GTD Using Palm Desktop
April 14th, 2008 Kelly ForristerCategories | Contributors | Features | Getting Started | Getting Things Done | Implementation | Software | Tips - How To's
By Kelly Forrister
I know there are lots of great shared calendar solutions on the Web, but I still favor Palm Desktop over anything else. It’s free and easy to use. I recommend it to people all the time who are looking for a good, bullet-proof list manager for GTD, whether they use a Palm handheld or not. You can download a Mac or Windows version from http://www.palm.com/us/support/palmdesktop.html
An easy way my husband and I have found to share my Palm Desktop calendar (Windows version) is for me to send him the datebook files about once a week. Then, he has access to my full calendar on his laptop.
Here’s how to do this:
1. Install Palm Desktop on both PCs
2. Create the same Palm user name on both PCs (top right-hand corner of Palm Desktop, choose Edit Users…):
3. From the PC that you want send the most current version of the calendar, look for the Datebook files in Windows Explorer. The path will be something like Palm/YourUserName/Datebook Copy the “datebook.dat” and datebook.bat” files and email (or put them on USB stick, shared drive etc.) and drop them into the exact same Palm/YourUserName/Datebook on the other machine.
It overwrites the old info automatically.
The whole thing goes pretty quick once you get it down. Really easy.
You might want to do a backup of the whole Palm folder before trying this, just in case this process does not go as expected for you.
Kelly
Cool! Thanks for this idea. I also tried it with the Palm Desktop To Do, Memo, and Contacts.
You can use some free sync software to make life easier, such as SyncBack. Just set a sync rule and you can just plug the stick and push sync button to get them synchronization afterward.
Hi Kelly,
Do you know if the datebook file format is the same for OSX and Windows? Thanks for the tip, so easy and more bulletproof that some syncing options. Especially since it is only for review.
Fokke
Hi Fokke,
It’s been a while since I tried this on a Mac. Sorry, I just don’t recall how Mac is handling the Palm files. As I recall, I couldn’t do it in the same way. Sorry I can’t be more specific!
Kelly
Kelly, GoodSync will handle the automatic sync of these files between computers either on a network or via USB stick. Plug it in, sync, move to new computer, repeat. Paul has licenses. ttyl. Eric
Thanks Eric.
It’s easier to just email those two datebook files, for me anyway.
And, my experience with synching to two different computers has been less than reliable, so I’ll stick with what works.