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ActiveSync / Mobile Device Center

 
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Article updated at 28 Oct 2017
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ActiveSync is a Microsoft program which allows a Windows PC to connect to Windows Toradex modules. It can be downloaded for free from Microsoft. ActiveSync doesn't work on Windows 7 and later. There is a successor of ActiveSync called Mobile Device Center which works on Windows 7 and later and is able to connect to a Windows CE device.

Windows Embedded Compact 2013 does not support USB ActiveSync, you will need to do your debugging via Ethernet. You can also use Remote Display via Ethernet.

An ActiveSync connection is usually made through a regular USB cable (PC=host, Colibri=client), but can also be established through a serial port.

Disable ActiveSync Connection

The ActiveSync connection can be disabled through the Windows CE control panel:

Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> PC Connection 
Uncheck "Allow connection with desktop computer when device is attached".

Instead of using the control panel, the same setting can be configured directly in the registry:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\Comm] AutoCnct=dword:1 ;default(1)= allow Autoconnect. 0=do not connect over ActiveSync

The Toradex module's USB client port will still be seen as a virtual serial port on the PC, if ActiveSync is installed. To communicate over this virtual serial port, an application is required on both ends - the PC and the Colibri.

Windows Embedded Compact 7 ActiveSync issues

On Windows Embedded Compact 7, if explorer shell is disabled, ActiveSync won't run. We provide a workaround for this:

Cab Installer

Source code

The CAB file is only there for users to test it. If users want ActiveSync without Explorer shell, they should integrate the source code into their software.