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I came across this problem as soon as I bought my Visor. I've got two networked computers here at home, one that
I use in my office and one that my wife uses. Palm Desktop works great on my PC but I also want my wife to be able
to see my schedule, address book, etc. I also want her to be able to add an event to the calendar and have that
event show up on my computer, and subsequently HotSync to my Visor.
Or, you may have slightly different needs. If you only need to be able to view the data on the other PC, and
not edit it, then there are other options.
First, here are some software options that I've found:
- Time & Chaos
This is a replacement for Palm Desktop. It allows all users on the network to share data.
This option is okay, but it's not free.
- WeSync
This is a web-based solution that allows teams of people to share and sync calendars, contacts, etc.
I don't like this, but it may be right for your needs.
- GroupSync
This product is no longer available in its original form. The company is incorporating it into a new
product that they are developing. But in its original form, this looked like a great solution. It is not
a Palm Desktop replacement. It simply allows multiple networked computers to sync their Palm address book,
calendar, etc.
- DeskPilot
This is a nice solution if your "other" PCs only need to view your data. You may not want your
spouse or other office workers updating your stuff. Just install DeskPilot on your "other" PCs, and view
the data on the shared drive over the network.
- Convert to HTML
This is also a nice solution if your "other" PCs only need to view your data. There are several
utilities out there that allow you to convert your data to HTML files. Just run this in your scheduler
every night, and store the HTML files on a shared drive on your network. Then on the "other" PCs, use the
File -> Open option to view a local HTML file. Once you're there, just bookmark it for easy access
in the future.
The solution I'm using is free and uses my current software.
- Get Palm Desktop and your PDA working and syncing properly on one PC. Make sure you store your data in a directory that is shared on the network.
- Install Palm Desktop on the other PC.
- On that other PC, if you go to Tools -> Options, and you try to set your data
directory to match the network location of your data files, you may get an error message saying that the directory
"cannot be used to store your data because it is being used by another user". If this happens, don't worry.
- Since the program won't let you make that change, just change it in the registry. The following registry key stores the location of your Palm data files.
Search for this key, and change its value to match the location of your data files:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\U.S. Robotics\Pilot Desktop\Core\Path
WARNING: If you're not familiar with editing your registry, you may do some damage that will make you regret trying.
You may want to back it up first.
Edit your registry at your own risk. To do so, select "Run" from your "Start" menu, enter "regedit", and click "OK."
- The only caveat to remember is that both PCs now use the same data. And there is no "official" sharing. By this,
I mean that if both PCs run Palm Desktop simultaneously, they will overwrite each other's changes. Basically, the
last one to save wins.
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