S60Tips.com

Recently, I wanted to uninstall Nokia PC Suite on my Windows Vista machine. The un-installation process failed with the famous “error writing to file c:\config.msi\xyz.rbf” problem. It is one of the annoying bugs on Windows Vista.

I had this problem several times with some other applications on Windows Vista. In most cases, the solution was just press “Retry” button and the un-installation should went fine. Unfortunately, PC Suite doesn’t provide “Retry” button. What should we do?

One of the solutions is by using CCleaner, a free utility for Windows. It allows us to uninstall an application using the default Windows Installer.

If you run CCleaner and select Tools tab on the left side of the main window, select “Nokia PC Suite” and click Run Uninstaller button.

If you see a similar dialog as above, just click Retry button to continue.

Some of you may already know how to transfer files from your S60 phones to PC via Bluetooth. I just want to recap three different ways to do it. I am using the default Bluetooth driver from Windows XP SP2. There might be some differences if you are using different Bluetooth drivers, for example WIDCOMM’s driver.

First of all, before doing any experiments, make sure that you turn on Bluetooth on your S60 phone. Normally, you should be able to find Bluetooth icon in Connect. folder, but some other S60 phones may place the icon in different folder.

Via PC Suite

The first way is via Nokia Phone Browser that is part of PC Suite. Of course, you need to install PC Suite first.

• Run PC Suite and click Get Connected! button.

• After Get Connected dialog appears, click Next button.
• Select Bluetooth connection and click Next button again.

• Now you should be able to select your phone from the Detected devices list. Select yours and then click Next button.
• In the next dialog, you can specify passkey. Sometimes, you may need this for example when you don’t want a sensitive file sent to the wrong device.
• If you click Next button again, you would be asked passkey on your phone. After verifying passkey, your PC should be connected to your phone.

• Now you can do copy and paste from Phone Browser, which can be found in Windows Explorer. Note that you can also find Phone Browser from My Computer folder

Via Send To menu

The Send To menu is a fast way to transfer files from your S60 phone to PC via Bluetooth.

• Firstly, select the file you want to transfer in Windows Explorer. You can also do it from My Computer or My Documents folder.
• Right click the file name and select Send to | Bluetooth device.

• Once Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard dialog appears, click Browse and select your phone from the list.

• If needed, you can assign passkey.
• Press Next and the transferring process should be started.

• When it finished, your file should be in the Messaging application as new message.

Via Send File menu

The last one is actually similar to the second one, via Send To menu.

• Right click Bluetooth icon on your Windows XP task bar and select Send File menu.

• You should see Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard dialog (same as above).
• Press Next and select the file you want to transfer.
• Just like Send To menu, your file will arrive in the Messaging application.

Compatible devices: S60 1st, 2nd, 3rd Edition, Nokia Nseries, Nokia Eseries.

Can we access files stored on our PC’s somewhere from our S60 phones? Yes, absolutely. There are already some solutions available out there, but this time I will discuss the free one, i.e. SoonR.com. Thanks to Yasugi Hidenobu from Osaka, Japan who has pointed out this nice service.

One feature that I like from SoonR is that no additional software needed on our S60 phones. The built-in web browser, such as S60 OSS Browser, will do. Furthermore, SoonR allows us accessing some other applications too, such as Microsoft Outlook and Skype.

How does SoonR work? It works by installing an agent on your PC, called SoonR Desktop Agent. The agent will then share your files to your phone’s browser via SSL connection (128 bit SSL to be exact). It works the same way to access applications, such as Outlook and Skype. Your phone acts as remote control to the applications via SSL connection.

OK. Let’s start experiencing SoonR.

• Download and install SoonR Desktop Agent from SoonR web site. Follow the instructions to register a new account too.
• After installing SoonR Desktop Agent, you should be able to see it on the Windows task bar.

• Open the agent to configure which files you want to share. You can do it by right clicking SoonR icon in Windows task bar and selecting Open menu. Click Folders button to select which folders to share.

• Now, we are ready to access the files from our mobile phone. Open the web browser on your S60 phone and go to http://www.soonr.com/. Enter your user name and password in the login screen.

• After login, you will see your shared files and applications. Now you are ready to go…

• You can access your remote files, such as accessing photos or videos.

• You can also access your Inbox, Calendar and Contacts on your Microsoft Outlook.

Note: Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to make phone call via Skype. SoonR is able to call the phone, but I couldn’t hear anything. Well, it is still in beta phase, so this might be one features that is not really working yet.

Update (16-Aug-2006): I have managed to make a phone call via Skype. The problem last was that I used a phone without SIM card. IMHO, calling via Skype is one of the coolest features of SoonR.