Starting over after Hotsync User ID being changed without input from me!

Question

I posted the following message in the Hotsynch section of these forums on Jan 1 and have not yet had an answer; since then the situation has changed, but I want to provide the original circumstances as background:
As far as I know -- with evidence in my data directories -- when I got my Tungsten I set it up with the user name "Wendy". A couple of days ago, when I got a handheld software registration code based on giving that to the software vendor as my user name, it would not work. When I investigated I found that the Hotsync User ID in my desktop software was "2008". Today, New Year's day, when I went to open another desktop component, SplashID, I found that all the data was gone. Lo and behold, when I went to do a restore, I found data folders for Wendy, 2008, and 2009! I then looked at the Palm desktop app and found that the Hotsync User ID there is now "2009"! Why is this happening and what can I do to nail down the user ID that I want?
Please note that I have also been suffering from periodic loss of my non-recurring calendar data. It seems to occur whenever an overnight Windows update takes place that causes my computer to reboot. Using the advice given in the posts responding to my previous message in these help forums, I have -- so far -- always been able to restore the data. I do not recall whether this and the change of hotsync user name started at the same time.
When I got no answer on the forum by the afternoon of Jan2, I sought help viaPalm's online chat. The person who helped me was very patient given the profusion and confusion of user names/IDs but ultimately when I had followed his instructions re deleting Palm Desktop 6.2.2, reinstalling it and synching, the synch just hangs on the databook synch. Since then I have done a clean uninstall according to the instructions for clean Vista uninstalls posted by cygnusX1 on 12-30-2008 04:06 PM in the thread "Syncs fine -- missing all data in Desktop App". The only thing that I did differently was to use the Windows uninstall process before I started manual deletions.
My current situation: I have no Palm Desktop software installed on my Vista PC although the desktop versions of some -- but not all of other Palm apps still work. I have a backup of the "Wendy" directory with Palm data stored on my Windows desktop. I have a Tungsten E2 with calendar, addressbook, memos, todos and data from two of the Splash apps and Diet Assistant. The current name on the handheld is "2008". I would like to end up with a Palm desktop and handheld with user name "Wendy". Any advice on how to proceed to that point with minimal data loss would be appreciated..
Post relates to: Tungsten E2
Post relates to: Tungsten E2

Answer 1

Regarding your "Wendy" backup, is this a backup from a version of Palm desktop prior to using Palm desktop 6.2? If it is, you will need to install the version you used with the "Wendy" username. After the install, copy the username folder into the Palm folder in c-programs-palm. Open Palm desktop and see if the data is there. If you are still having a problem, create the username "Wendy" in Palm desktop, delete the username on the handheld and then when you sync it will ask for the username to sync with, select "Wendy" and continue the sync.
You can erase the username on your handheld using the procedure in the following link;
http://kb.palmone.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE?New,kb=PalmSupportKB,t=ooccase,case=obj(24485)
After you go through this procedure, tap on hotsync on the handheld and in the upper right corner is the username assigned to the handheld. If the delete procedure was done correctly, there will be no username in the upper right corner. You can then sync to to Palm desktop and select the username to sync to.
If you have the data on the handheld, you may want to install Palm desktop, create the "Wendy" username in Palm desktop, erase the username on the handheld and then sync to Palm desktop.
Post relates to: Palm i705