How to Remove Welcome Message / the Doctor’s Appointment on Pocket PC 2003

Probably one of the most frustrating features during a cold boot sequence of any device running Pocket PC 2003, is the Welcome Message / Doctor’s appointment. Not only is it annoying, but it completely halts all automated installations on the device until the User’s rescheduling of the doctor’s appointment. This will explain how to stop that annoying message from displaying.

1. Open a New Notepad Document

2. Save the blank document as: Welcome.Not

Copying the file to the Handheld

3. Copy this file to the handheld device in one of the following locations:

• Root of SD Card
• Root of the handheld directory structure ‘\’

Note: If copying to the root of the device there is a strong possibility that the file will be erased on a cold boot. It is recommended to find a method to restore files upon a cold boot to the device. (E.G. below)

Making the Doctors Appointment go away on Symbol Devices

1. Open Notepad

2. Create a new file named welcomenot.cpy

3. Place the following line as the first line to the file:

\Application\Welcome.NOT > \Welcome.NOT

4. Save the file.

5. Copy welcomenot.cpy and Welcome.Not to \Application\ directory

On a cold boot, the Symbol Device will read the welcomenot.cpy file in the root of \Application\ and copy the welcome.not file from \Application\ to the ‘\’ root directory.

This article is designed to provide a quick reference to those who want to get the .BAT Execution on Pocket PC 2003. Since Pocket PC 2003 does not natively support command line, and further .BAT files, you have to manually setup the .BAT extension mapping within the registry.

Note: This “tweak” can be used for adding any .XXX extension per any customization of your desire.

1. To start, if you haven’t read my article Command Line (CMD.exe) for Pocket PC 2003 , you need to follow the instructions to get PocketCMD on the handheld device PRIOR to this section.

2. Open Notepad

3. Enter the exactly the following:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bat]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bat]
@="batfile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\DefaultIcon]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\DefaultIcon]
@="pword.exe,-110"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\Shell\]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\Shell\Open\]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\Shell\Open\Command]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\Shell\Open\Command]
@="cmd.exe /c %1"

Notes:

• REGEDIT4 is utilized on Cold Boot to tell OS to import this file into the registry.
• In Pocket PC, before you can write a string, dword, etc.. you have to instantiate the key. As displayed above, the  “duplicate” entries instantiates the key FIRST before then places the appropriate dwords in to the registry space.
• The ‘DefaultIcon’ registry entry utilizes the notepad icon. This can be changed to any icon on the system.

Understanding the Key Flow:

REGEDIT4 ; tells the OS to import this .REG extension into the registry.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bat] ; instantiates the [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bat] key
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bat] ; Calls [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.bat] key
@="batfile" ; associates the .bat extension to the batfile function key

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\] ; instantiates the [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\] key
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\DefaultIcon] ; instantiates the […batfile\DefaultIcon] key
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\DefaultIcon] ; calls the […batfile\DefaultIcon] key
@="pword.exe,-110" ; associates the pword (pocket word) executable icon to .bat
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\Shell\] ; instantiates the […\batfile\Shell\] key
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\Shell\Open\] ; instantiates the […\batfile\Shell\Open\] key
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\Shell\Open\Command] ; instantiates the ..\Open\Command] key

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\Shell\Open\Command] ; calls the ..\Open\Command] key
@="cmd.exe /c %1" <— opens the cmd.exe ; /c tells the cmd to close after execution; %1 to execute any variables after….

So… the end result is executing cmd.exe /c batfilename.bat

Sample .BAT Execution .REG file can be downloaded here:

http://www.brentblawat.com/Downloads/MMPT/batsetup.zip

This article is designed to provide a quick reference to those who want to get the command line on Pocket PC 2003. Since Pocket PC 2003 does not natively support command line, Microsoft created a PocketCMD which enables such functionality on these devices.

Download the Microsoft Mobile Power Toys from here:

http://www.brentblawat.com/Downloads/MMPT/WindowsMobilePowerToys.msi

1. Install Microsoft Mobile Power Toys

2. Browse to C:\Program Files\Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys\PPC_Command_Shell\arm\

3. Copy console.dll, shell.exe, and cmd.exe to the handheld’s \Windows\ directory

4. Copy console.dll, shell.exe, and cmd.exe to a persistent memory location. Be sure to include the method by which the handheld should copy those files back into the \Windows\ directory.

Symbol Devices Only: Persistent Storage

1. Open Notepad

2. Type exactly the following:

\Application\Shell.exe > \Windows\Shell.exe

\Application\Console.dll > \Windows\Console.dll

\Application\CMD.exe > \Windows\CMD.exe

3. Save the file as cmd.cpy

Note: The “.CPY” must be present on the device.

4. Copy console.dll, shell.exe, cmd.exe, and cmd.cpy to the handheld’s \Application\ directory

Related Article(s)

Please view my article on .BAT Execution for Pocket PC 2003. — This enables a User on a handheld to execute .BAT files from the device itself, or call .BAT files from other .BAT files.