This HOW TO is for people new to the Pocket PC landscape. The guide shows you how to install a program on your i760 that you downloaded onto your desktop first.

1. First, you need to be able to see the extension on the file you have downloaded. In Windows XP, when viewing the folder the file is in: Click Tools, Folder Options, click the view tab and then uncheck hide extensions for known file types.

2. Determine the file type. While looking at the file name, at the end should be a period followed by ~3 letters (eg .txt .rar .cab .zip). Use only the letters following the last period (eg I once downloaded a file named something like this: ******.cab.rar; for this file the extension is .rar).

3. If the extension is .cab skip to step 5a. If the extension is .exe skip to step 5b. If the extension is .zip skip to step 4a. If the extension is .rar skip to step 4b. If it is another file type, it is not currently covered in this post.

4a. For files with .zip, you should be able to use Windows built in program to unzip the file. Right click the file and click extract all. Follow the directions to unzip the file to a folder where you can find it. Go back to step 3 using this new unzipped file.

4b. For files with .rar, you will need another program besides Windows built in ability. Winrar is an example but there are others. Once you have decompressed this file, go back to step 3 using the new file.

5a. For a .cab file you need to place the file on the device and run it from there. The easiest way to do this is when the phone is connected to Activesync, go to My Computer, click on My Device and place the file in somewhere you will remember where it is (using copy and paste like any other file). Now go to your device and using file explorer, go to the .cab file and click on it to run it. The program should install. Note: If you want to install the cab file directly from your PC, see plinydogg's comments in post #4.

5b. For .exe files the program should install from your PC. With the device connected via Activesync, double click the .exe file. A dialog should pop up showing installation progress and giving any further instructions. Note: If you get a warning that the file is invalid, see PerfAlbion's comments in post #3.

PS: In general: Most programs can be safely installed to a storage card. However, any program you will be using a lot or uses a today screen plugin should be installed to the device.

This is my first 'HOW TO' but I have seen questions regarding this on a few posts. I assume this information will be available in the upcoming setup guide but this is available until then. Also, since it is my first guide, I limited its scope (XP, i760 and 4 file types); however, it should be applicable to more devices and with some modifications other desktop OSes. I would not mind adding to it with the approval of someone with more experience.

Thanks

Attention Mods: can this be made a Sticky?

BTW, great "How To", Hooray...

Note that very, very rarely you're actually downloading the .exe file that you'll run on the PPC. If you drop the file on your PC and it tells you it's invalid, try copying it to the PDA and running it directly. If it works, you'll need to build a shortcut to it in \Windows\Start Menu\Programs.

Also, here's a post from my blog that discusses how to install .cab files from a PC:

Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine Expert: Ben Stanley - How to Install .CAB Files from Your Desktop

I've cross-linked it into the FAQ post that is collecting content for the FAQ sticky. Rather than stickying topics, this forum uses a FAQ sticky and that contains links to the valuable content contributed like this. We have too many worthy topics to handle them in stickies.

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^^^,^^ Post updated with your info, thanks.

^, sounds good to me