This may be a trivial question, if so apologies!

Is it possible to connect a USB Flash Drive (the little 256MB items etc.) to
a PDA (IPAQ, for example) and read files from the Flash drive?
I have various spreadsheets, word documents and simple text files (notepad
files) which I need to carry around and currently access with my laptop.
Could I ditch the laptop, carry the files on a USB flash drive and read them
on a PDA?

Steve

I have a Jornada 720 and I did a dir *.exe /ah /s and I got the list
below.

Directory of \Windows

07/14/00 08:16a 509017 nk.exe
07/14/00 08:23a 127582 filesys.exe
07/14/00 08:24a 589910 gwes.exe
07/14/00 07:49a 20061 device.exe
07/14/00 08:23a 22109 rnaapp.exe
07/14/00 07:53a 6237 ctlpnl.exe
06/29/00 02:09a 18515 ieres.exe
06/29/00 02:49a 2645 eventrst.exe
06/29/00 02:49a 44116 rapisrv.exe
06/29/00 02:49a 54356 repllog.exe
06/29/00 02:49a 51284 wceload.exe
06/29/00 02:51a 12883 unload.exe
06/29/00 02:51a 8277 clocknot.exe
06/29/00 02:51a 4179 calnot.exe
07/14/00 08:17a 3160 hpinit.exe
07/14/00 08:17a 66649 diagnostic.exe

Found 16 file(s). Total size 1540980 bytes.


What does it do and what do the other apps do? What is filesys.exe or
device.exe? I tried running diagnostic.exe from RUN, but could not.
Perhaps I have to to a attrib filename.xxx -h to be able to read it.

I do not know if PocketPC users also have diagnostic.exe, or maybe DOS
users know what these apps do.


Thanks,


John
--
http://johnw.freeshell.org/Stratega/ - A Macintosh Stratego clone
http://www.yellowgames.com - A Windows/PocketPC/Windows CE Stratego clone

"Steve Almond" <stepheninlancs@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:31enlgF39t9qvU1@individual.net...

I am a PDA newbie myself but am pretty sure I am correct with all this.
Other posters may correct any mistakes.

No to the flash drive and yes to the concept. Most PDA's support either the
SD memory cards or the CF flash cards (consider both to just a "flash drive"
with no case). The new Axim and some other brands support both formats.
Compared to hard drive space the cost per MB is quite high. I was pleased to
buy some 512 MB SD cards (approx. 1/2 gig) for $29 after rebate. High cost
per MB compared even to a laptop HD.

The biggest problem you will have is screen resolution. The typical PDA has
a screen size of 240 x 320. Most likely your laptop is running at 800 x 600
or even 1020 x 768. This results in a lot of scrolling. For me using
mostly database functions this is not a problem. Trying to read anything
with any size might be a problem.

Colbyt

"Colbyt" <colbyt@stopspam.lexkyweb.com> wrote in message
news:4OGdnTiKkJBy-i_cRVn-iA@giganews.com...

Thanks for the explanation. If I'm understanding this, I could load a group
of files (Excel spreadsheets, Word docs, text files etc.) from my PC
directly to the PDA onto the card (CF or SD)? Or would I need a card reader
on my PC?

I understand what you mean about resolution. I think some newer PDAs may
have higher resolution screens. Does this help, or just make the text
unreadably small?

Would a text document reformat itself to the correct width of the screen
(wordwrap)?

Steve

"Steve Almond" <stepheninlancs@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:31g136F39mhjaU1@individual.net...
I think I have read that some formatting is lost with word files. The
"pocket word" does not have the capacity to handle it. You would not need a
card reader. Your cradle connection would allow you to transfer files
directly to the card media. I think the excel files transfer intact. I just
don't have any experience with this yet. Update! Rather than think I just
copied a Word document to my PDA. The file consisted of one legal page with
tables to format the data. It is actually my pricelist for services. It
destroyed the formating. Rendering the text but not maintaing any semblence
of the table format. It did wrap the text to fit the PDA screen size and it
maintained different text sizes. All of the text was there but due to the
table format this document would be worthless compared to the orginial. I
also copied a stadard word doc with no tables and the pocket edition
rendered all the text in a wrapped to screen size format. I think what type
of files you want to copy will determine your satisfaction level

The physical screen size is the limitation. My Dell is not a month old. I
think there are screens about 20% larger. My only experience with this is
with HTML files saved to the PDA. They require scrolling to view. I tested
HTML because I wanted to be able to use this for the web on short business
trips.

I don't own the desktop version of Excel but if you would like for me to try
something else just post back. Helping you helps me learn also.

Colbyt

Colbyt,

Thanks for taking the time to do & explain all this.
You've given me the confidence to buy a PDA and give it a shot!

Steve

"Colbyt" <colbyt@stopspam.lexkyweb.com> wrote in message
news:C-ednXIbYvGpJi7cRVn-gg@giganews.com...

Try search.

Google on diagnostic.exe:

http://www.extranet.colligo.com/know...on.php?qstId=9
Colligo Networks, Inc. - Technical Support
.... The Colligo Diagnostic Tool (colligo diagnostic.exe) is used to
test for network
packets between two devices such as TCPIP (received packets), UDP
(received ...
www.extranet.colligo.com/ knowledgebase/question.php?qstId=9 - 36k -
Cached - Similar pages