At any rate, I installed BackupBuddy and following its simple instructions, set it to Active mode. Then I placed the PalmPilot device in the HotSync cradle, hit the HotSync button, and waited for it to complete.

It took about ten minutes for the process to complete. Still being somewhat paranoid, I made a second copy of my GewirtD folder (containing all my HotSync data after the BackupBuddy backup), just in case I needed it sometime later.

I was then even more paranoid and individually zipped, using WinZip, the two backups of my person folder. It would prove to be a very smart move.

Installing the hardware
And then, I opened up the PalmPilot Professional device and proceeded with brain surgery. The process is pretty straightforward. You turn off your organizer, flip it over, and remove the batteries. Breathe.

Then you pop open the memory door (the large door near the top of the device), and remove the memory card inside. Remember to breathe.

Finally, you insert the new memory card (complete with the cool little IR transceiver) into the memory slot, and put the new door with the red plastic "eye" back on the PalmPilot device. And breathe deeply. You're done.

I have to admit that this is a pretty cool design. For about $130, you can completely update the personality of any Pilot or PalmPilot. A very nice design.

Unfortunately, restoring my data was to prove to be a substantially tougher challenge.

Attempting to restore my data
Once the new memory card was installed, I performed a HotSync to get my data back. Unfortunately, part of the way into reloading my applications, the Palm III (now it's a Palm III) device reported a Fatal Exception. This is not generally a good thing. Apparently, the HotSync got sick reinstalling one of the applications.

Rather than zeroing out the Palm III device and reinstalling everything again from the beginning, I decided to just do another HotSync. I clicked the button and waited.

It turns out that most of my add-on applications didn't make it back down in that second restore attempt. And my absolutely essential, can't-live-without-it To Do List was totally toasted, as you can see in Figure A. And, to top it all off, all the categories were gonners. Thrilling. I'm beginning to enjoy this upgrade as much as I do when I have to reinstall Windows on a PC.

FIGURE A

I've got lots of free time now that my To Do List is toast.

So, here we go again. This time I'm completely zeroing out the Palm III device (a hard reset is done by pressing the power button while also pressing the reset button on the back of the machine; then press the up scroll button to confirm the reset). Next, I took my first backup of the GewirtD folder (prior to the BackupBuddy backup) and placed it in the PILOT folder.

Buckle up, boys and girls. Time to try a HotSync again.

OK, so we've had a bit more success. The built-in applications appear to have restored their data correctly. My To Do List is no longer populated by bizarre small rectangles. And my categories are back the way they should be. That's a relief.