Out of space?

Having problems managing storage space on your Palm? Ashish Gupta lists a few software programs that can help you deal with unwanted or large files on your handheld computer

Running out of storage space on your Palm handheld computer? Begin with deleting files that you don’t need or rarely use. Perhaps you installed a program to try it out, but then didn’t like it much. Chances are you forgot to delete it, and now you don’t know where it is or how to delete it.

Go to Menu and choose Delete. It will list the available space and total space on the handheld device. Scroll through the list of applications and delete unwanted files and programs.

If you don’t like the in-built delete function, download and install BeamWare. An excellent application, written primarily to allow you to beam software from your Palm to another device, it is amazingly effective when you need to clean up your Palm. It can list programs, databases, orphaned files, etc. It has the option to sort the list by file size, allowing you to easily delete all unused large files. It even has an option that lets you search for all the files installed by a particular application. A number of times, users delete just the main application file and leave the other database and preference files that are created by the application when it was installed.

InWatch
This application automatically tracks all files installed on your Palm and offers a comprehensive uninstall option. Many shareware applications often leave bits and pieces of files when they are uninstalled. These can add up and waste the Palm’s limited memory, cause conflicts, or just make your machine untidy! If an installation is monitored by InWatch, the software can ensure a complete uninstallation.

A must-have program for anybody installing shareware on the Palm Pilot—be it a beginner or an advanced user, InWatch includes the ability to pre-clean your system to remove accumulated data that pre-existed on your Palm prior to installing InWatch.

Compress files
If you’ve removed unwanted files and still face a space crunch, compress files. FlyZip XR is a straightforward, fast and easy-to-use compressing and decompressing utility, operating right on your Palm. With FlyZip you can double the amount of data stored on your Palm, without modifying the hardware. FlyZip is small and elegant, yet a powerful application that uses only 34 K on your Palm. It also features password protection for zip files. It compresses a 100-150 KB file in about 2-3 seconds.

MemMaker
Compress or decompress individual files or databases with a tap of the stylus. You can permanently delete files from within the MemMaker program. It displays information rega-rding the compression details of the programs and the system, with a summary page that shows you how much memory has been gained by compressing files. MemMaker performs all compression and decompression on the Palm device itself, thus eliminating the hassle of HotSync.

HandZipper
HandZipper allows you to zip/unzip .zip files directly on memory cards. Once the zip files are saved onto the memory card on the desktop via card reader, HandZipper can unzip and install Palm files directly from the memory card to the Palm device.

Many downloads come with a simple readme file in text format. HandZipper also has a simple text viewer that allows you to view text files within the zip file, without saving it to the memory card first. It is helpful when installing new applications. By utilising the compression algorithm, Hand-Zipper can use less memory card storage space to backup Palm files.

Thus, an 8 MB memory card can easily store over 12 MB of files.

Ashish Gupta is the founder and president of The Indian Palm User Group. He can be reached at ash@notcomguys.com || Feedback, questions and comments will be entertained, and appreciated. Technical support questions will be answered. IPUG Website: www.notcomguys.com/palm