Palm Desktop Troubleshooting Notes

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Notes on troubleshooting Palm Desktop installations.

  • Uninstalling the Palm Desktop with the Add/Remove button may not be possible after multiple computer users are configured. See Knowledge Library article 10996 to learn how to uninstall Palm Desktop properly under Windows XP.
  • Occasionally, synchronization does not actually transfer any data between the Windows XP desktop and the handheld, even though Hotsync manager reports a successful synch. Make sure that there are not any additional users logged into the computer, and attempt the synch again.

Make sure that you are using the version of Palm Desktop that came with your device.

From Palm's support documents:

"Although Palm OS and Palm Desktop are independent, there may be some features or file structures that change between different versions. Due to these differences, some versions of Palm Desktop may not be available for synchronizing your handheld. Use the Palm Desktop version recommended for your handheld. Which version should you use? We have an easy-to-use selector right here.

In addition, whenever you buy a new handheld, we recommend you install the Palm Desktop package from the CD included in the box. You should do this even if you appear to have the latest Palm Desktop version already installed from a previous handheld. The reason? Some driver and SYS files are updated for your new handheld, without changing the Palm Desktop version number."

Additional troubleshooting notes:

From Brighthand forums:

" uninstall palm desktop on both accounts, reinstall under administrator rights, hotsync, then log off, don't reinstall palm desktop again, just remove admin rights after your first hotsync, then totally log off, go onto limited user account and hotsync, make sure the hotsync icon is running."

"12-28-2003, 08:01 PM There is another way, but it's not "official" If this is a one time thing, go with AlanG's method (addition: If the user is planning on syncing, you will need to grant them local admin rights for both the installation and the first hotsync)

However, if this is the type of thing where there will be many users, or different users on different computers, and you want to avoid having to grant local admin rights to everyone and their brother you can use the following method. (err... I should say most of the time, with the default Windows security permissions)


  1. Install Palm Desktop as you normally would under the administrator's account.
  2. Open regedit. Find HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
  3. Export the US Robitics key.
  4. Place the Palm Desktop shortcut AND the exported registry key in the 'all users' desktop folder in Documents & Settings. (Note, it may be neccessary to change the permssions to allow the "everyone" group on the local computer to run the shortcuts -- depending on your setup.)
  5. When the user logs in, they will need to double click the registry entry that is (now) on their desktop. Even with the default Windows security options, it should merge successfully into the registery. This only needs to be one time per user.
  6. Now have the user try to access Palm Desktop... should work great.


I'm assuming that when you just tried to run palm.exe from the palm folder you got the "ERROR: Invalid configuration. Terminating Palm Desktop" message.


Anyway, give this a shot, and see if it works for you."

Palm Desktop installer asks for 'PalmDesktop.msi' or 'InstallScript engine'

If the Palm Desktop has been installed over an older one, or if the Palm Desktop has been uninstalled manually, this error may occur. See Palm's support library, article Solution ID: 39070

Tips for installing Palm desktop for non-admin users

One user reported the following:

"I resolved it by giving the user domain admin rights as well as local domain admin rights. The software installed and then I just reduced the rights in the domain back to a domain user."

From the Brighthand forums:

If this XP platform is part of a network and the user is logging in via a domain login, he the user must be promoted to admin level on the domain for the install, not the local box. After the install then he can be demoted.

Also, the Palm software should be installed to the user's folder, not the \Program or c:\ location.

Procedure to try -

  1. via control panel Remove the Palm desktop application.
  2. provide admin rights to the user for his "LogIn", if domain it must be to the domain.
  3. Have user login.
  4. disable any antivirus protection, or copy the install CD to a C:\ location and execute from there.
  5. also, shutdown all other applications.
  6. install the software to \[user name]\Palm directory.
  7. when completed then attempt the first hotsync, If you receive the new hardware found message then manually to point the driver location to the loaction the software was loaded. (the driver in XP library is most likely not compatable)
  8. After completing the first Hotsync, confirm data is accessable on the desktop.
  9. Have user log out, demote to previous rights. Enable Virus protect sware...
  10. Have him log in and test.

Troubleshooting Roaming User Profiles

At first glance, it appears that Roaming User Profiles under Windows XP may not work. See the discussion on Brighthand's user forums for more information

Synchronizing With More Than One Computer

This information was pulled from Palm's Support site on May 21, 2007 http://kb.palm.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE?New,kb=PalmSupportKB,CASE=obj(29452),ts=Palm_External2001


One handheld device, two Macs or PCs (or a combination thereof)

Many people like to keep two computers (such as home and work) in synch with their device. The key to making this work is that one of the desktop computers will merely hold a copy of the data on your device. If you attempt to do a two-way synchronization with both computers, your data can become confused.

  • On the computer that provides true synchronization (often your work computer): Change the conduit settings for the Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Notes to Synchronize the files. This ensures that any changes you make in Outlook or Palm Desktop will be reflected on your device.
  • On the computer that will hold a copy of the data (often your home computer): Change the conduit settings for the Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Notes to Handheld overwrites Desktop, and check the box for Set as default. This lets you keep a copy of your data on the second computer, but won't get confused if you try to synchronize with multiple PCs or Macs.

This arrangement lets you have your personal data copied to the second computer and also lets you install software from the second computer. Make data changes on the device when using the second computer; the data only travels to, not from it.

Finally, use the most recent version of Palm Desktop and HotSync Manager in both locations (you can even sync with a Macintosh at work, and Windows at home).

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