Develop Bugs

SMS backup to PC-getting tool SMS Export(yorch.net) working?

HI together, :?
I`m new in this forum and found it because I have a issue I don`t get rid of. I have 2500 sms messages on my xda and want to sell it to get a new one. My problem is I don`t want to delete my whole sms messages as there are so many important one I can`t delete as I need them documented.
I installed now the SMS Export tool from yorch.net as I red in this forum here that I should be able to get this done with this tool.
Problem is that I´m not able to get it done successfully.
1. I downloaded the tool and installed it from my PC over Active Sync on my xda.
2. I can see the SMSExport.vce file in my root folder on my xda
3. I can see the VICERT.vce and Visual CE.unload file under /windows
Problem is now that I need asistance how I can use the tool now ?
1. If I start the VICERT.vce file I get the msg "Run VisualCE.exe to create a form"
2. If I run Visual CE.unload file as I don`t see a exe I get the msg that there is no application assigned to the file?
3. If I riun the SMSExport.vce file I get a programm called SMS Export Utility in front of me where I don`t know how to handle to get the sms messages on my local PC.
My aim is to read the sms messages on my local pc (word or txt file) and burn it as backup on a cd.
I would really appreciate any help as I spent hours already on this topic and I`m not smart enough to get it done.
Thanks in advance...

check this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=36072#36072

Exporting SMS to Storage
Have you tried this program? http://xpocketpx.fw.hu :lol:

Importing CSV contacts directly into Windows Mobile device

I'm trying to find a free solution to synchronize my Google Apps contacts with my HTC Touch. I have decided to export my Google Apps contacts into a CSV file and import them directly into my Windows Mobile wirelessly using the data plan...
Is there any software that will let me import my Google Apps contacts directly to my Windows Mobile address book?

I needed to do something similar and found this web page: http://manish.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/importing-contacts-to-windows-mobile-without-ms-outlook/
So here you rename your CSV file to whatever.CSC, zip the file and rename the zip to whatever.PIB.
Then you can use the PIMBackup software to import the contacts.
I've done this just now while I typed this message and it worked.
I didn't need to zip * rename to PIB, I simply imported the CSC file.
The reply is a bit late, but maybe it will help someone, I certainly found this thread.

Well I think now you can just do it directly from google. m.google.com/sync

yeah but google sync works spuriously and will delete all contacts when the server is deleted so it is not good for a reliable 2 way backup. A .csv import tool is still needed.

i cant do the same with messages, it pimbackup always assumes the csv is contacts, any solution anyone?

fixed that, now pimbackup wont accept teh format

Importing the easy way!!
@ amahfouz
Try and get the CSV imported to your Outlook contacts and then just sync your phone with your PC. This should be the easiest solution I can think of!!

I had the same problem and didnt find a good solution, so i wrote an app for importing contacts from a google csv, havent tested it with other csv-files.
Works good for me.
If you have contacts on your phone already you should back them up using PIMBackup or som other app before using this app.
There might be errors in the csv-file and if there are the contacts will be created with errors like phonenumber in the name-field and so on.
How to use it, your three step guide to a better life:
1. click on "Choose file" and select the file you want to import
2. click the "Read contacts" and it will load all rows into memory and display how many rows it found
3. click "Import contacts" and it will create a contact for each row it found
if something went wrong and the contacts look wierd or something, just clik on the "Clear contacts" button, click yes when asked if you want to delete all contacts, and it will remove all contacts. Note that it deletes ALL contacts, not just the ones it just created, so if you had contact before importing these you should have made a backup like i told you to do, because now you haveto delete every contact manually.
ofcourse you use this app at your own risk, i dont take any responsabilities to what might happend to your phone, not that i think something will.
Its just reading a file and creating/deleting contacts.
Hope it helps someone...

im gunna give this a try, sounds like it will do the trick
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-thunderbird-contacts-export.html
(works perfectly )

Do you run this application on your phone or PC?

Worked a treat, Cheers

Very useful thread! Thanks a lot!

Thanks guys! This saved my skin!

Backing up the many small but annoying stuff

Gentlemen, (and ladies if any of you are hiding around here)
Whenever I flush my device I use PIM Backup and Sashimi to restore PIM data and install some of the apps I use. The thing I'm missing is a simple way to backup other device characteristics and features. These are many small things, like the order of the manila tabs, communication settings etc. They are all pretty simple to set manually, but since there are many of them it would be nice to find an automatic way to do them.
Below is a numbered list of things I would like to restore. If you have a good solution to anything on the list, please post it here. If you have other things you would like to backup, please add them as well.
1) Tab order in TF3D [hint]
2) List of apps included in the "Start" menu [solution - files]
3) List of cities in the weather tab [solution - Reg entry]
4) List of "Favorites" in the People tab [solution - file]
5) Browser Bookmarks [solution - files]
6) Internet Services Settings (e.g. The default access name is "uinternet" and I have to set it to "internet" manually) [possibe solution]
7) Default ring tones
8) Programs in the Program Launcher tab [solution - Reg entry]
9) Email accounts (PIM backup fails to set up my IMAP accounts. I'm not even sure it suppose to) [hint]
I'm aware of apps that can be used change many settings, like "Diamond Advanced Config", or the "Diamond TF3D Config". If possible don't just pint to apps that can do something manually, but suggest how to script a solution that can make the changes automatically.
For the purpose of this thread please assume that Sashimi is installed and can be used, but if the solution calls for a script or a registry entry change, please include or quote the file that can be used with Sashimi.
This is my first post in this tremendously helpful, active and important site, so I would also like to say thanks to all of the contributors, chefs, admins, moderators etc. who are supporting this site.
Owlen

owlen said:
1) Tab order in TF3D
2) List of apps included in the "Start" menu
3) List of cities in the weather tab
4) List of "Favorites" in the People tab
5) Browser Bookmarks
6) Internet Services Settings (e.g. The default access name is "uinternet" and I have to set it to "internet" manually)
7) Default ring tones
8) Programs in the Program Launcher tab
9) Email accounts (PIM backup fails to set up my IMAP accounts. I'm not even sure it suppose to)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry I can't give you working Mort scripts or .reg files etc. At least, not yet. But I'm searching for similar info and solutions, as I have the same need to automate installation after hard reset as much as I can. In general, for settings that are saved in the registry, you'll have to find out where the registry keys are saved, so you can export and import them using Sashimi.
1) I suggest asking sushilange, the creator of Diamond TF3D Config, or schaps, the creator of Advanced Config, how and where Manilla saves the TF3D tab order. If the registry is used, we can export the keys and import them using Sashimi. If the tabs are saved in one or more of the obscure Manilla files in \Windows, we can also save and restore them using Sashimi.
2) If I understand you correctly, just save and restore any shortcuts you like from \Windows\Start Menu with Sashimi.
3) You can try to add cities for your Manilla/ROM by setting up and running this application as part of your Sashimi setup. Or you can contact the creator, or the creator of the WeatherDatabaseEditor and find out which file(s) to backup and restore using Sashimi, after you're done editing your cities..
4) Don't know yet. Maybe sushilange, D-MAN666 or any of the other guys working on editing Manilla know how and where Manilla saves the TF3D contact favorites..
5) For Opera Mobile save and restore \Windows\Opera9\opera6.adr. For Pocket Internet Explorer save and restore \Windows\Favorites
6) Have a look at the provisioning functions in Makisu. I know the previous version of Makisu can setup e-mail accounts and maybe the new version can setup connections as well..
7) Don't know yet, probably somewhere in the registry
8) I suggest seacrhing or asking sushilange how and where Manilla saves the programs in the TF3D Programs tab. If the registry is used, we can export the keys and import them using Sashimi. If the tabs are saved in one or more of the obscure Manilla files in \Windows, we can also save and restore them using Sashimi.
9) Have a look at the provisioning functions in Makisu. You can't create your e-mail accounts with the backup applications I know..

favorite people seems to be in the pim.vol file. You can copy that file to internal storage and restore is using total commander.. or spb backup restores the favorite people as well
programs in manilla are listed in the registry under this key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\Manila\ProgramLauncher]
cities found under weather are in the registry here:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\HTC\Manila]
back it up and pop it in sashimi
good luck with the rest... its sad we have yet to see an all-in-one backup solution. Actually, i think it'd be great to see a manilla backup program developed for the issues you're raising.. tab order, people, programs, weather, etc

im eagerly awaiting this, ROM updates are so annoying when there's no simple backup solution

Please take a look before you post a thread in a certain section. This has nothing to do with ROM development...

Thanks for the hints, people. I'll start linking to them.
I'm still not sure how to contact the apps developers. If anyone can point them here that would be great.
mccune, I considered putting it elsewhere, but I think the issue of automating many small stuff like that is mostly common for people who flush ROMs. I believe that currently this thread is the one they read most often. If this thread will have some good solutions, or even better, lead to a development of a tool that can take care of all of this, I guess it could be placed anywhere and maybe the standard sticky tutorials would link to it.
If anyone has additional stuff he would like to restore – please post and I'll try to put it up in the list.
Mandragore & racerx_, thanks for the answers!

I have opened a thread here with all info to do automatic backup of all you have asked for, and more.

kika.93 said:
I have opened a thread here with all info to do automatic backup of all you have asked for, and more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good, thanks!

Migrating SMS and MMS to Windows Mobile 6.1

Hello Folks!
About 10 days ago, I got myself the brand new HTC Touch Pro 2 as - as a birthday present and to replace my old P3300 (Artemis) which was becoming more and more defective.
Some of you probably share the opinion that the Touch Pro 2 is a great piece of technical art - both the hardware and the software. I think HTC made a terrific job by inventing the appealing and intuitive TouchFlo 3D surface (TF3D) and knitting it so deeply into the Operating System (OS) of Windows Mobile (WM) that you will hardly get in touch with WM itself anymore.
As I eagerly startet to play with the device and to migrate my data from the old P3300, I got into deeeeeeep trouble: SMS were there and threaded, but only visible in the Messaging application of WM (Pocket Outlook) - no SMS visible neither in the Messages tab of a contact nor when tapping on the SMS in the basic Messages tab of TF3D. MMS not visible at all. As I wanted my MMS back and my messages to show up in the contacts, I started to investigate and looking for a solution.
I can assure you that I spent a lot of hours looking for solutions, in this forum as well as on the whole Web. I tried and learned a lot (I'm not a developer), but couldn't find a working approach. I called HTC, wrote to HTC and wrote to Arcsoft (the manufacturer of the MMS Composer on HTC devices) about a solution to correctly migrate all kind of messages to higher versions of WM. HTC replied pretty quickly, but did not have a solution for the issue: "[...] We have indeed been asking Microsoft for this for quite some time, and as far as we know, they are working on it. Indeed, there appear to be rumours that they have been working on adding SMS to PC backup to the next version of their Activesync/WMDC software for WIndows Mobile 6.5. [...]"
Therefore, I had to figure out how I could help myself. I found a way, and because it took me sooooooooo much time (!!!!), I would like to share this with you and possibly help to save your time. If you don't want all the background information, you can skip the sections "Starting position" and "Findings" in the next message and go to message 3.

Part 2: Starting Position and Findings
Starting position:
I had a Sprite backup of my messages (SMS, MMS, emails) from my old P3300 which was running on WM 6.0. As the P3300 was not working anymore, I had no other option than using this backup on my new Touch Pro 2. So, I tried to restore all mail-related items from this backup using Sprite - which created the above and below mentioned problems.
Until and including WM 6.0, MMS were saved in a separate account called "MMS". In WM 6.1, MMS are stored in the same account as the SMS ("SMS/MMS"). An existing MMS account in a cemail.vol file from WM 6.0 or earlier that is restored on WM 6.1 is not visible.
WM 6.1 introduces the new "Messages Threading" feature. Threading organizes received and sent text messages (and MMS because they're in the same account now) into threaded conversations.
Findings:
I have no clue why my SMS did not show up in the contacts of TF3D. I tried some approaches that I found on the Web and that might have been able to solve my problem, e.g. clearing all SMS/MMS and restore the messages with PIM Backup (link to proposal), or renaming cemail.vol resp. deleting it by placing a shortcut in the startup folder (link to proposal). None of these worked.
The cemail.vol file (container of all messages of all types) cannot be renamed or copied or moved. The only possibility I found is MortScript that can copy/backup the file during startup of the device before WM gets hold of the file. You can find the script itsself below.
In Pocket Outlook (Messaging), the MMS folder was gone. However, the folder showed up as an account in the email-tab of TF3D with sender, date and headline, but tapping on the message had no effect. PIM Backup (with action "Backup") also showed the MMS folder with all the subfolders and the correct number of MMS.
I could not find a solution or registry tweak to make the MMS account show up in Outlook.
The hidden WM6-MMS-account might look like corrupt to WM 6.1. If so, there could be a relation between the MMS issue and the problem of not having messages in a contact's messages tab because of old, "corrupt" data in the cemail.vol file. I have no proof that this assumption is true.
It is also possible that restoring an entire cemail.vol file somehow confuses the threading process in WM 6.1. I have no proof that this assumption is true.
PIM Backup is currently (V 2.8) not able to backup and restore MMS due to proprietary binary saving by Arcsoft's MMS Composer.
If you try to restore MMS with PIM Backup, the MMS shows up as MMS, but has no content when you open it. It seems as using PIM Backup on MMS makes the reference to the MMS content (each MMS has a dat-file in \My Documents\UAContents\MMS UA\) being lost. Backing up and restoring cemail.vol as a whole keeps these references.
As far as I understand, PIM Backup backs up/restores messaging by reading/writing them via Outlook interface. This is a different approach to just copying/replacing the entire cemail.vol and might be the reason for the above mentioned loss of MMS reference: Using the Outlook interface, each restored MMS might look like a new incoming MMS to MMS Composer, so it creates a new reference number for the dat-file.
I found that the binary Arcsoft-MMS data in cemail.vol could be considered as irrelevant: If you rename an existing dat-file with the new reference number that is created for a MMS restored with PIM Backup, the content of the MMS is shown as it should. This even works with text-mode based PIM Backups where there is no binary data included at all.
The binary backup mode of PIM Backup is faster than the text mode, but the text mode has 2 advantages: 1) The backup file is a zip-file containing csv-text-files which you can extract, read and edit. 2) From my point of view, the text mode is more reliable, particularly in backing up and restoring emails' contents.
Using Pocket dbExplorer, I tried to have a look into the cemail.vol file and extracted some content. I judged it as not feasible to figure out the layouts and contents of the various databases and records in order to alter cemail.vol directly.

Part 3: The solution and tools
Solution:
Based on my investigations and the findings above, I tried the following steps which finally worked and solved all my problems regarding the migration of messaging data. However, especially the MMS part is quite some work, so maybe someone has ideas on how to speed this up.
If you can't access your old device anymore, goto step 2. If you still can use your old device, you're luckier than I was and have a much easier process: Install PIM Backup on both your old and new device and create a text-mode based (deselect the 'Binary backup' option) backup of all your messages on the old device. Copy the following files to your storage card and goto step 5 after:
PIM Backup file
Folder "\My Documents\UAContents\" (dat-files with MMS content)
Folder "\Windows\Messaging\" (text and attachments of emails)
If you can't use your old device anymore, but you have a text-mode based PIM Backup file as well as the 2 folders mentioned in step 1 on your storage card, then you can skip the next steps and goto step 5.
If you have a backup of a backup software (like Sprite Backup), including the cemail.vol as well as the 2 folders mentioned in step 1, then do restore this backup on your new device now.
(Note: If you don't have access to your old device and no backup file, there's nothing to restore and you can start your life with your new device free of history . If you have a binary PIM Backup file, you can restore your SMS, but you won't be able to restore your MMS as described in this approach.)
Only if you have executed step 3: Install/start PIM Backup on your new device and create a text-mode based (deselect the 'Binary backup' option) backup of all your messages on your new device.
In WM 6.1 MMS are stored in the same account as SMS, so we need to alter the PIM Backup file a little to make sure that PIM Backup does not restore the MMS into a hidden account again:
Open the PIM Backup file like a ZIP file and extract the msgs_<date>.csm.
Open the csm file with any text editor.
To redirect your MMS in the MMS-Inbox to the Inbox of the SMS, replace all occurrences of the string "\\%MDF1";"MMS";"IPM.MMS1" by "\\MMS\\in";"SMS";"IPM.MMS".
To redirect your MMS in the MMS-Sent Items to the Sent Items of the SMS, replace all occurrences of the string "\\%MDF3";"MMS";"IPM.MMS1" by "\\MMS\\out";"SMS";"IPM.MMS".
(Note: If there are no occurrences of the above search strings, you can delete the "1" from "IPM.MMS1" and try again.)
Save the csm-file, place it back into the PIM Backup-ZIP-file and copy the backup-file to your storage card.
If your new device is not "fresh" and contains messages, then you need to delete the existing cemail.vol file in order to start with a fresh messaging-file that has no "legacy pollution" on your new device. As the file is locked during operation of the PPC, MortScript helps you to perform the deletion on startup:
Install MortScript on your new device.
Copy and extract the attached script (cemail.vol_backup-restore-delete.mscr in ZIP-file) to your computer. This script is based on hercule18's work (Thank you!). It didn't work on my device, so I fixed it and added two more options that we need for our purpose here.
The script backs up to and restores from the storage card. In the script, you find 3 occurrences of the word "Speicherkarte" which is the german translation of storage card. Open the script with any text editor and replace these 3 occurrences with the name of your storage card exactly as it shows up in the explorer on your new device.
Save the altered script, copy it to your new device and run it. Choose "Backup & Delete" or "Delete" (we won't need the old cemail.vol anymore, but maybe you feel better with a backup) and Reset Yes. When your device restarts, MortScript deletes the messaging file and WM replaces it with a fresh, empty one.
If you've manually copied the necessary directories with the MMS- and email-content (unlike step 3), you can copy these folders from your storage card to your device now:
Folder "\My Documents\UAContents\"
Folder "\Windows\Messaging\"
Now you are ready to start restoring all the messages. First you only restore the Inbox and Sent Items of SMS (text messages) in order to allow WM 6.1 the threading process (organizing received and sent items into conversation threads). Start PIM Backup, choose action "Restore" and load the text-mode based PIM Backup file that you've created before. Choose ONLY messages, and in the messages' options, only Inbox and Sent Items of the SMS/MMS-account. Go!
On completion of the restore, open Messaging (Start --> Messaging) and choose your SMS/MMS account. In the Inbox, you can watch WM now threading the messages. Give WM the time to complete this process until you feel that it's done and your device is reacting at normal speed again.
Check if TF3D shows the threaded messages if you click on a text message in the Messages tab or if you choose the Messages tab in a contact.
Start PIM Backup again, choose "Restore" and load your PIM Backup file again. Select ONLY messages, and in the messages' options, select all other folders of the SMS/MMS-account, EXCEPT Inbox and Sent Items. In the last dialogue, choose "Add messages..." Go!
If you want to restore email-accounts, you have to create this accounts in Messaging/Outlook first, because PIM Backup does not restore to accounts that don't exist. After creating the corresponding accounts, you can restart PIM Backup, "Restore", load your PIM Backup file and select all the folders of the email-accounts you want. Make sure you choose "Add..." instead of "Delete..." in the last dialogue!
Finally, we need to recreate the reference between the restored MMS and the MMS-dat-files in "\My Documents\UAContents\". This is how I did it:
Create a list of your dat-files with name, date and size, using the attached Excel-Sheet (MMS-Renaming.xls in ZIP-file). To populate the sheet with your data, you can access your storage card (where you have a copy of the above mentioned directory) with your computer and create a text-file by --> Start --> Execute --> "cmd" --> navigate to the drive and directory with your dat-files (e.g. E:\My Documents\UAContents\MMS UA\) --> "dir >list.txt". Copy the content of the list.txt into the xls-sheet and put the data into the right columns (yellow columns). Order by date (descending).
Connect your device to your computer via ActiveSync and open an explorer window showing the content of \My Documents\UAContents\MMS UA\ on your device (not on the storage card!).
Now you have to find out the new reference number that MMS Composer is looking for when you open an MMS. If you did the above steps (altering and restoring the PIM Backup file) correctly, you can find your MMS in the subfolders MMS\in and MMS\out in your SMS/MMS account. Navigate into these folders in Messaging/Outlook, order by date (descending) and do the following steps for each MMS:
Open the MMS (it doesn't show any content).
While leaving the MMS open, refresh the explorer window on your pc, showing the content of the MMS UA folder.
Now you will see that a new folder appeared - the name of this folder is the new reference number we are looking for.
Find the right row in the xls-sheet (same date and size as the open MMS) and note the new reference number in the green column (only number, no ".dat"-suffix).
When your xls-sheet is complete, you have a list of MortScript-commands in column F. These commands will rename your dat-files with the correct number so that MMS Composer will find its targets. Put the content of column F (without the title in row 1) into a normal text file and save it as "mms-renaming.mscr".
Close Messaging/Outlook.
Copy the mms-renaming.mscr to your device and start it. The script runs only a few milliseconds and does not inform you about completion.
You're DONE! When you open an MMS now, you should see its content as it used to be.
Mentioned tools for the solution:
PIM Backup (Freeware)
MortScript (Freeware)
Other tools mentioned:
Sprite Backup (Commercial)
Pocket dbExplorer (Commercial)

Part 4: A looot of questionmarks!
Open Questions:
Maybe someone has an idea on how to speed up this process, particularly step 13?
Could Arcsoft save the reference number as a normal field in cemail.vol instead of in binary blobs? This would allow PIM Backup to backup and restore this reference and would save us all the renaming hassle.
Why the heck do I have to do this? I pay to buy a working phone, I'm not paid to make the phone working!!! My job is in IT, too, and I learned so far that migration is a very important part of producing software. Why does migration apparently not count for upgrades in PPC-software/-OS? Why do I as a customer have to spent so much time to find a workaround for this bloody problem? In this case, 3 companies are involved: HTC, Microsoft and Arcsoft. It would be fairly easy for these people to implement a migration mechanism that stores the customer's important data in a file format of the current OS's/software's specification and restores the data on the new version considering the changes in the new version. So, why don't they do it??? I have no understanding at all for this!!!
As a loyal customer who buys products from the same manufacturer again (HTC in this case), can I expect to have support and solutions that help me to migrate my data when buying a new device? Or is that a completely weird expectation?
Remark:
I really have already lost a lot of time on this issue. I've created this thread to maybe save you some time in case you have the same problems, but for me, the issue is now closed. I won't spend more time and ask you for your understanding that I will not be able to give any support or answer questions. In case of further questions, please search the forum and the Web. All I can say is that the manufacturers should take the bait and do their homework. Migration counts - life (and life is a lot about communication and interaction) is not a game that restarts from scratch only because I buy a new PPC or upgrade my software!

Thanks
This post was really helpfull. I was not migrating from wm5 to wm 6, but was just looking for a solution to restore my MMSs after a rom upgrade.

What a neglected Problem
Thanks Vivalis !!! I stopped looking for a "quick fix" once your post was read.
I could not believe HTC, MicroSoft and/or ArcSoft didn't provide for backing up/restoring important user data when migrating or performing an OS upgrade or firmware update, etc.
Not only is MMS not restored, but all the MicroSoft One-Note files are lost (not backed up by ActiveSync - my wife nearly beat me to death - and I got the phone to make her happy). I later found these are saved in the Windows directory on the mobile device (HTC XV6900) and not with other MicroSoft documents for some reason.
MicroSoft/ActiveSync needs to get up to speed with these mobile phones. Messaging is what it is all about! People like to have their messages!

Dear Vivalis,
I can not describe how I thank you for your thread. I was seeking for days to find a solution to move my MMS from my ORBIT to the DIAMOND. I succesfully moved them with your "guide". But it was a bit complicated to me to understand all steps because English is not my native language. I spent some hours (every day a few) and today I finished with success. Now my memories which are very important to me are on my DIAMOND.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Best regards from Bremen (Germany)!

Reason why MortScript probably didn't restore and the fix
I was migrating from a failed HTC Touch Pro (Mobile 6.1) to a second one (keyboard when out on the first) and wanted to get the cemail.vol to the new phone. The MortScript backed up my 5meg cemail.vol from the old phone with no problem. BUT when I went to restore it on the second phone, I got xcopy errors. Looking at the script I noticed there "Restore" / Case 2 scripting the second line did not have double quotes around the root directory back slash. I edited it to read:
rest = "XCopy (""Storage Card\cemail.vol"" , ""\"" , 1)"
Storage Card being the part that needs to match the name of your flash disk name.
I ran this script and all my sms and mms messages now show up on my new phone.
I had previously copied the folders
Folder "\My Documents\UAContents\" (dat-files with MMS content)
Folder "\Windows\Messaging\" (text and attachments of emails)
to this device, so I"m sure that is why the MMS messages still have their photos attached to those messages.
I hope this helps people out!
Cheers!

Cool trick!
V useful post. Thanks a bunch for the info.
I was looking for a way to get the images out of the .dat files from a backup when I found this post. After reading this I was able to recover some images I wanted from just the back up of UA Contents\MMS UA .dat files with no MMS/PIM backup or folders available.
Step 1 Send yourself an MMS with an image attached. (This is because you can only save the image from an MMS you have received, not from a draft copy!)
Step 2 Open up the MMS you've just received from yourself!
Step 3 Peek at the MMS UA folder on your device - look for the folder made of numbers that matches that of a .dat file. (Neat trick that helped me find the dat file I needed out of all the files in that folder! Cheers Vivalis.)
Step 4 Close the MMS
Step 5 Rename the .dat file you want to recover to the numbers of the magic folder you just spotted and copy it over the top of the .dat file of the same name.
Step 6 Open the MMS with hey presto your recovered image.
Step 7 Save your image from the MMS.
Repeat steps 4 to 7 for as many .dat files you need to get your precious pics from and viola! Now I no longer use MMS to store my pics - I always save the attachment to the Storage Card as soon as I get them and delete the mms. Ya never know when that phone is gonna crash next..

Vivalis said:
Solution:
If you can't access your old device anymore, goto step 2. If you still can use your old device, you're luckier than I was and have a much easier process: Install PIM Backup on both your old and new device and create a text-mode based (deselect the 'Binary backup' option) backup of all your messages on the old device. Copy the following files to your storage card and goto step 5 after:
PIM Backup file
Folder "\My Documents\UAContents\" (dat-files with MMS content)
Folder "\Windows\Messaging\" (text and attachments of emails)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello i need to migrate sms and mms from windows mobile 6 to 6.1, the same problem you describe in your guide, but i have a great problem, i can't find the dir UAContents with the data of my mms. I have a lot of mms but My Documents folder does not contain a folder UAContents... Why ? Thanks in advance for your help....

I'm in deep doudou, I backed up my phone using PIM backup (binary) then gave the phone to somebody. Then I restored my stuff into my new phone, the sms were there and so were the emails (that's what I thought) but then later during the day I tried opening my email and to my surprise the emails were there but when I opened them they were blank. Every single email that was restored was blank so I'm stressing I got the phone back and copied the folders specified here but the person I gave the phone to had already deleted a lot of the emails. What are my options?... I tried doing the instructions above and couldn't get it to work. plzz help!
Folder "\My Documents\UAContents\" (dat-files with MMS content)
Folder "\Windows\Messaging\" (text and attachments of emails)

THanks for the good tips in the thread really useful
I have another qn, currently am trying to migrate a HTC Tytn2 on WM6 to HTC HD2 - WM6.5
i find the phone cannot complete the copying of sms and typically dies halfway..
i have about 6000 sms in the inbox and 1800sms in the sent box and about 10 mms
will this consitute any problem for WM6.5? Anyone with experience of handling such large number of sms ?
will the threaded sms feature impact my transfer?
thanks!

I wish I've looked around and found this thread sooner ..M$ is such a capitalist.. why don't they let people make free stuff to take care of problems that people went through everyday because of their lack of customer service?

how can transfer Windows Mobile SMS - MMS from windows mobile 6.1 to iPhone iOS 6?

[Q] Recovering SMS...

Hi.
OK, this is my story...
I had a TP2, dropped the phone, cracked the screen. Sent it away to my insurance, and they tell me it's beyond economical repair. How that works, I dunno, as from what I've seen, it's less than £100 to repair. Anyway, they told me that they're gonna give me a cash settlement of £350.
Now, I'm looking at swapping over to an android phone. But, I wanted to know whether there was any way of recovering my SMS to transfer to the android phone...
I took a backup of the phone using SPB Backup. Have an unpacker tool that should allow me to extract the contents of my backup... Now, the problem I've had, is that most programs to save SMS from Windows Mobile require you to have the phone. Now, I don't have the phone, I just have the contents of the phone. But, it should be possible from these files to retrieve the SMS, should it not (I've not found anything, hence my questionning... But my search was probably rubbish keywords?!)...
Then, what would be the best software to transfer this retrieval on to an android phone?! I've found a few which import from xml, txt, csv, but not sure which is best, etc...
Any help appreciated

You can try the following solution:
1. Run Spb Backup Unpack tool in PC to retrieve and export your text message.
Link: [spb.com/pocketpc-software/backup/unpack.html]
2. Run SMS Backup & Restore in your Android phone to import text message (from file created by Spb Backup Unpack tool)
Link: [android.riteshsahu.com/apps/sms-backup-restore]
Hope it can help you.

merci_vn said:
You can try the following solution:
1. Run Spb Backup Unpack tool in PC to retrieve and export your text message.
Link: [spb.com/pocketpc-software/backup/unpack.html]
2. Run SMS Backup & Restore in your Android phone to import text message (from file created by Spb Backup Unpack tool)
Link: [android.riteshsahu.com/apps/sms-backup-restore]
Hope it can help you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for the reply... Didn't realise that the SPK Unpacker tool allows you to save the sms... Haven't had chance to play with it yet, but when I get back home from work, intend to do just that!
Thanks again for the reply... Just need to hope that the Desire Z is released soon!!! lol

Just to keep this thread updated...
Used the SPB Backup Unpack tool, to get my sms inbox and sent items... In my android device, used SMS Importer Lite program. This program can only import 100 messages per file. My sms csv file fromthe SPB backup contained over 1000 sms. So, what I did was to edit the csv file in notepad (in windows), and take 100 sms at a time (ctrl+g to go to line 100, and cut all files above this), and then past it to a new csv file. Then, edit the settingsin SMS import lite, so match the same csv file structure as the csv I Had. I then imported each file 1 by 1. This way, I managed to get all sms files
Just missing the mms messages. But am happy enough to get all the other messages
Hopefully this will help anyone else who wants help in this matter!