Softick Card Export is a small but useful app for Windows Mobile Pocket PC that allows you to use your device as a USB card reader so that you can access all the files and folders stored on it from a desktop computer. Keep reading to learn more about this utility.
Overview
With Microsoft ActiveSync you can easily connect your device with a PC so that you can access all the data stored on your phone. But what if you need to access this data from a computer or a USB compatible device on which additional software like Microsoft ActiveSync is not installed. This is where Softick Card Export comes into the picture. It allows you to directly connect your Windows Mobile Pocket PC to a computer (without installing any additional software) so that you can easily access and transfer your data like documents, pictures, music etc. stored on your device.
Here users should note that in order to use this app both devices should be USB compatible. Now you don't need to remove your card from your device and it can be directly connected to any PC or a handheld device by using a USB cable to connect these devices. After doing this, you just have to switch the USB mode on your device from ActiveSync to Card Export. The PC will now automatically detect your device and you can transfer data between these devices at a much faster speed than what you might have experienced while using Microsoft ActiveSync.
Softick Card Export is developed by Softick and can be purchased from their website for $14.99. The developers also avail a trial version for testing purposes that can be downloaded from the description page of this app.
The program is compatible with all Pocket PCs operating on Windows Mobile 2003/2003 SE and Windows Mobile 5/6 and readers are advised to check their device compatibility by clicking on this link here. Your Pocket PC can be connected to any computer or handheld running on Microsoft Windows 98/2000/XP/ME, Mac OS X 10.3 or better and Linux operating systems.
Examining Softick Card Export App
While the main objective of this app is to provide a platform for directly connecting your Pocket PC to a computer when Microsoft ActiveSync is available but tragically you have to use the same software to install it on your device. Or you can directly download the .CAB file on your Pocket PC and then run this file to install the app. I used the first method as it is more convenient. I downloaded the .EXE file on my desktop PC after connecting it to my Pocket PC and then used Microsoft ActiveSync to install the application on my device.
Next, I opened the app by tapping on → Start Menu → Programs → Softick Card Export and navigated to its main menu and selected the preferences tab. This tab is accessible only in ActiveSync mode and allows you to configure the application according to your convenience. Initially, I tapped on the ‘Cards’ tab at the bottom of the screen and entered ‘2’ for ‘Number of storage cards’ installed, one for internal phone memory and one for external storage card. I selected the ‘SD card’ option from the drop-down list and ticked on the checkbox in front of ‘Exported’ option to display my card as an external device when it was connected to a computer.
I disabled the ‘Read only’ option as the storage card is only accessible as read-only memory in this mode and data cannot be transferred. The ‘Protect MBR’ option allowed me to enhance the security of the data stored on my storage card. The ‘Hardware’ and ‘Mode’ tabs at the bottom of the screen allows you to configure Windows Mobile platform compatibility with various PDA models and select the type of USB mode to connect your device respectively.
It is recommended that you select your card as a ’Removable storage’ as it is the most reliable mode for the safety of the data stored on your card.
Now whenever I connected my Pocket PC to a computer via a USB cable, it was immediately detected and I could access and transfer data easily just like the way I could do with my pen drive.
Final Verdict
When I first heard about Softick Card Export, I considered it to be a useless product and thought that Microsoft ActiveSync was more than enough if I wanted to access Windows Mobile Pocket PC data on a computer. But when I installed the app on my device and used it for several days I realized its usability and the convenience it has to offer.
Now I could use my Pocket PC as a USB drive or a pen drive and was able to connect it to any other compatible USB device to access and transfer data. It is a small application and occupies very little memory on your device.
Now you don't have to worry about synchronization with a computer and you can directly access your data by simply connecting your device to it.
But I also think that the app is slightly overpriced at $14.99 and would have been a universal product if it was affordable by budget users as well.
Overall, it is a great tool if you want to directly access documents and other data stored on Windows Mobile Pocket PC on a computer or any other USB compatible device without worrying about synchronization and without installing additional software.
SOURCE: Softick