I'm in the process of setting up an HP laptop for home use. I've used Windows workstations for years, but this is the first box that I've been responsible for keeping alive.

Part of the reason for the new machine is so that I have something at home to sync my PDA to. Palm support on Mac OS is pretty lousy, and it's not much better on Win XP SP2. Palm doesn't support fast user switching on either platform; it doesn't support the more exotic Windows platforms like the tablet machines; and you can't install and run Palm Desktop with an account that doesn't have administrator privileges. At any rate, I was prepared for some frustration and swear words while I was installing the Palm support, and my expectations were exceeded. Yesterday, I had everything working to my grudging satisfaction, and then I added one more third-party item, one with a Windows app as well as the Palm app, and I promptly clobbered one of the Palm DLLs.

Now, I try to keep a journal of what I've installed, so that I can trace back to figure out what happened. But I'm not as methodical as Joseph Maddison, who's posted his notes. It turns out that ThoughtManager 1.28 installs an old version of UserData.DLL. I solved my problem by reinstalling Palm Desktop from the downloadable version (4.1.4E); I never could figure out how to use the installation CD to reinstall the app.

 posted: 10:31:47 PM       

"Not your name. Mine!"

(Thanks to things magazine.)

 posted: 12:16:22 PM