2 Mobile Hotfixes For Windows Mobile Users...

The first issue I want to cover is a follow-up to my previous post about a problem with my HTC Mogul causing all sorts of sync issues with my machine on our domain at work.  I checked to see if the problem was isolated to me or if it was a problem around the office.  There are 2 other Windows Mobile users on our network and found that they were experiencing the same issue.  A more detailed description of the issue was that when the WM device was connected to the machine on the domain, all of the user's file shares would go offline and tell the user that they were "working offline".  After unplugging the phone and waiting about 15 minutes, the system would resync with the file shares.  Even more specifically, it appears it affects users who are in an OU that is covered by a domain policy that redirects local folders like the user's desktop and My Documents folder.   

I bit the bullet after researching the issue and called HTC.  I got on the phone with a tech that was nice but had the aptitude of a carrot (maybe sand, not sure since it's such a grey area) and he argued with me that it was an Exchange Server "feature" that when you connect your WM device to your computer, it takes the Exchange Server connection offline in Outlook on the desktop so that it can sync with the WM device.  While some inkling of that seems to make sense, I told him to start over and forget everything that we had talked about and LISTEN to my problem.  I explained, in detail, the problem again and he then retorted with, "Oh, I see what you're saying... It's not supposed to do that."   I appreciate the affirmation that my problem was truly a problem and not some figment of mine, or 2 others, imagination.  In fact, this problem is widespread through PPC forums across the net and some people had answers about variations of the problem but none actually hit it on the head.  It's probably out there somewhere so I wouldn't dare take credit for "figuring it out" but while on the phone with the guy I was talking through what I had tried and something occurred to me to try something else.  I seemed to remember that WM devices, when connected to a computer, create a new physical network connection.  I navigated over to Control Panel -> Network Connections and found the one for a "Windows Mobile Device".  At this point, I figured it had to be there.  I then Right-Clicked on the device and went to "Properties".   Inside of there I deselected "Client for Microsoft Networks" and "File and Print Sharing".  I hit "OK" and disabled and enabled the connection.  The problem went away!  I passed the information on to the HTC tech and he said that he would add it to their database.  I'd love for one of the HTC techs to tell me that they actually added this data as it would be immensely helpful to a domain user somewhere.  This issue is found on Windows Mobile 5.0, 6.0 and 6.1.

The next issue that has plagued the WM6.1 is that POP/IMAP email fails to send after a short time once you upgrade to 6.1.  This fix was a bit easier to find and is fixed through a simple patch from Microsoft.   If you are experiencing an issue where Mobile Outlook tells you that it cannot send an email and you know that the settings are correct, this will likely fix your problem. 

A more detailed dialogue of why this problem occurred is found at the Microsoft website linked in below.  This will take you to the page where you can read about and download the fix.

Windows mobile 6.1 Hot Fix for Sending POP and IMAP E-mail

I hope this information is helpful to some of you out there.  I'd love to have you comments.

Joe

mrwebguy