Home » Support » Quick Help » How To

How To Switch From Synching Through Outlook To Synching Direct

Please note that not all handhelds are capable of synching direct. Please make sure that your handheld is compatible with the direct sync before attempting this. The direct sync is compatible with handhelds with the Pocket PC, Windows CE 3.0+ and Windows Mobile operating systems. It is not compatible with the Windows Mobile Smartphone operating system or the Windows CE operating system prior to 3.0. handhelds. How To Find Versions has instructions on how to find out your handheld's operating system.

1. If you have any data in the handheld that is not in your contact manager, stop here and contact our Technical Support department.
2. Back up the data in your contact manager. See How To Backup A Database.
3. Disconnect your handheld.
4. Open Microsoft ActiveSync.
   1. Go to the File menu.
   2. Select Delete Partnership and choose Yes. (Note: You should not delete the synchronized files folder if you are prompted to do so.)
   3. Repeat the previous step until this option is greyed out.
5. Remove CompanionLink's record of what was synchronized.
   1. Open the CompanionLink folder (located at c:\Program Files\CompanionLink and/or c:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data\CompanionLink\CompanionLink)
   2. Delete all files ending with an extension of ".dat". If you cannot find these files, please see How To Display All Files.
6. Reconfigure CompanionLink.
   1. Open CompanionLink Setup.
   2. Click on Settings. If you see the user profile screen, click Next.
   3. Select Pocket PC Sync Direct.
   4. Click Next.
   5. Click Configure. Your settings should not have changed.
   6. Click on the Category Field tab if you have one. If you get an error here, stop here and contact our Technical Support department.
   7. Click on the Purge And Reload tab. Select Contacts, Calendar and Tasks. This will delete all of the data from your handheld and replace it from your contact manager. This is necessary to prevent duplicates.
   8. Click Apply, OK, Next and Finish.
7. Exit CompanionLink Setup. (Note: NEVER open CompanionLink Setup while the handheld is connected.)
8. Soft-reset your handheld.
9. Reconnect your handheld.
10. You will be prompted to set up a new partnership. Do this. You need to make sure that Clx-Activities, Clx-Contacts and Clx-Todos are checked. Do NOT check anything else at this point.
11. Your handheld will now attempt to synchronize. This process makes three synchronization passes, the first to read the records on the handheld, the second to read the records in your contact manager and the third to do the synchronization.
12. If you have problems at this point:
    • If no information types appear in the lower half of the ActiveSync window, disconnect the handheld and reconnect it. This is sometimes necessary in order for the correct files to install on the handheld.
    • If Attention required appears in ActiveSync, disconnect the handheld, then reinstall CompanionLink, reconfigure it, then exit it and put the handheld back in the cradle.
    • If Resolve items or unresolved items appears in ActiveSync, go to the Tools menu and choose Options. On the third tab (typically Rules), under conflict resolution for the desktop, select 'Always replace items on my device' and click OK.
    • If Items not synchronized appears in ActiveSync, go to the Tools menu and choose Options. On the middle tab (typically Sync Mode or Schedule), choose 'Continuously while device is connected' and click OK.

When the synchronization finishes, the data from your contact manager should be on your handheld. In order to synchronize it in the future, simply connect the handheld. Do NOT run CompanionLink Synchronize.