I am unable to sync my (windows mobile) treo 700w with my thinkpad-x41
notebook running Vista Ultimate. I downloaded Windows Mobile Device Center
(post beta, BTW) version 6 and installed it. But the WMDC never
acknowledges that the treo is plugged it via USB or bluetooth. WMDC always
displays "not connected" in the lower left corner, and I have never been
able to get that "not connected" message to be replaced with an
acknowledgement that the treo is installed or plugged in.

The phone, computer, and cable synced fine via ActiveSync on Win XP SP2
previously. But a few weeks ago I wiped the disk and installed Vista (and
WMDC), and have never been able to sync since then.

I called Verizon and spent hours on the phone with tech support, repeatedly
uninstalling/reinstalling WMDC among other debugging steps. So far, they
have no solution. At one point they passed me off to Palm tech support,
where the Palm tech walked me through the process a couple times. Palm
concluded that the phone was bad, so Verizon sent out a new phone. No luck.
I called Microsoft's Vista tech support, and spent several hours on the
phone with them, but unfortunately that was useless in that both techs I
talked to had never heard of WMDC until I called, and thus the only advice
they could give me was info they were reading from the same website I was.
Very surprising!

BTW, just in case, I tried buying a new USB cable for the phone, but no
luck.

Can someone help me find a source of expert debugging expertise on this
topic? Is there a phone # at Microsoft dedicated to this topic? Is there a
newsgroup dedicated specifically to WMDC? Should I try ActiveSync on Vista?
Other suggestions?

Thanks,
Bruce

WMDC (and ActiveSync 4.5) changed the way it actually connects the device to the computer. A couple of things to check. One, go to Start | Settings | Connections. Do you have a USB to PC icon? If so, select it, and make sure Enable advanced network functionality is checked. This is not available in all WM5 devices. It was added back in an AKU upgrade. You may want to check to see if you have the latest ROM installed on your phone.

If it's checked, do you have the firewall enabled? If so, there are ports that need enabled for WMDC to see the device.

Hmmm... I don't see "Start | Settings | Connections". Did you mean
something in Control Panel or Admin Tools? (I have highly customized my
start menu, so maybe mine looks different than yours??)

As for firewall, I am using Windows Live OneCare. I enabled (in Settings |
Firewall | Firewall Connection Tool ) the "ActiveSync/Windows Mobile Device
Center" option to open ports for mobile syncing.

Also, Palm tech support told me to go to Settings | Firewall | Advanced
Settings | Ports and Protocols, and open TCP port 5721 for inbound packets.
I have not found verification of this requirement from microsoft or another
source. But I figure that opening a port cannot be hindering the sync
process.

Does the above firewall config look correct?

Thanks, Bruce

"jgormlyjr" <jgormlyjr******.com> wrote in message
news:jgormlyjr.2p7raz@no-mx.tabletquestions.com...[color=blue]
>
> WMDC (and ActiveSync 4.5) changed the way it actually connects the
> device to the computer. A couple of things to check. One, go to
> Start | Settings | Connections. Do you have a USB to PC icon? If so,
> select it, and make sure Enable advanced network functionality is
> checked. This is not available in all WM5 devices. It was added back
> in an AKU upgrade. You may want to check to see if you have the latest
> ROM installed on your phone.
>
> If it's checked, do you have the firewall enabled? If so, there are
> ports that need enabled for WMDC to see the device.
>
>
> --
> jgormlyjr[/color]

Sorry for the confusing post. I probably should have clarified. Start | Setting on your device, not on your laptop. Start | Settings | Connections (you should see three tabs in Settings).

I've not had to make any modifications to the firewall settings like that to get it to work. All I had to do was make sure that windows mobile device center registered correctly as a program that is allowed through the firewall.