Windows CE Programming

As a windows mobile programmer I have to fight with ActiveSync aka Windows Mobile Device Center. The newer WM devices come with enhanced network function via USB ActiveSync/WMDC and then each time a new device is connected, you will get a new Mobile Remote Adapter with a new number at the end.

First, I dont need any partnership and so I change my system to do GuestOnly connections with WMDC (Windows Mobile 7, 64Bit system).

OK, second annoyance is the awlays coming up WMDC or WMDC+Mobile Registration Wizard. These Popups can be avoided by changing the call to WMDC.exe to WMDCbase.exe. See also this post.

So, I can connect one of the several devices I have currently for development support (about 10-30) without annoying popups.

But then I found, that for each device and sometimes multiple times, Windows installs a new “Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter” in Device Manager. I found about 88 instances, where only ONE is needed. Before you can see the inactive adapters, you have to enable Show_Hidden_Devices. One way to show hidden devices is this []:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. At a command prompt, type the following command , and then press ENTER:
   set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
3. Type the following command a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   start devmgmt.msc
4. Troubleshoot the devices and drivers in Device Manager.

   NOTE: Click Show hidden devices on the View menu in Device Manager before you can see devices that are not connected to the computer.

5. When you finish troubleshooting, close Device Manager.
6. Type exit at the command prompt.

To remove the hidden, inactive Mobile Remote Instances, you can now right click on every instance, then click UnInstall and then [OK]. But for 88 instances, that is a bunch of clicking.

As programmer, I searched of a way to remove these instances programmatically. OK, I digged google and found DevCon, a tool to manage devices and instances from the command line. Unfortunately, I had to download a CD image of Windows WDK to get DevCon.exe. Then I found a site which described howto install DevCon only.

With the help of DevCon.exe, I produced a list of “Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter” instances, removed to not numbered one and then built a list of DevCon commands to remove the obsolete instances.

List all Windows Mobile Remote Adapters into a file:

devcon findall "USB\VID_067E&PID_1003&REV_0000" >wm_remote_adapters.txt

“USB\VID_067E&PID_1003&REV_0000” is the identifier for Windows Mobile Remote Adapter (you can find this by right clicking the instance in device manager and select properties).

USB\VID_067E&PID_1003\0040056A-0E9D-0801-0DE0-01130400682B  : Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter #59
USB\VID_067E&PID_1003\0040056A-0E9D-0801-1B10-010E04000801  : Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter #6
USB\VID_067E&PID_1003\0040056A-0E9D-0801-0B70-000E0400BA61  : Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter #24
USB\VID_067E&PID_1003\0040056A-0E9D-0801-1990-001104000E40  : Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter #77
USB\VID_067E&PID_1003\99461300-B56A-0801-DD17-0FBB99944738  : Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter #89
...

Then, in the list wm_remote_adapters.txt, I replaced all line starts etc and built this cmd list:

devcon.exe remove "@USB\VID_067E&PID_1003\0040056A-0E9D-0801-0590-010E0400A43B"
devcon.exe remove "@USB\VID_067E&PID_1003\99461300-B56A-0801-5AD3-B56444802FC3"
devcon.exe remove "@USB\VID_067E&PID_1003\99461300-B56A-0801-B87A-D1874E00C078"
devcon.exe remove "@USB\VID_067E&PID_1003\0040056A-0E9D-0801-1640-01100400B075"
...

Then I saved this cmd list as remove-adapters.cmd and started it from the command prompt. And, voila, all obsolete adapters are gone for now.

From time to time I have to rebuild the lists again to get rid of these many obsolete adapters.