INTRODUCTION
Every operating system
has them. Call them "tweaks," "hacks," or
"undocumented features." Whatever the name, they
give you the power tools you need to adjust the system
to meet your particular tastes. Unfortunately,
as Stuessey's observation puts it "With power tools,
it is far easier to rip things to shreds than it is to
put something together." Wouldn't it be great to
be able to harness the power of all those tweaks and
hacks available for Windows CE/Pocket PC without the
fear of turning your Pocket PC into an paper weight
with a bad attitude? That's what Tweaks2k2.NET
is designed to do.
WHAT'S HOT
Tweaks2k2.NET provides a
huge selection of useful system adjustments in an easy
to use interface. You don't have to remember
those long and confusing Registry Key names. You
don't need to remember if '0' turns the option on or
off. Even the price is just a minor tweak to
your wallet.
Tweaks2k2 is also one of those programs we review every six
months or so because it is constantly being updated
with new features.
PROGRAM FEATURES
Tweaks2k2.NET's user interface is contained entirely
in the bottom menu bar, the major portion of which is
in the aptly-named "Tweaks" menu:
The
Tweaks menu divides the tweaks in seven categories:
System Tricks is really a catch-all for anything that
doesn't fit in the following categories. It
includes such things as scroll bar width and ClearType
enabling. Internet Tricks make adjusts the way
Pocket Internet Explorer, Inbox, and networking
function. Keyboard Tricks gives you greater
control over the Soft Input Panels such as the
on-screen keyboard or Transcriber. Video
contains model-specific video controller hacks.
System Colors allows you to adjust the colors of
various system items and text. Calendar allows
you to adjust the times and days of the week that are
considered "work time" by the built-in PIM programs. Security allows you to disable the display of certain
items and control panel applets for in-house security
reasons.
In addition, the Tweaks menu provide easy access to the "Soft
Reset" (reboot) and "Hard Reset" (erase all RAM and
start over from scratch) functions. This is
handy since some of the tweaks will not be fully
active until you do a Soft Reset.
Now we will take a closer look at each of the Tweaks options:
The System Tricks option further sub-divides with a pop-up menu:
The System Tricks
sub-menu
The first option in the sub-menu is again called "System Tricks." Choosing this option calls up a tabbed dialog with the set of tweaks in the program:
System Tricks --
Collection 1
Since
the number of System Tricks is very large, the
interface uses tabs to separate them into more or less
similar "collections." Options that don't apply
to your particular model or hardware will be grayed
out (such as "Screen Orientation" above). To
enable a particular option, you click on the box to
the left and a check mark will appear in it. Some options have a 
to the right. Clicking on the
will bring up item-specific help:
Item Help for "Show
Network Folder"
At the bottom of the screen, on the Menu Bar, are three icons:
The "Home" icon
(
)
will return you to the Tweaks2k2.NET main screen. The "Help" icon (
)
will display help for the current screen:
Screen Help for the
System Tricks screen
The "VGA" icon
(
)
only appears on VGA-resolution (HiDPI) Pocket PCs. Tapping that
icon displays the "VGA Brute Force" dialog:
This dialog provides a work-around to a specific issue
with Windows Mobile 2003, Second Edition (WM2003SE)
and VGA-resolution displays: Up until the
introduction of WM2003SE, the Pocket PC operating
systems were built on the assumption that the display
would be Quarter-VGA (QVGA) or 320x240. Most
developers, prior to WM2003SE, also assumed QVGA.
Microsoft programmed WM2003SE to maintain as much
compatibility with those programs as possible.
To that end, the system assumes that any program which
doesn't have resources which specifically mark it is
VGA resolution-compatible is written for QVGA
resolution. The operating system fools the
program into thinking that it's displaying on a
QVGA-resolution display and then quadruples every
graphics operation (except drawing characters) so it
fills the VGA screen. At the same time, it runs
any character display operation through a font
resizing operation so the fonts appear in the correct
size as well, but four times as sharp. For most
programs, this works quite well. However, there
are some programs that actually perform quite well in
VGA resolution without this process. Some of
these, in fact, may even look better when this process is
turned off. The VGA tweak dialog allows you to
specify whether a specific program will allow the
system to resize it or over-ride that process.
As more programs are updated to full WM2003
compatibility, this tweak will become less necessary. For the time being, it's good to have the option.
The "Language Code" noted on this dialog corresponds to the
"localization" code which indicates which country and
language the ROM of your Pocket PC is set to.
The following screen images show the other collections within System Tricks:
System Tricks --
Collection 2
System Tricks --
Collection 3
System Tweaks --
Collection 4
That last collection deserves a bit of further explanation: One of the least known bits of Windows CE lore is that Windows CE will use DLLs on any storage media provided the path to that folder is listed in the System Path Registry Entry. This screen does all the work for you to allow you to move those shared DLLs to another location. Moving the DLLs frees up Main Memory, but, because these DLLs are used by a lot of built-in programs, you'll have to move them to a location that is always present; either to a ROM File Store or to a Storage Card that you always have installed on your Pocket PC.
The remaining options on the System Tricks pop-up do
the following: "Rotate 180" flips the screen
vertically. Windows Mobile 2003, Second Edition
supports "upside-down" orientation, but there is no
easy way to get to it. This option is
particularly useful in using Infra-red remote control
software on the hx4700 iPAQ. The hx4700 has the
IR port located on the bottom of the unit. This
allows you to point the IR port at the device you want
to control and still easily read the screen.
"VGA Brute Force" calls up the same dialog as we saw earlier.
"Clear Recent Prog. List" removes recently run
programs from the list that appears across the top of
the Start Menu (or, in WM2003SE portrait mode, in a
list within the Start Menu). "Adjust Clock" will
correct the Pocket PC's internal clock according to
the NIST Internet Time Service using any available
Internet connection.
The Internet Tricks option also calls up a tabbed dialog:
Internet Tricks -- PIE
The PIE tab allows you to tweak a number of Pocket Internet Explorer (abbreviated PIE) settings. The first two options allow you to move Temporary Internet Files and AvantGo files out of Main Memory. The remaining scrolling list of options allows you to set the browser identification string used by PIE to fool web sites into thinking you're using desktop Internet Explorer 6.0, use ClearType with PIE, change NetFront's browser ID string to IE 6.0 or PIE, increase the number of files you can simultaneously download to 8, and enable smooth scrolling in PIE.
Internet Tricks --
Security
The Security tab lets you turn off caching (using memory to improve loading performance) of SSL (Secure) web pages. Cached pages are stored on your PPC and could be read if it were lost or stolen. You can turn off ActiveX controls or scripting to prevent web-based programs from running and also show scripting errors.
Internet Tricks -- Inbox
The Inbox tab lets you tweak the behavior of the built-in Inbox (sometimes called Messaging instead) application. You can increase the font size used to display messages, save attachments to a Storage Card or other media to free up Main Memory, and turn the Secure Sockets Layer off.
Internet Tricks --
Networking
The Network tab lets you determine whether the wireless Ethernet icon (in WM2003) will appear on the Title Bar. Some Pocket PCs have other means of getting to WiFi settings and hiding this icon will show more of the program title. You can also maximize the amount of data a sending computer can send (called the "TCP window") to your Pocket PC which improves performance on large downloads. The next option disables WM2003's "Zero Configuration" network setup for WiFi connections. You should only do this if the automatic setup is interfering with the obscure settings your network is using. The final option allows you to change the Terminal Services Client Port used to remotely view and control your desktop from your Pocket PC. Changing the port from the default 3389 may help getting around firewall constraints or improve security.
The Keyboard Tricks option has yet another tabbed dialog:
Keyboard Tricks --
Default
The Default Keyboard tab allows you to set the "Default Input Method." This is the Input Method that will appear after you have done a soft reset. Tweaks2k2.NET includes several popular third-party methods which you can set as the default. I do wish there were an option with a drop-down list of all currently available input methods (except for Transcriber and Calligrapher as noted) to allow you to set other Input Methods as default. That way the program would not have to be updated for each new popular Input Method.
Keyboard Tricks -- Hide
tab
The Hide tab allows you to show only those Input Methods that you want to see in the pop-up menu. As you can see, I eliminated the Letter and Block Recognizers that I never use from my list.
Keyboard
Tricks -- Misc
The only option in the Misc tab currently is the option to increase the number of words the Input Method suggests from a maximum of 4 to 6.
Keyboard Tricks -- Skin
The Skin tab is really a sort of catch-all for the appearance of the Input Method. In my case, it only has one option and that is to change the appearance of the keyboard drawing. Other Input Methods may have other options under the skin tab.
The "Video" option is a new addition to Tweaks2k2.NET. It opens the following screen:
Video options screen
The items that appear on this screen are very dependent on your hardware. In my case, the hx4700 has an ATI Graphics Accelerator with an annoying bug. Disabling the BitMap Cache eliminates the affects of that bug. The other option speeds up display of text by increasing the "Font Glyph Cache." You may also note that the VGA icon appears on the Menu Bar. This gives you access to the VGA Brute Force method we have previously seen.
The next option on the Tweaks menu is "System Colors." It opens the screen shown below:
System Colors options
screen
The System Colors screen allows you to set the color of each of the user interface elements shown above. The box on the right shows the current color selection. Clicking on the box on the left enables and disables the color change and calls up the "color picker" dialog:
System Colors -- color
picker
You can select a color from the basic color set or pick a "Custom color" and be allowed to set the particular color yourself. Once the color is selected, the box to the right of the option will change to the new color choice.
The "Calendar" option calls up a dialog to control your "working days:"
Calendar options screen
Pocket PC OS defaults to working days Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. With this dialog you can set your working days to reflect your working schedule. This affects how the time is displayed and handled within the built-in Appointments and Tasks programs.
The "Security" option allows you to hide certain items and applets for corporate security reasons:
Security options screen
The Security Tricks screen gives you access to options which hide icons in the Program section of the Start menu and the first option that allows you to prevent programs from being added to the Pocket PC. These are of use to corporate IT managers to enforce company policy concerning what devices will be allowed to do.
The Info Menu
In addition to the tweaks and hacks provided by Tweaks2k2.NET, the "Info" menu gives you access to two utility screens:
the RAM Usage screen
The RAM Usage screen shows Main Memory use in terms of Storage and Program memory. Storage memory stores files and programs as a part of the overall file system on the Pocket PC. Program memory is used by running programs. The screen also shows the OEM Name (built into the ROM) and the Device Name (set by you through ActiveSync or through the Control Panel) and the number of times your PPC has been soft reset.
the Battery Info screen
The Battery Info screen shows the level of charge of the internal battery as well as information about the operating system.
The About Menu
The final menu in Tweaks2K2.NET is the "About" menu with the two options shown above. "About" shows you the version information and the contact information for bug reports. "Registration" shows you the initial key you need to get the registration key and allows you to enter the registration code when you receive it.
HELP SUPPORT
As I pointed out earlier, Tweaks2K2.NET has context
help sprinkled throughout the program for many options
and for each screen. There is no additional help,
but you can contact the developer via e-mail to report
issues, bugs, and feature requests.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Tweaks2K2.NET requires 1.7MB of Storage Memory for the
program and a maximum of 5.82MB of Program Memory to run.
That may seem like quite a bit of memory and it is.
However, since the use of the program is generally to
make a series of changes to the Registry, culminating
in a soft-reset to apply them, you won't be running
Tweaks2k2.NET along with other programs. That
decreases the concern over the memory use
considerably.
It
runs on Pocket PC (2000), Pocket PC 2002, Windows
Mobile 2003, and Windows Mobile 2003, Second Edition
Pocket PCs. It is fully compatible with
WM2003SE. If you are running it on a pre-2003
OS, you will also need to install the .NET Compact
Framework from Microsoft. The .NET version of
Tweaks2K2 only runs on ARM processors with English,
German, French, Portuguese or Spanish ROMs.
BUGS AND WISHES
When I last reviewed Tweaks2k2.NET (version 2.5.2) in
September of 2004, I noted two issues with the
program: First, I noted that the Start Menu
would appear sporadically. Due to the nature of
the program, that should not be allowed. I'm
happy to report that this have been fixed in version
3.0.
The other issue I had with the program is that it takes some
time for various screens in the program to render. The screen rendering is faster in version 3.0, but
some screen still have a slight lag before appearing.
I also mentioned that it would be useful to have a method to
store all of the tweaks currently in use in a sort of
configuration file which you could use to "restore"
those settings if necessary. This hasn't been
done yet and remains a wish for a future version.
The only wish I'd add at this point would be the wish I
mentioned in the Keyboard section. I'd like to
see a drop-down list of all the current Input Methods
that would allow you to select the one you'd like to
have as the default.
PURCHASING
You can purchase Tweaks2K2.NET from the pocketnow Store for $15.50. There
is also a 14 day trial version.
PROS
- Eliminates the dangers of Registry Editing
- Provides all of the important hacks in one place
- Also provides access to soft and hard resets
- Works well with WM2003SE
- Is very affordable
CONS
- Takes some time to display screens
- Does not store all Tweaks in a on-step-to-apply configuration file
OVERALL
IMPRESSION
There is a small set of
programs that I immediately load onto any new Pocket
PC right away. Tweaks2k2.NET is one of them.
This is not because I fear Registry Editing. It
is because I like the ease with which Tweaks2k2.NET
allows me to modify my PPC to my tastes quickly and
reliably. Tweaks2k2.NET provides everything I
need from minor adjustments all the way to major
hacks, all in one convenient package. I highly
recommend this program for both novice and expert
users.
