Windows 7 : Windows in Your Pocket—Using a Windows Mobile Smartphone - Windows Mobile and Windows 7 (part 3) - Changing Device Settings

2. Changing Device Settings

From the Mobile Device Settings option in the Windows Mobile Device Center home screen, you are presented with a laundry list of features to configure. Some of these are quite important.

2.1. Change Content Sync Settings

The Change content sync settings screen (see Figure 9) resembles the initial configuration screen where you choose which items you want to sync between the PC and the device.

Figure 9. This looks familiar but you can actually dig a bit deeper.

But there's much more going on here than just enabling or disabling sync items. Unlike that initial configuration screen, you can use this interface to configure individual item sync settings. To see what this means, click the link Sync Settings under Calendar. As shown in Figure 10, you now have some additional settings to fine-tune, including how far in the past to synchronize calendar appointments and, if you've connected the phone to two devices, which PCs to sync this item with. Contacts, Calendar, E-mail, and Tasks all offer additional options in this manner.

Figure 10. Diving into calendar sync, you can determine how many days' worth of scheduled items are synchronized.

2.2. Sync Wirelessly with Exchange Server

If you use your smartphone to wirelessly synchronize with Exchange-based e-mail, contacts, calendars, and tasks for work, you can use this interface to configure your phone. As shown in Figure 11, Exchange configuration is relatively simple because Windows Mobile Device Center can autodiscover all the information it needs.

Figure 11. You can sync your smartphone wirelessly with Exchange Server and skip out on tethered device sync.

2.3. Manage a Partnership

Windows Mobile devices can maintain partnerships with—and, thus, sync between—up to two Windows-based PCs. From this interface, you can provide a name for the current PC only and configure what happens when a sync conflict occurs.

2.4. Connection Settings

Old-timers who recall the terrible ActiveSync application from previous versions of Windows will feel right at home with this interface, which helps you configure the ways in which your Windows Mobile device can sync with the PC. As shown in Figure 12, your options include USB and Bluetooth wireless sync, but you can also determine how Internet connections work between the PC and device when the two are connected.

2.5. Get Device Certificates

In certain corporate settings, you may need to authenticate your device using a digital certificate before you can connect to the company's Wi-Fi network or Exchange Server. If so, your system administrator will provide it and either configure it for you or provide instructions.

2.6. End a Partnership

If you'd like to end the partnership between the smartphone and the current PC, this is the place. The one thing you can't do is end a partnership between the smartphone and a different PC. To do that, you'd have to connect the phone to a third computer.

Figure 12. Want to use USB for charging only, but use Bluetooth for sync? This is where you configure it.