Home > Articles

Navigating the Pocket PC GUI

This chapter is from the book

In this chapter

  • The Initial Startup Procedure
  • Connecting to Your Desktop PC
  • Taking a Look Around the Pocket PC GUI
  • Memory Management and Closing Applications

The Initial Startup Procedure

Because the Pocket PC operating system is based on the success and popularity of Microsoft Windows, it includes a similar look and feel as its desktop counterpart. However, mobile devices with constrained resources have their own special usability needs, which require the Pocket PC operating system to include features unique to mobile devices. This chapter gets you started using your Pocket PC and introduces you to the main components of the Pocket PC graphical user interface (GUI). After setting up your device and connecting it to a desktop computer, you explore some of the main facets of the Pocket PC GUI.

Your Pocket PC is a very sophisticated piece of computer hardware that must be fine-tuned to suit your needs. For this reason, you must set up a few things before you can begin using the device. If you've already gone through the setup process with your device, you can probably speed through this section. I still recommend that you read it just to ensure you properly set up everything on your device.

NOTE

If you ever let the batteries in your device drain down completely, you'll have to repeat the setup process.

The first step in setting up a Pocket PC is to personalize it by telling it who you are and what time zone you live in. But before you do that, you need to align the screen. This takes place when your Pocket PC first powers up out of the box. If the screen isn't aligned properly, the stylus will misinterpret taps and drags and you'll have a difficult time navigating the Pocket PC user interface. Align the screen by tapping the stylus on a series of crosshairs as they appear on the screen.

Setting the System Clock and Time Zone

After aligning the screen, you are prompted to enter your time zone. This information is important to keep the system clock running properly. Keep in mind that the system clock is used to schedule appointments and meetings, which is why accuracy is a must. Speaking of the system clock, you'll probably have to set it unless your device magically has the correct date and time already set when you get it. Following are the steps required to set the date and time on your device:

  1. Go to the Today screen, which is the main screen you see when you turn on your device (if you aren't sure whether you're there, tap Start in the upper-left corner of the screen, and then tap Today).

  2. Tap the date just below Start, near the top of the screen, which brings up the Clock Settings page (see Figure 3.1).

  3. Use the arrows to set the correct date and time for the Home setting; you can also tap the analog clock and drag the arms around to set the time. The Visiting setting enables you to set another time for when you're traveling and are in another time zone.

  4. Tap OK in the upper-right corner, and then tap Yes to save the changes to the clock settings.

Figure 3.1 The Clock Settings page is where you set the date and time for your device.

TIP

Make sure the time zone is set properly on your desktop computer; otherwise, you will find that your Pocket PC's clock will get reset each time you synchronize.

Entering Owner Information

With the date and time set, you are ready to enter owner information, which is very important in case you ever misplace your device. The following steps guide you through entering owner information:

  1. Go to the Today screen (you will automatically return to the Today screen after setting the date and time).

  2. Tap the Owner band just below the date and time, which brings up the Owner Information page (see Figure 3.2).

  3. Figure 3.2 The Owner Information page enables you to enter information about yourself, which can be important if you ever lose your Pocket PC.

  4. Fill in the text fields with your name, company, street address, telephone number, and e-mail address. The Input Panel (soft keyboard) automatically appears when you tap one of the text fields. To enter the @ symbol in your e-mail address, tap the Shift key on the Input Panel followed by the @ key, which appears where the number 2 key was.

  5. Check the check box below the text fields if you want the device to display owner information on a Power-On screen when it is first turned on. The idea is that someone would immediately know to whom a lost device belongs when it's first turned on. This option is a necessity if you plan to set a password on the device (covered in Chapter 4, "Personalizing Your Pocket PC").

  6. Tap the Notes tab at the bottom of the screen if you want to add any notes about yourself. The check box on the Notes page enables you to designate that the notes are displayed when the device is first turned on.

  7. Tap OK in the upper-right corner to accept the owner information.

CAUTION

If you plan to set a password for your Pocket PC, be sure to check the box on the Owner Information screen that displays owner information when the device is turned on. If you don't, and if the device is lost, the person who finds it won't be able to get past the password screen to find out who owns the device.

Naming Your Device

Now that your Pocket PC knows your name, it's time for you to give it a name of its own. Naming your device is important because this name is used to identify the device when you synchronize it with a desktop computer. Altering the name is more difficult after you've set up the ActiveSync synchronization software and connected to your desktop computer, so I encourage you to do it now. The device name also comes into play if you perform a hard reset after having set up the device for synchronization; you'll need to restore the original device name to synchronize and restore the device from a backup. Following are the steps required to enter a name for your device:

  1. Tap Start, and then tap Settings.

  2. Tap the System tab, and then tap the About icon.

  3. Tap the Device ID tab.

  4. Enter a name for the device (no spaces), along with a device description. The Pocket PC device name must start with a letter and consist of the letters A–Z and the numbers 0–9. Underscores are also allowed and can be used instead of spaces if you want to separate words.

  5. Tap OK in the upper-right corner to accept the device name and description.

NOTE

A hard reset involves completely restoring your device to its factory settings, which means all the memory is cleared. Even though this sounds harsh, it can be valuable on occasion, especially if your device is crashing or otherwise acting strangely. The key is to back up your device on a regular basis so you can restore important information if you need to perform a hard reset. Keep in mind that you must perform all these initial setup steps again if you perform a hard reset.

See Appendix C, "Resetting Your Pocket PC," to find out how to perform a hard reset on your device.

Your Pocket PC is now set up in terms of knowing who you are and having a name for itself. Now, you need to get connected to your desktop PC so you can install additional software and synchronize with desktop applications.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020