Database Develop

New user

Hey y'all, I'd just thought I'd introduce myself to the Kaiser world seeing as I'm going to be spending a lot of time here. I'm a freshman at Notre Dame, and needed (..wanted) a smart phone to help me organize this mass of everything happening around me. Being the technology geek I am, I looked quite a bit into it and decided that the "Tilt" was far superior to my dad's heralded and suggested iPhone (plus I kinda loathe Apple. So eh. lol) Anyway, I received my Tilt as a gift last night, and realized that it came bloated with AT&T's crap and didn't look like the same home screen I saw on HTC's website. After spending more than a couple of hours here, I was successful in blindly following different instructions I found in at least 3 different threads to flash the Dutty's HTC ROM to my Kaiser, and I absolutely love it. Problem is though, I have no idea what hell is going on here. I don't know what a .RUU even is, and even though a .CAB was easy to figure out, I have no idea where to put them on phone. And before I get lambasted with the mantra of "use the searchbar" venerated by web forum's loyal users, I'd like to point out that if you take a step back, look at all of this info on here, and pretend you don't understand any of it, it's pretty damn hard to decipher this stuff. So if you guys know of any "Pocket PC New Users" guide written by knowledgable ppl on the web, and any XDA-Beginner guides or anything, please point them in my direction. I'm more than happy to read. However, reading 33 forum pages to figure out how to do 8 lines of instructions for one thing is extremely time consuming, cumbersome, and not that helpful. So again, it's nice to meet you all, and maybe y'all could help point me out in the right direction.
---Holy crap, that's a lot of text. Basically, hey y'all, nice to meet you, and do you think you could help out a newb who's able and willing to learn?

use the search bar!!!! hahahaha jk.....just read the wiki

As well as what's already been suggested, take time to read the manual and play around with the ppc. The importance of experiential learning can't be understated when it comes to these things. Unlike with full sized PCs, performing a hard reset to restore the ppc to an out of the box state is easy work.

So quick question. When I'm copying .CAB files or .EXE files onto my kaiser, where do I put them? I'm installing the iPhone app posted by Grumps, and I don't know where I should put it. Should I just make a file tree for every program I put on there under Program Files?

Hi, a .CAB file is just an executable installer. So best place it in the root of your storage card and delete it after installation of the app. During installation you will be asked where to install the app, PPC memory or storage card. Selecting the storage card will of course save memory, but for some reasons some apps don't work from storage card. You will have to try...

fightin4theirish said:
So quick question. When I'm copying .CAB files or .EXE files onto my kaiser, where do I put them? I'm installing the iPhone app posted by Grumps, and I don't know where I should put it. Should I just make a file tree for every program I put on there under Program Files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I normally keep all my .cab files on my storage card so when I hard reset or re-flash I know where they are. Doesn't matter where you put them - I created a directory called (unoriginally) My Cabs. When you touch on them they will install to the necessary directory on the ppc, and can be uninstalled from the settings menu.
The .exe files could be a bit different. Some need to be installed from your pc - they will then install to the ppc next time you connect with activesync, and can be uninstalled in the same way as .cab files. Other .exe files can be stored anywhere on your ppc or storage card and will run each time you select them.

Heya. Let me be an opportunist and troll your thread to introduce myself here, too. hey all, homies n gyals, I'm Creiz, yes, it's my real name, pleased to meet y'all.
As for your quick question, If you use windows XP with dotNet framework 2, you can use this niifty utility called CabViaAciveSync to directly install your .cab files from the PC.
Right click the .cab => CabViaActiveSync.
Magic.

;P i´m noob too if you dont mine i'll use this thread to intruduce me too hehe and make a question. if i put a new rom my guarantee expires? and is good to change the default rom? what do you "kaiserians" think is the best rom for kaiser and how it works, if i make hard-reset the default rom appears? sorry but im really a noob in pocket things...
well i'm ricardo o/

fightin4theirish said:
Hey y'all, I'd just thought I'd introduce myself to the Kaiser world seeing as I'm going to be spending a lot of time here. I'm a freshman at Notre Dame, and needed (..wanted) a smart phone to help me organize this mass of everything happening around me. Being the technology geek I am, I looked quite a bit into it and decided that the "Tilt" was far superior to my dad's heralded and suggested iPhone (plus I kinda loathe Apple. So eh. lol) Anyway, I received my Tilt as a gift last night, and realized that it came bloated with AT&T's crap and didn't look like the same home screen I saw on HTC's website. After spending more than a couple of hours here, I was successful in blindly following different instructions I found in at least 3 different threads to flash the Dutty's HTC ROM to my Kaiser, and I absolutely love it. Problem is though, I have no idea what hell is going on here. I don't know what a .RUU even is, and even though a .CAB was easy to figure out, I have no idea where to put them on phone. And before I get lambasted with the mantra of "use the searchbar" venerated by web forum's loyal users, I'd like to point out that if you take a step back, look at all of this info on here, and pretend you don't understand any of it, it's pretty damn hard to decipher this stuff. So if you guys know of any "Pocket PC New Users" guide written by knowledgable ppl on the web, and any XDA-Beginner guides or anything, please point them in my direction. I'm more than happy to read. However, reading 33 forum pages to figure out how to do 8 lines of instructions for one thing is extremely time consuming, cumbersome, and not that helpful. So again, it's nice to meet you all, and maybe y'all could help point me out in the right direction.
---Holy crap, that's a lot of text. Basically, hey y'all, nice to meet you, and do you think you could help out a newb who's able and willing to learn?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi:
I am really a newbie too, only had the Tilt for 2 weeks now. But, I have read hundreds of threads here already, so I'm learning. My suggestion to you is, be sure to install Kaiser Tweaks, it is a great app, which will make it very easy to perform certain registry edits on your phone. The most important of which being, it enables you, with one click to enable hsdpa (faster than 3G internet). For some insane reason AT&T has this disabled on the Tilt. Although, maybe with your new ROM on there you may not need it. I am still using the AT&T ROM, so I'm not sure which features are or aren't on Dutty's ROM.
Anyway, just keep reading, it's amazing how much there is to learn here
My suggestions for best apps for the Tilt are:
Kaiser Tweaks (one click reg edits for many useful items)
SPB Pocket Plus (today screen interface, which looks cool, and is so useful for quick access to programs, files etc.)
All SPB products are pretty cool, and there are several to choose from depending on your needs
S2U2 (slide to unlock program, very useful, although the Tilt seems locked when in suspend mode, it really isn't)
PS: You're right alot of people do just tell you to go search, but believe it or not, there are MANY people here, who are willing to help a newbie, and understand that sometimes searches don't give us the answers we need. I have received tons of help from very nice people here.

Is it ok that I'm completely overwhelmed?

I literally just bought my at&t tilt today, and when I bought it the guy I got it from suggested I come here to do some digging on modifying/personalizing my Tilt to my liking. Now, I'm somewhat of a computer nerd. I can work through most issues with my PC without having to call customer service or hit up forums or anything. I have no experience with pocket PCs or windows mobile however.
I've read the multiple notices here advising to read around first before asking dumb questions, but I have to say that I'm still completely lost and don't even know where to begin. I really don't have complicated intentions, I'm almost 100% satisfied with the phone as-is...regardless, I still just have no idea what to even start with, so I figured I would just throw that out there and hopefully get pointed in the right direction. Hopefully I'll be able to take it from there, but the tutorials, wikis, and FAQs that I was advised to browse through first (and I apologize if I'm just not seeing it, again I'm a WM noob) just aren't getting me there.
All I'm really interested in doing is changing my home screen. Other things I want to do I don't even know if it's possible to do so, or if I even have to download anything!
So maybe just one more shove in the right direction?

Try This
This is not going to change your rom......This will give a new look totally...I think you'll like it...Install it from your desk top
Peace
Mike

You should get a good start at the wiki here:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Kaiser

IMO You can't beat SPB Mobile Shell even though you have to pay for it, it's well worth it.

deXtrous said:
IMO You can't beat SPB Mobile Shell even though you have to pay for it, it's well worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree here

pointUI
Wisbar advance (check out the skins for this app..)
If you know a bit of XML try RLtoday
oh, and search for "Ultimate launch" on the forum...

ummm check out the second link in my sig.

I'm in the same boat as you. There is so much information here, it's quite overwhelming. I want to get the most out of my device, but I just don't have he time to really get into it.

Well you have to start somewhere, so just say where you want to go.
Would you like to make the phone look different?
Would you like to add your own ringtones?
Themes?
gps stuff?
roms?
seriously look at the second link in my signature.

I suggest that you use it for a while to get used to it, then read, then try changing it. Just my 2 cents.

I'm guessing your question is more basic than the answeres provided. If you just want to change your today screen, check out the "Today" applet under "Settings" on the start menu. You can choose from a variety of default plugins, and some of them have options you can change (simply click the options button if it's enabled). As you install more apps, they may have Today Screen plugins as well.

DO NOT GO THROTTLE LAUNCHER.... i like the guy that developed it but it has become obsolete with manilla 2d, personally i stayed away from flashing for a long time but now that i have started i'm addictted it provides alot better preformance from your ppc, i would highly recommend it
my favorite rom right now is the garmin dk4 manilla just make sure you read up before, its not that complicated once you get the hang of it. biggest thing is make sure to flash hard spl before you flash anything else

Here's some advice from someone who has had pocket pc's for a long time. I am also half a century old, so this advice comes from experience and not theory.
Keep your Kaiser/TyTN II/Tilt, whatever it is, as stock standard as possible. Do not flash new roms etc etc. This is the cause of most problems here unless you are really clued up on this, which it seems you are not at the moment. I won't even try it.
There are many third party apps out there and in here which will not affect the normal functioning and enjoyment of your device. Most of them are freeware.
Today themes are dime a dozen, heck, you can create your own with freeware apps like ThemegenCE (Desktop app which creayes the Tsk file for your device theme and even TKCreator which is a theme creation app directly on your device I (Also freeware and more basic than the former).
You need Total Commander, a freeware File Explorer much better than than one shipped wth the device. Quickmenu 2.7 makes using the device a pleasure and hardly requires the stylus. This provides a task manager, drop down menus, controls for device utilities like bluetooth, wifi, soft resetting etc. You also need Mortplayer which is the best MP3 player and is freeware and of course TCPMP with flashvideo bundle for video clips/movies/flash video from websites etc. This all for free. Heck, here are even freeware GPS apps for navigation out there, eg Amaze GPS and Nav4All, or just go full hog and buy the best like TomTom. TodayAgenda is a Today Plugin for calendar appointments and is one of the best and totally free. S2U2 developed by A_C from XDA is a cool screen saver/slide to unlock app which is free and highly customisable with animated gifs as wallpaper etc.
This would be a good start for you.
Regards,
MAC

MACkjam said:
Here's some advice from someone who has had pocket pc's for a long time. I am also half a century old, so this advice comes from experience and not theory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also more than half a century old (now grand father !) and I agree with MAC advices !!!

Panel Manager Downgrade?

I was wondering if it is possible to downgrade back to the original panel manager, and if anyone has the installer for it? I recently downloaded and installed the R3A panel manager, and since then, my X1 has been freezing having errors much more often.
Can anyone help me out here?

It should be possible .. panelmanager only occupies one folder in program files .. replacing all the files should work. Rename the old dir to avoid deleting active EXE.
However I don't have the old files anymore.

I want to do the same.
Where can I find the old Panel Manager?

Sign me up for this as well! Frustrating to get a "we're sorry" all the time.

as far as im aware you just uninstall the updated pannel manager and all will go back to normal.
i too dislike the updated version.

Jasand said:
as far as im aware you just uninstall the updated pannel manager and all will go back to normal.
i too dislike the updated version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just uninstall it? Doesn't that remove the x-panel functionality?

pm me a mail so i can send you the old panel manager (folder). You only have to terminate the posses and then replace the folder.

sorry guys, but what's exactly wrong with the new one? I have no problem with mine and it actually works faster and more fluently.

bronx said:
sorry guys, but what's exactly wrong with the new one? I have no problem with mine and it actually works faster and more fluently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After installing the new one, my phone gives me the "we're sorry" screen, and continues "a problem has occurred with PanelContainer.exe"
Ends up with the phone freezing completely, and a soft-reset is required.

Yes, if you unistall the panel manager, the panel interface is gone too.
The problem is, it seems like every time I push the panel button, the thing freezes, or it comes up with a slew of errors, as about 3 programs crash.
Honestly, who put that stupid 'upgrade' here? It's hardly stable at all. What is it, an alpha version? If it were up to me, I'd remove it from the site, because it's more trouble than it's worth, and has nearly made my X1 unusable. I'm considering a hard reset to get things back to normal.

Xuanlong said:
Yes, if you unistall the panel manager, the panel interface is gone too.
The problem is, it seems like every time I push the panel button, the thing freezes, or it comes up with a slew of errors, as about 3 programs crash.
Honestly, who put that stupid 'upgrade' here? It's hardly stable at all. What is it, an alpha version? If it were up to me, I'd remove it from the site, because it's more trouble than it's worth, and has nearly made my X1 unusable. I'm considering a hard reset to get things back to normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably you don't read before installing something. Go here and read: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=498934
You have to install ActiveX Deployment first...

lol... look junior... this thing works perfect. do as guy above said. damn... You should be more grateful for having so much extra stuff for free.

Anyway, at least I installed ActiveX_Deployment_signed.CAB before the new panelmanager. The attitude ain't helping, "senior".

ok
the thing is that he should READ MORE before moaning. come on. why so many people cannot live without spoonfeeding????????? why should we agree to read his rants??

I DID install the ActiveX deployment, thank you very much.
It does not work 'perfect', just because one person out of many doesnt have constant problems with it.
If you dont have something helpful to contribute to the topic, dont bother replying. What exactly is it that we're supposed to be reading. I got it from this topic here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=498934
The first post has nothing but a download link, and the 2nd has about 2 lines saying that it's been tested (hard to believe) and urges people to upgrade in caps lock no less.
We're not a bunch of idiots who cant read. And we're not moaning, but if shell out a good deal of money for a smart phone, and you install some update that screws up half of the features, you'd want some answers too.

I install everything but panel cause too many problem. Hard reset mine coming up

Try this one
install it in device then soft reset ....
stock R2a panel manager ......

as im aware you just uninstall the updated pannel manager and all will go back to normal.
i too dislike the updated version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think if this worked then people wouldnt be looking for the R2A panel manager.
I had same problesm as many getting the new R3A cabs to work, and as a result had to just hard reset the phone, after this the phone has been working pretty stable. The Media 2 Panel didnt install, and to be honest until i can easily make playlists it crap to me.
Another thing, I dont know what it is about those that have been on the forum a long time compared to us noobs. Theres no need to talk down to other people, just because a person has made 3 posts, doesnt make them an idiot.
This whole R3A stuff thats come out, probably works fine for those experienced in developing etc... but for those that arent it is difficult for them to get working, like myself. And although this a forum is for the hardcore developers, and not noobs like me, please understand that many like myself really appreciate the work you do here.
If werent for this place, I'd have sent the phone back already and waited for the Idou. So keep it up and be kind to us noobs
Kofi

Xuanlong said:
I DID install the ActiveX deployment, thank you very much.
It does not work 'perfect', just because one person out of many doesnt have constant problems with it.
If you dont have something helpful to contribute to the topic, dont bother replying. What exactly is it that we're supposed to be reading. I got it from this topic here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=498934
The first post has nothing but a download link, and the 2nd has about 2 lines saying that it's been tested (hard to believe) and urges people to upgrade in caps lock no less.
We're not a bunch of idiots who cant read. And we're not moaning, but if shell out a good deal of money for a smart phone, and you install some update that screws up half of the features, you'd want some answers too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The second post has to lines ,but it also says that you have ti install ActiveX deployment FIRST. I was just trying to help
Also noone told you to do this update. Those cabs are not SE official updates and there are beta too. It is up to you to take the risk...

I did install the ActiveX thing. I read and understood the post just fine.
Part of the problem is, I had no idea if it was official or not, if it was a beta, or anything. Had I known, I likely would not have installed it, or at least not been surprised when I had problems. If it's beta, or if it's unofficial, it should that instead of "DEFINITIVELY WORTH UPGRADING!!!" Then all of us who read the post as you all keep saying to, would know. It's obviously misleading, I bet a lot of people thought they were getting a stable piece of software.

Let's say "Official"...

Hi everyone! I recently bought a T-mo Wing on ebay and as it's my first pda phone I did exactly the same every newbie does: I've messed things up.
The first problem was that I started to download and install every app I thought I would use. Soon realized that IN FACT I would use 10% of all that ans started uninstalling things. Till there, I was good, but then I found pocket mechanic pro and its "registry tweaker & cleanup" killed my voice command and made the phone loop forever on bootup unless I remove the memory card. Besides, I have memory shortage problems and lots of things I will never use like myFaves, t-zones, tons of icons and silly images .... So my questions are ....Is there any T-mo "official" ROM with all the T-mo stuff removed?? I don't have problems with the rest of the apps and bricking the phone is not an option: I'm latin american!! used wing was really a financial effort for me!! The second question would be: Is there any way to restore the registry keys that pocket mechanic erased?? I know the answers might have been already posted but I've been browsing the forums for about 6 hours with no success ..... Can anyone help me on this??
Thanks
Wow.... really long

alvarete62 said:
Hi everyone! I recently bought a T-mo Wing on ebay and as it's my first pda phone I did exactly the same every newbie does: I've messed things up.
The first problem was that I started to download and install every app I thought I would use. Soon realized that IN FACT I would use 10% of all that ans started uninstalling things. Till there, I was good, but then I found pocket mechanic pro and its "registry tweaker & cleanup" killed my voice command and made the phone loop forever on bootup unless I remove the memory card. Besides, I have memory shortage problems and lots of things I will never use like myFaves, t-zones, tons of icons and silly images .... So my questions are ....Is there any T-mo "official" ROM with all the T-mo stuff removed?? I don't have problems with the rest of the apps and bricking the phone is not an option: I'm latin american!! used wing was really a financial effort for me!! The second question would be: Is there any way to restore the registry keys that pocket mechanic erased?? I know the answers might have been already posted but I've been browsing the forums for about 6 hours with no success ..... Can anyone help me on this??
Thanks
Wow.... really long
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The easiest way to go back is to do a hard reset. (Hold the two softkeys and press the soft reset key.) As far as "official" ROM, there isn't, but there are a lot of third party ROMs. If you hardSPL your phone (which runs the slight risk of bricking your phone) then you brick-PROOF your phone.

Wow!! I can't believe you ...I mean YOU, took som time to answer my post!! I read lots of stuff here made by you. Thanks man! I'm really honored.
The thing is that if I hard reset my wing all the T-mo stuff will be there again, and some of it is non removable. There are lots of pictures and icons that I won't ever use. What if I take the latest T-mo ROM and delete all that without modifying anything else?? I mean, no t-zones, no my faves and no TONS of avatar pictures.... would that be possible?? Again, thanks for answering

alvarete62 said:
Wow!! I can't believe you ...I mean YOU, took som time to answer my post!! I read lots of stuff here made by you. Thanks man! I'm really honored.
The thing is that if I hard reset my wing all the T-mo stuff will be there again, and some of it is non removable. There are lots of pictures and icons that I won't ever use. What if I take the latest T-mo ROM and delete all that without modifying anything else?? I mean, no t-zones, no my faves and no TONS of avatar pictures.... would that be possible?? Again, thanks for answering
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. Thanks for thinking so highly of me.
It's possible, you have to dump the ROM and then recook it, though.
You could also wait for my SuperJustKitchen and build your own custom ROM. ^_^ But either way, you HAVE to HardSPL. There are no ROMs that can be flashed with the stock SPL other than the stock one.

That's exactly what I'm going to do!! I'll wait for your SuperJustKitchen and remove all unneeded stuff from the latest official T-mo Rom. In the meantime, I will try to recover my voice command without hard resetting just for fun. I really don't need it because my spoken english is horrible and by the time it worked, almost never recognized what I said . Anyway, it really annoys me that a supposed registry cleanup made by pocket mechanic messed up the system that way. The Wizcode forum has a solution that actually works just for the full version of MVC. Nor upgrade nor OEM are fixed by that "patch". I would like to know if there's any way to decompile it and make the corrections manually. It's supposed to restore some deleted registry keys but I couldn't find wich ones ....Would that be possible??

If it's a cab, it can turned into a OEM/EXT package which lets you see the registry keys by themselves.

Sorry for the delay....
Hi again! It was not a .CAB .... It was a [email protected] .exe file. Tried to open with winRAR and 7zip but with no success. Finally i found the dump of the .reg file that voice command uses. I was not able to import it (there are some path errors and I know NOTHING about reg scripting), so i had to write all the keys and values manually. It worked!!!! After a soft reset voice command was there! After that I disabled it because my english sucks and VC could not understand what i said ..... but still works!! Still waiting for your kitchen to make a new ROM for my wing .... Thanks again for taking the time to answer me ...

I don't know well, but...
Maybe you can have good luck in hard-resetting and do not enter into customization, but soft-resetting.
Another way is going into Extended ROM and analizing the .cab files there, and erasing some of them (better if you save them into another place).
Please wait till someone "better than me" will confirm those data I told.
On the other way, if you don't like T-Mo ROMs the best you can do is Hard-SPL and flashing a new radio+ROM. You by yourself realized Ivan has good ROM's. And the one I'm using now is also good.

Suggest a Rom and GUI for me.

OK, my first post so be gentle.
I have MDA Vario that has been flashed with TPCElite series V11 MEGA wm6.5 23017. It also has the touchflo GUI running. Now having tried it for a week (only just purchased it a week ago) I can say that I'm not a fan of the touchflo prog. It seems to hang on occasions and I often end up selecting something I didn't want only to find the phone connecting to the net. So I have switched it off. There is a windows default one that is working fine, but I can't see a way to customise the menu so I can add what I want to it.
So my dilemma. Do I flash with a "lite" rom and add a GUI myself afterwards - this way I can uninstall it if I don't like it. Or should I just leave it deselected and install a new one? Will this have any performance/memory issues - ie is the lite rom a better way to go.
I had a Mio PDA with iLauncher on it and I liked the ability to add my own shortcuts etc.
If I should flash can anyone recommend a stable reliable rom. Also is there a better GUI? Been looking at Manila 2D v2 but I want to be able to customise the main menu and I don't want it sluggish.
One final thing. Is it possible to get the phone to ask permission before connecting via gprs rather than scurrying around for the disconnect. I've looked through the menus but can't find anything. Don't mind using it if I want it, just fed up of it dialing it by mistake -(I have sausage fingers.)

i recommend the t.i.r element v5 rom. ive been thru many roms including the tpc series that you have tried and i find that t.i.r element v5 is the best w/ smooth graphics, great gui (full landscape support etc.) i cant post a link as of now since i am new to posting on xda so please look it up and give it a shot!

Is there a CLI version of a rom for this phone or is someone just trying too sound fancy? Since when is touchflu a GUI? I am totally confused.
Do I flash with a "lite" rom and add a GUI myself afterwards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh my head is hurting make it stop.. SOMEONE REPLIED TO THIS?? awmg
If I should flash can anyone recommend a stable reliable rom. Also is there a better GUI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am so confused, it's like trying to mess with a womans bra (Full Landscape support) for the first time, what do I do.. do I call her new hair doo a pair of panties? AAAHHHHHHHH
Stylez close this **** down.. REASON.... Doesn't make any sense at all..
I used the GUI version of this forum to reply.. Thanks.

hi DTBrum,
touchflo - i never liked it too, don't know which files are responsible for its running and if it could be removed, seems like it's part of needed htc drivers to me, but this will switch it off completely:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\OEM\TFLOSettings]
"EnableScroll"=dword:00000000
"EnableCube"=dword:00000000
you need a registry editor to change those values.
===
you can't replace gui, or you can theoretically but what you mean is sort of launcher, or today manager. I tried more and didn't like any, they all seems to be laggy to me.
windows in default uses today screen and start menu, it's the same way as in pc edition, there are folders with shortcuts in them for start menu
look in \windows\start menu folder. and on today screen, you can set what you want to see there in settings/today
I use start replacement called quickmenu which is a very small prg with lots of tweaks.
if you don't like those fancy launchers and controls, better you make your own rom. it's very easy with tools from xda. nearly all custom roms lite or full you'll find here have some kind of launchers and today replacement already in them and it's hard to remove or disable them.
there is a lot of different apps like iLauncher, you can install/uninstall.
no one will recommend you any custom rom here, you need to go through trying one after another because everybody's preferences differs. look in wiki.
automatic connect. no, there is no way to disable this. you can use app called 'nodata' but then you'll have to run it to enable/disable every time you want to use internet. But it solves problems in roaming.
Some programs can be set to not auto dial. and another option is, you can set a fake internet connection, make it default and then when you want to go online you'll dial the real one manually. But you may find that some programs would not want to use other then default connection.
and don't get discouraged here on forum, some people are smart here, true, but not all of us here get born that way.

Thankx for the replies.
What I found with touchflo was that there are occasions where I try to scroll from left to right and nothing happens, then all of a sudden I find it has selected something like maps or internet and the phone is trying to connect to the net. Then it starts responding normally. So as a front end user interface for me I'm not that keen on it. Also I can't see a way to remove the categories sucj as maps, and add my own. I have a registry editor and will try changing the values suggested and see if that helps. I'll do a search for the other bits recommended.
Apologies ChumleyEX, not sure if I used the correct terminology. For me a program such as touchflo is an alternative GUI that sits on top of the windows GUI. Just want to know if there are better, more reliable ones. Doesn't have to be fancy. I want to be able to customise it and for it to be quick and responsive.

Sorry I'm sure I was too harsh, I was feeling a little too good last night.

No problem ChumleyEX - no harm done.
Papo - thanks for you time and help, you cleared a few things up for me. Registry edited and touchflo now disabled.
As I said I've only had this device a week and only just found this site recently, so I'm not really up on the terminology so I'm hoping you can look past my shortcomings please. I'll get there. I'm no novice with pc's or pda's but I'm not in the same league as most people on here I admit.
My question about installing an alternative to touchflo was because some of these other programs such as ilauncher like to be installed to the device memory rather than storage card. I don't want to find I start running low on resources so I was contemplating flashing the phone with a wm6.5 lite version with all the MS bloatware removed and adding a launcher/today screen manager afterwards. At least this way if I don't like a particular one I could un-install that. I have no option to remove touchflo.
I was hoping that by describing what I was after people would recommend something that fits the bill. But for now I keep looking at the roms and reading the comments until I find one I like the look of. There is some really nice work here on this site - so tempted to give it a go. I guess we all like different things so it's a matter of personal choice really. Key for me is functionality/responsiveness. It's no good if the interface gets in the way no matter how good it looks.
Off to read some reviews of roms on here now. I'll check out t.i.r element v5 as suggested by agent1001 first.

dude, stop fretting and just try out as many ROMs as you can...and remember to search and read a LOT! it will help in the long run to build your concepts.
i have TWO more suggestions/clarifications for you:
1. you might have big fingers, but what i suspect is that you are using your device as if it has a capacitive screen...which it doesn't. the kaiser (like many htc phones) has a resistive screen. essentially, what this means is that the screen will respond best with a good amount of pressure, applied at a point. so the best suggestion i can give you that will tremendously improve your experience with the device is...use your finger NAILS! the effect is as if you are using a stylus and once you get used to it, any "GUI" will become usable.
2. what you call a "GUI" is not a GUI, technically. this is what chumleyex was alluding to. these "GUIs" run as today screen plugins. they are just that...they are "today screen plugins"...also called "home screen" in other contexts of discussion. you can have many such plugins installed on your device. you can even have many such plugins running at once on your today screen. however, some take over the today screen completely, so you can only use them exclusively. manila2d/manila3d, spb mobile shell, and quite a few others are such kinds of today screen plugins. installing multiple such plugins only takes up storage space. RUNNING multiple such plugins is like running many applications at once...which will consume memory and may slow down the phone, etc, etc.
as always, you should have read the forum rules...which clearly state that "best of" threads or "suggest me a <insert requirement here>" style threads are against the forum rules. which leads me to believe that you probably haven't read the other "stickies" and "wikis" either. start there and then you'll find yourself asking a lot less basic questions that clutter up the forum. don't be surprised if this thread is closed soon by a forum mod. cheers.

Thanks ASCIIker - screen is more responsive with more pressure. Guess I was worried about cracking it.
I did do loads of reading before posting - mainly to do with how to, hard spl, soft spl, roms, radio threads. Sorry if I missed the bit about asking for recommendations.

DTBrum said:
I don't want to find I start running low on resources so I was contemplating flashing the phone with a wm6.5 lite version with all the MS bloatware removed and adding a launcher/today screen manager afterwards. At least this way if I don't like a particular one I could un-install that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get the feeling that you think those fancy things in full custom ROMs are taking up space. they are not. and not using them, disabling them, or deleting shortcuts from start menu would do the same as uninstalling.
you've got:
flash memory - (ROM)
int. memory - think about it as HDD: depends, typicaly little over 100MB
RAM, operating memory, like on PC another 100MB: to be used by progs.
those names differs, to add confusion, some refers to int.memory as ROM
MS bloatware & fancy stuff from custom ROMs which you don't want could still rest in peace in ROM and not bothering you. you'll still have your 100MB int.mem. And as long as they are not actively running you still will have 100 RAM and no processor power used. but exactly like mentioned every plugin on today screen means it's running too. get an fdc task manager or alternative to see all processes and other stuff running. (not just tasks) You can find a way to disable nearly everything.
I have no option to remove touchflo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think there is any. even with ultra lite, i could be mistaken with this, but i tried hard and it looks like it's part of required htc drivers. so you only could disable it...at least! i hated it too no matter about fingers. it seems better on htc pro2 anyway.
But for now I keep looking at the roms and reading the comments until I find one I like the look of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, the look would be the main difference i'll say.
but if you want functionality/responsiveness, than you probably better stick with using start button and today screen without unnecessary additions.
* installing on SD card means it will go much slower and (at least on my kaiser) will sometime create errors on card from crashed apps and when I dropped phone or it died w/o shutdown or when contacts on SD card get loosed. many times I even lost complete SD contents.
You have 100MB of int.mem!! it would love to be used by progs.
I suggest you to try all of available and up-to-date custom ROMs then after getting an idea of what is doing what, just mix your own rom. it's a matter of check-in what you want inside basically. and you can add your own stuff too. like programs you buy or are not in any ROM. I have over 110MB of programs fitted in ROM and still 100MB int.mem. and speed of the device and ram is not affected too, because i let only 3 - 4 apps from that running in background.

Well I've tried flashing it and had to visit the toilet as things didn't go well.
I flashed with a lite rom, plan being to leave enough free space on the device to install a nice front end/today screen/touchflo etc to the device when I settled on one I liked.
Rom flashed fine - quite like it.
Radio didn't go well. Got stuck at the dreaded tri coloured screen.
Mtty.exe didn't recover it either.
Visited toilet.
Flashed back to standard rom from manufacturer. All now back up and running.
Have changed underpants.
At least I was able to use the info on here to get it back up and running OK.
Problem was a write error flashing the suggested radio - at 99% got an error 226.

DTBrum said:
plan being to leave enough free space on the device to install
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check my previous post.
try flashing from SD card, a lot of troubles with cable/pc/connector
format small (256MB) SD card with FAT32,
rename ruu_signed.nbh file to KAISIMG.NBH place on root of SD
hold camera button and start or reset pda

I think to be honest I'm a little paranoid about keeping the device memory free. The reason is my wife has an O2 Orbit which was running wm5. It has been updated to WM6 and she has very little free storage memory at all on the device to the point where we have struggled getting some programs installed. I know most give you the option to install to storage card or device, but some don't. Also the ones that do install on the storage card often put some files onto the device, such as help or configuration files.
I know this HTC has a lot more memory so it probably isn't an issue in reality.
I'm up to speed about the different types of memory and whether an app is consuming processing power or just storage space depending upon if it running or not. I just didn't have a chance to read your reply before I posted- wife wanted the PC back. And I was relieved just to have the phone back working.
Papo - thanks for you help. Really appreciate it.

I had my tilt for 2 years and never worried about memory.

OK, flashed the phone a couple of times yesterday and I've now found a rom I like a lot. Even the GUI - touchflo - works like a dream and with the programs that came with the rom I can even customise it how I like. It's smooth, quick and I am yet to discover a bug.
I'll give it a run for a couple of weeks and if I decide to keep this then I'll donate.
Interestingly I flashed back to stock rom from T Mobile through links I found on here. Worked without a problem, provided a 6ft+ 16stone bloke is happy with everything in pink. So I then flashed back to the standard HTC rom wm6.1 and had lots of problems. Basic things like selecting tick boxes didn't even work well.
I understand that everyone wants different things from their phones, how they look etc and that is why it is impossible to say which rom is best. But through this site, I have a customised phone that runs so smooth and quickly and looks damn smart. So at the moment I am well chuffed.
The only really difficulty I encountered was I lost all my contacts. Activesync wouldn't restore them and the backup I took was incomplete as I only backed up the sim and not the phone. D'oh. Anyway I've now sorted this out as I found all the old contacts in outlook deleted items. I restored them back to the contacts folder and synced them again and it's all now back up and running.
Off to have a play
If she lets me I may even flash the wifes O2 Orbit XDA. It's been upgraded from wm5 to wm6 and the new rom leaves very little free memory on the device itself and we do struggle at times getting some software onto it. The version of TomTom I have doesn't let you choose where to install it to, it just goes onto the device. I have manually moved it back to the SD card and made new shortcuts etc, but I feel a new rom from this site would be the way to go.
Thank you to all who helped me.

DTBrum said:
difficulty I encountered was I lost all my contacts. Activesync wouldn't restore them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
activeSync & outlook played tricks on me too, deleting or doubling all contacts... even easier than backing up by backup program, is to copy 'RAW' database in pda before re-flashing. it's all in one file called PIM.VOL in root of phone. calendar is there as well. you can copy this to SD and upon reflashing copy back to root of pda and see what PC's outlook will have to say to it. or just keep on SD as 2nd backup.
note, the file may be locked by running programs (contacts, messages, home plugin) kill them from taskman in that case.
The version of TomTom I have doesn't let you choose where to install it to, it just goes onto the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tomtom app is two files tomtom nav.exe and data.chk, put them anywhere you like and the rest, config files, will be created by it.
but it runs really slow from SD. and taking 13MB, so again, it's best to have them in ROM.