handheld computer and the software will be installed during your next HotSync operation.

Note that the Palm OS equivalent of the .exe extension is .prc. The Palm OS essentially uses two extensions, .prc and .pdb. The former usually refers to a Palm executable file while the latter refers to a Palm database file.

Ashish Gupta is the Founder and President of The Indian Palm User Group. He can be reached at ash@notcomguys.com