How do I recover from a hard reset?

Article ID: 000003

Problem:

I just had a hard reset on my Palm, and need to restore my Life Balance data. What should I do?


Solution:

Restoring a Palm handheld from backups can be tricky. We made some changes in Life Balance 3.2.4 and later to make this process easier, so be sure to choose the appropriate instructions for the version of Life Balance you were running at the time of the crash.

Please do not HotSync before you have completed these steps!

If you have Life Balance for the Desktop, turn the Life Balance conduit to 'do nothing' until you have reinstalled Life Balance on your Palm. Click 'Make Default'

Life Balance 3.2.4 -May 2004 -and later

Life Balance 3.2.4 and later simplify the procedure of restoring from backups by ensuring that you won't lose your Date Book links if your Life Balance data is restored before you Date Book data. However, you still want to be careful to keep a copy of your backups and to only restore the data that you actually need.

  1. First, locate your Palm Desktop user folder. On Windows, this will be a folder named C:Palmsomething or C:Program FilesPalmsomething, or My DocumentsPalm OS Desktopsomething, where something is derived from your HotSync name. On Mac OS X, the folder will be Home:Documents:Palm:Users:HotSync name:. On Mac OS 9 it will be Palm:Users:HotSync name:. You'll know you've located the correct folder if it contains subfolders named "Backup" and "Life Balance", and the modification dates on the files match the time of your last HotSync.
  2. Make a copy of your Palm Desktop user folder and put it somewhere safe, like the desktop, where it won't be modified by future HotSyncs. If the restore goes smoothly, you may not need this folder, but you'll be glad to have it if something goes wrong.
  3. Look inside your Palm Desktop user folder (the original one, not the copy you made) and create a new folder there named "Archive". Move the file Life Balance.prc out of the Backup folder and into the Archive folder so it will not be restored when you restore your Palm.
  4. Move any other files that you do not want restored from the Backup folder to the Archive folder. The Backup folder accumulates everything that you have ever had installed on your Palm, including applications and data that you have deleted. In fact, your Backup folder may contain more data than your handheld can hold! Your restore will go more smoothly if you archive any files that don't need to be restored.
  5. Perform a HotSync, which will restore the files in the backup folder.
  6. Examine your handheld to make sure that everything (other than Life Balance) restored correctly. In particular, make sure that your Date Book is correct.
  7. Download a fresh copy of Life Balance.prc from the Llamagraphics web site and install it onto your handheld.
  8. Launch Life Balance on your handheld and run the Verify Data command from the Options menu. If any problems are found, repair them.
  9. Look over the Life Balance data on your handheld to make sure it is correct.
  10. Remember to restore your conduits to their prior state.

Life Balance 3.2.3 and earlier -before May 2004

In Life Balance 3.2.3 and earlier you need to restore files in a particular order so that you don't lose the links between Life Balance and the built-in Date Book. To restore smoothly for version 3.2.3 and earlier, you need to make sure that the Date Book is restored before you restore Life Balance.

  1. First, locate your Palm Desktop user folder. On Windows, this will be a folder named C:Palmsomething or C:Program FilesPalmsomething, or My DocumentsPalm OS Desktopsomething, where something is derived from your HotSync name. On Mac OS X, the folder will be Home:Documents:Palm:Users:HotSync name:. On Mac OS 9 it will be Palm:Users:HotSync name:. You'll know you've located the correct folder if it contains subfolders named "Backup" and "Life Balance", and the modification dates on the files match the time of your last HotSync.
  2. Make a copy of your Palm Desktop user folder and put it somewhere safe, like the desktop, where it won't be modified by future HotSyncs. If the restore goes smoothly, you may not need this folder, but you'll be glad to have it if something goes wrong.
  3. Look inside your Palm Desktop user folder (the original one, not the copy you made) and create a new folder there named "Archive". Move the following files out of the Backup folder and into the Archive folder so they will not be restored when you restore your Palm:
    • Life Balance.prc
    • Life Balance Outline 3.pdb
    • Life Balance Places 3.pdb
    • Life Balance Appointments 3.pdb
    • Life Balance Sync 3.pdb
  4. Move any other files that you do not want restored from the Backup folder to the Archive folder. The Backup folder accumulates everything that you have ever had installed on your Palm, including applications and data that you have deleted. In fact, your Backup folder may contain more data than your handheld can hold! Your restore will go more smoothly if you archive any files that don't need to be restored.
  5. Set the Life Balance conduit to "Do nothing", and make that the default setting. That will prevent the conduit from running when you HotSync.
  6. Perform a HotSync, which will restore the files in the backup folder.
  7. Examine your handheld to make sure that everything (other than Life Balance) restored correctly. In particular, make sure that your Date Book is correct.
  8. Install the four Life Balance pdb files that you archived earlier onto your handheld by double-clicking on them or using the Install Tool. You can leave these files in the archive folder — they should not go back in the backup folder. Do not reinstall the Life Balance.prc file.
  9. Download a fresh copy of Life Balance.prc from the Llamagraphics web site and install it onto your handheld.
  10. Launch Life Balance on your handheld and run the Verify Data command from the Options menu. If any problems are found, repair them.
  11. Look over the Life Balance data on your handheld to make sure it is correct.
  12. Go back to the Life Balance conduit settings and set it to Synchronize by default again.

Do not launch or HotSync Life Balance if the Datebook databases are not already restored on your Palm because this will cause Life Balance to see that there are no appointments in your Calendar, and it will lose the links to your Datebook events.

If you have lost the links, please contact us. We have a utility that can help you recover the links.


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