October Monthly Expert Topic: Scary Windows Mobile Problems!!!

You wake up one day to discover your mobile is not listening to you anymore. Programs exit unbidden, or the unit simply hangs threateningly at the boot screen. It might refuse to start at all (uh-oh)! It's turned into a zombie... Yep, that's right. All you did was ask it to load some software, or maybe you tweaked some reg value you shouldn've. Next thing you know, your trying to resurrect it from the dead. The monthly blog topic (now re-instated that the awards are over), is back with tales of the darker side of WM, and the experts on our blog will bravely guide you through the cobwebbed halls of their scrariest crashes and device meltdowns. Enter at your own risk...muaahaahahahaha!

My most recent experience of woe occured during this year's software awards. I was checking out a registry wizard, and even though it warned me that a tweak might not be compatible with my device (to change the default SIP on startup), it resulted in the unit not booting past the splash screen on the next soft-reset (I tried it anyway). I soft and hard-reset to no avail. Hard rest would just throw it into the gray screen of the bootloader. Could it be my i-mate was bricked??! I had it backed up and everything, like a good little gadget freak! Then it hit me....uh, can't restore it if it doesn't boot, ya doofus!

It was an imate Windows Mobile Professional device, and I thought no biggie, I'll just go grab the latest ROM download and reload the OS from i-mate. WRONG...No can do. Because I forgot to register on imate.com when it was alive, there's no way to do it after the unit's given up the ghost.

So, I logged on to the chat service at i-mate.com, which was very helpful. The imate tech chat dude had me run through some 3-finger salutes before finally admitting that I had toasted it. First, he pinged my geek ego by telling me how to do a soft-reset. I was like, c'mon already... Finally, he, like me, admitted defeat. I asked him if he could just give me a download link for the ROM?! He responded that I would have to send it in for service... I was like, what ! For a ROM reload! puh-lease! Yep! I hadn't registered it so I had to send it in. Well, it turns out that the warranty service for i-mate in the United States is provided by the MOST Excellent PocketPCTechs.com! Me favorite mobile accessory and repair vendor! If they can't fix or replace something on your device...well...let's just say it ain't gonna grow back. They also have lot of cool stuff to enhance your gadgets, like replacement batteries, memory upgrades, cases and much more. My favorite is the LiL Sync-n-Go iPAQ cable...

I sent my unit in to the service center in CA, and in a coupla days they reflashed it and had it back to me good as new (Thanks, Leonard!...and PPCTechs). This time I registered and downloaded the ROM before I bricked it again...sigh. Moral of this story is to ALWAYS READ the manual, have a good backup and REGISTER your devices. It might save you the trouble of spending a few days without your trusty companion, or turning it permanently into Frankenstein!