|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TECH SUPPORT INSIDER
Recovering lost PalmPilot data
By Chris Brown
Do you remember when the classic excuse for not turning your homework in on time was "the dog ate it?" When was the last time you used that line? Well, without the risk of showing your age, think of the last time your boss asked for a report that somehow slipped your mind. Hopefully you didn't try to convince her that Fido ignored his Kibbles 'n' Bits to try the new taste of Paper 'n' Ink. Besides, unless you were planning to hand in something handwritten, she'd probably ask you to just print up another copy of the report off of your hard drive.
Forget using your pets for scapegoats. Blame technology! "The dog ate my homework" has now become "My hard drive crashed!" It's a much more believable excuse these days. Chances are that it has already actually happened to you and anyone else who has ever worked on a computer for a good amount of time. Since it has probably also happened to your boss before, she's much more likely to be sympathetic and spare you the flogging.
"You should not try to HotSync before you use the backup files."
|
Now here's an excuse you should never, ever use: "My PalmPilot crashed and I didn't realize it was due today!" That's not to say that your PalmPilot device will never crash on you. As with any computer, it will probably hiccup sometime in your relationship. You might get away with this excuse if your boss has yet to be enlightened on HotSync technology, but you know better. If you are performing a HotSync regularly with your PalmPilot Desktop on your PC, you would still be able to see your To Do List and Date Book items just as they appear on your PalmPilot organizer. Not only that, but you would be able to synchronize and replace those items back onto your device with another HotSync. Performing a HotSync between your device and PalmPilot Desktop makes for a natural backup, of course. However, what if Murphy's Law combines with your bad karma (for not doing your report in the first place and then lying about it) and strikes at the data shared between your PalmPilot device and PalmPilot Desktop software? It wouldn't really make much sense to try to synchronize bad data to solve the problem, right?
Well, you may not know it, but while you are performing a HotSync, not only is the PalmPilot Desktop updating its copy of the PalmPilot device's data, another "secret" backup of your data is being written in the background. You can use this backup and perform some transplant surgery in your file structure to get things back up and running again.
PalmPilot med school 101: desktop anatomy
If you've never peeked inside of the PILOT directory (or Pilot Desktop 1.0 folder on your Macintosh) on your hard drive, now may be a good time to get acquainted with its innards. If you had to perform surgery later, you should know the anatomy of your patient, right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
