Windows Phone 7 Launch Thread

Malice

This probably doesn't deserve a thread of its own but basically as per here my phone (HTC HD7) has been unable to send or receive text messages since the most recent WP7 update. It looks like I've no choice but to bring the phone into an O2 store to get it repaired so in advance of that I'm wondering if there's a way I can ensure that my contacts are saved somewhere externally should the phone get wiped or the SIM card get lost.

Does anyone know how this can be done?

TBi

Malice wrote: »

This probably doesn't deserve a thread of its own but basically as per here my phone (HTC HD7) has been unable to send or receive text messages since the most recent WP7 update. It looks like I've no choice but to bring the phone into an O2 store to get it repaired so in advance of that I'm wondering if there's a way I can ensure that my contacts are saved somewhere externally should the phone get wiped or the SIM card get lost.

Does anyone know how this can be done?

Depending what services you have synchronised all contacts should be on your live/hotmail/gmail account. Just log in via a browser and check contacts.

Malice

TBi wrote: »

Depending what services you have synchronised all contacts should be on your live/hotmail/gmail account. Just log in via a browser and check contacts.

I don't use any of those e-mail providers on my phone.

Digitalism

Any ideas if the LG optimus 7 off amazon.de has a 2 or 1 year warranty?

Odaise Gaelach

Malice wrote: »

This probably doesn't deserve a thread of its own but basically as per here my phone (HTC HD7) has been unable to send or receive text messages since the most recent WP7 update. It looks like I've no choice but to bring the phone into an O2 store to get it repaired so in advance of that I'm wondering if there's a way I can ensure that my contacts are saved somewhere externally should the phone get wiped or the SIM card get lost.

Does anyone know how this can be done?

You might find an app in the Windows Phone Marketplace that can do what you want it to.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-ie/search?q=Contacts backup

TBi

Malice wrote: »

I don't use any of those e-mail providers on my phone.

I didn't think you could 'start' a WP7 phone without a live account. Maybe one was set up automatically for you on first run. Have a check around in settings->email and accounts.

Malice

Odaise Gaelach wrote: »

You might find an app in the Windows Phone Marketplace that can do what you want it to.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-ie/search?q=Contacts backup

That's a good idea, there seems to be a few matches. I'll give them a whirl and see if any of them are worthwhile.

TBi wrote: »

I didn't think you could 'start' a WP7 phone without a live account. Maybe one was set up automatically for you on first run. Have a check around in settings->email and accounts.

You're right actually, I did have to set up a Live account but I never did anything with it. After much digging around I was able log into it on my computer but unfortunately e-mail settings appears to be something else that's broken on the phone. When I try to open it the screen goes black and after a few seconds it goes back to the start screen .

TBi

If you can log on with the computer then just check your contacts online. Should be all there as long as the phone has a working internet connection. It uses push for contacts so all changes are automatically transferred to the cloud and vice versa.

Malice

TBi wrote: »

If you can log on with the computer then just check your contacts online. Should be all there as long as the phone has a working internet connection. It uses push for contacts so all changes are automatically transferred to the cloud and vice versa.

Nope, there are no contacts listed. That was the first thing I checked when I logged in .

TBi

Ok one last thing to try, when the phone updated it made a backup.

Open zune with phone connected, click the phone on bottom left to ensure it's detected. Go to settings (top right)->update and hit the restore button. It will restore to the last version and might fix your issue.

You aren't going to get your contacts off any other way so it's worth trying.

Although (don't mean to insult) but have you tried power cycling the phone?

Odaise Gaelach

TBi wrote: »

Open zune with phone connected, click the phone on bottom left to ensure it's detected. Go to settings (top right)->update and hit the restore button. It will restore to the last version and might fix your issue.

That might wipe the contacts if they aren't synchronised with an online service.

stevenmu

Malice wrote: »

Nope, there are no contacts listed. That was the first thing I checked when I logged in .

What way did you log in? I think there's a few ways and some won't show the contacts. If I go to Live.com, sign in, then hover over the hotmail link at the top and then click on contacts it lists all mine.

If it doesn't for you it must have never synced, you can choose how it syncs when you set it up on the phone and if you weren't using email you might have selected 'never'.

I know you said the email settings screen just kicks you out, does that mean when you go to 'settings' then 'email & accounts' it kicks you straight back out, or can you see the Windows Live entry there. If you can just press and hold on that and a menu will pop down that lets you sync.

Another way is by going to your people hub, clicking the ... at the bottom and going to settings, then scroll to the bottom and again press and hold on Windows Live to bring up the sync option.

N64

Guys I recently got a outlook.com email address. I did a reset of my phone and used my new email. Everything is okay (contacts, xbox live profile, etc) synced over but I have a problem with my podcasts. Its not giving me an option to subscribe with them (on my phone) zune lets me sync. I am going abroad and won't have access to a PC and I need my podcasts

Is this because my new outlook address is in the Irish region? Is there anyway around it?

EDIT: I was talking to a Zune customer service rep on live chat and he said to me my theory might be correct. He escalated it to a higher teir and I should hear back from them soon.

I would still like to figure a way around this though. Perhaps there is a third party app or a hack.

N64

Just did a bit of researching on XDA developers and I found a way around the regional restrictions.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26414239&postcount=2

(Note: the guy made a typo. It should be EN-US instead of the way he had it)

I now have full access to the US marketplace and wow, we are missing out on so much stuff. Zune music is amazing and there are so many more apps on the US marketplace. Its like I am using a whole new phone altogether.

Just shows how much MS don't care about European/Irish users (although it could be that they can't secure the licences for Ireland)

TBi

Odaise Gaelach wrote: »

]

That might wipe the contacts if they aren't synchronised with an online service.

It will revert back to a system backup which includes data at that point so should include the contacts.

There's no other way of getting the contacts off the damaged phone anyway so worth a try.

neonman

N64 wrote: »

Just did a bit of researching on XDA developers and I found a way around the regional restrictions.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26414239&postcount=2

(Note: the guy made a typo. It should be EN-US instead of the way he had it)

I now have full access to the US marketplace and wow, we are missing out on so much stuff. Zune music is amazing and there are so many more apps on the US marketplace. Its like I am using a whole new phone altogether.

Just shows how much MS don't care about European/Irish users (although it could be that they can't secure the licences for Ireland)

The only place I can find en-IE is under the following

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Zune/Service

the file is called MarketPlaceCulture is this what you might have changed from en-IE to en-US ?

evolutionqy7

N64 wrote: »

I would still like to figure a way around this though. Perhaps there is a third party app or a hack.

You got the hack above. I just use iTunes. I download one podcast from iTunes and that carriers over information to Zune then. I can just subscribe from there then. Its a pity Podcasts aren't available here.

N64

neonman wrote: »

The only place I can find en-IE is under the following

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Zune/Service

the file is called MarketPlaceCulture is this what you might have changed from en-IE to en-US ?

This is what entered on my optimus 7:



The last field (where the box is blank) is where you enter the marketplace region. The marketplace region will reset to Ireland after you reboot the phone.

What phone do you have?

celticbest

N64 wrote: »

N64 just wondering how you got the screen shot, I didn't think you could do this on a WP7?

TBi

celticbest wrote: »

N64 just wondering how you got the screen shot, I didn't think you could do this on a WP7?

I'd say the phone is (the equivalent of) rooted.

N64

guilty as charged

AntiVirus

To enable podcasts on any WP7 you don't need to have a rooted phone. You just need to change the Windows registry so that you can add podcasts to Zune. Follow the instructions in the link below

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-enable-hidden-features-music-podcasts-smart-dj-and-social-in-zune-software/

Mr Cumulonimbus

According to Nokia's own support pages the character counter should appear once you have typed in over 130 characters in an SMS message. However I am not seeing this on screen. Phone is a Lumia 610. Any suggestions why it is not appearing?

stevenmu

It works fine for me on a 710 anyway. The count appears as soon as I hit 130, and it did on my previous omni too,so I think its a general WP7 feature not just a Nokia one.

Mr Cumulonimbus

stevenmu wrote: »

It works fine for me on a 710 anyway. The count appears as soon as I hit 130, and it did on my previous omni too,so I think its a general WP7 feature not just a Nokia one.

Strange.

Definitely not appearing for me. It's irritating not knowing when you are getting near the 160 character limit, and don't want to send a second message inadvertently. Could it be a problem just with this phone I wonder?

stevenmu

Mr Cumulonimbus wrote: »

Strange.

Definitely not appearing for me. It's irritating not knowing when you are getting near the 160 character limit, and don't want to send a second message inadvertently. Could it be a problem just with this phone I wonder?

Possibly, although it seems an odd error to get. Is it possible that the messages you are sending aren't actually SMS, but are maybe MMS or facebook messages or something?

Mr Cumulonimbus

No, definitely SMS messages that i was sending.

DjFlin

So I've noticed a very annoying change in Tango.

When I copy a single podcast to my phone in Mango, the phone gives me the option to subscribe to the podcast on the phone.

When I do the same after updating to Tango, the option is gone. So now I have to plug my phone into my PC every day to sync new podcasts.

Mr Cumulonimbus

stevenmu wrote: »

Possibly, although it seems an odd error to get. Is it possible that the messages you are sending aren't actually SMS, but are maybe MMS or facebook messages or something?

Discovered this by chance, you must put the contact in first you are sending the text to. Only then does the character counter appear after 130 characters have been entered. Remove the contact, and the character counter disappears regardless of how many characters you have entered.

Odaise Gaelach

Mr Cumulonimbus wrote: »

Discovered this by chance, you must put the contact in first you are sending the text to. Only then does the character counter appear after 130 characters have been entered. Remove the contact, and the character counter disappears regardless of how many characters you have entered.

That makes sense: the 130-character counter applies to SMS but not to Facebook/Windows Live chat. When you create a new message the phone doesn't know what kind of message you're sending (SMS, Facebook or Windows Live chat) until you put in the contact's details. Only then does it know if you're sending an SMS and to show the counter.