Backing up your EPOC PDA

There are two ways of going about this, via Psiwin/EPOCConnect to a PC, or via some third party software to a CF card or FTP server.

Psiwin/EPOCConnect

N.B. Psiwin & EPOCConnect are two names for the same piece of software - it varies depending upon which brand of PDA you have - I will refer to it as Psiwin 'cos its shorter to type ;o>

The advantage of this method is that it is simple, but it is slow and of course will only work when you have access to a PC with the software installed. If I remember correctly, the default installation setting is that backup will initiate every time you connect your PDA. If it does not, you can start the process simply by right-clicking My Psion on your desktop, and choosing 'Backup'.

CF Card/FTP Server

The obvious method here would be to simply copy the entire contents of your C drive to a CF card plugged into the PDA. Note that you will have to have enabled 'Show System folder' in File.. Tools.. Preferences.. on the System screen, so as to be able to copy important system data (control panel configurations, application settings etc.) that are stored there. However this method is slow, since you will be copying every file every time you back up, no matter whether it has changed since your last backup or not.

A better solution is to use one of several pieces of shareware to manage the backup process for you. I've tabulated the ones I've come across, and noted some of their special features. I use and can highly recommend Backup - and its only costs 10 euros!

Page last updated: March 20, 2003