ActiveSync 3.8 window won't come up

I installed ActiveSync 3.8 which worked fine for a while, but now all I
get is the tray icon. The synchronization process seems to work ok, but
I can't get any window open, and thus I can't see items that needs to be
resolved, nor change any options.

Does anyknow know if it's possible to uninstall it 100% and reinstall it
to fix something like this and if so, how to get completely rid of it ?
Doing a normal uninstall and then a reinstall doesn't fix it.

Checked event log too, nothing there that hints to the problem. Are
there other logs I can check ?

// Lasse

I've got the same issue and have been unable to find any cause or tech note
on this, hope someone has an answer to this.

Pierre Aterianus

"Lasse Vågsæther Karlsen" <> wrote in message
news:...
>I installed ActiveSync 3.8 which worked fine for a while, but now all I get
>is the tray icon. The synchronization process seems to work ok, but I can't
>get any window open, and thus I can't see items that needs to be resolved,
>nor change any options.
>
> Does anyknow know if it's possible to uninstall it 100% and reinstall it
> to fix something like this and if so, how to get completely rid of it ?
> Doing a normal uninstall and then a reinstall doesn't fix it.
>
> Checked event log too, nothing there that hints to the problem. Are there
> other logs I can check ?
>
> // Lasse

Pierre Aterianus wrote:
> I've got the same issue and have been unable to find any cause or tech note
> on this, hope someone has an answer to this.
>
> Pierre Aterianus
>

I've verified that a "helpful" collegue who borrowed my computer while I
was on vacation had "upgraded" my ActiveSync to 4.0 to test his own new
device (which did not in fact require 4.0), and subsequently removed it
and reinstalled 3.8.

I think he was hoping I wouldn't notice.

At the moment the only thing I know would fix this is to do a complete
reinstall of the entire computer.

Ok, I finally was able to solve this problem on my computer.

So that google or other search engines can find this post I'll add some
details:

ActiveSync 4.0 was installed after ActiveSync 3.8 was uninstalled.
ActiveSync 4.0 did not work and was subsequently removed and 3.8
reinstalled.

This did not work either. Problem now was that the activesync
configuration and status window would not come up (double-clicking icon
or right-click + open activesync window). Right-clicking the icon and
selecting the "Explore" menu item gave me the following error message:

Critical communications services have failed to start. Try resetting the
mobile device, and then connect again.

And then a blank explorer window.

Removing 3.8 and reinstalling it did not work.

I also tried uninstalling each and every application or tool that
installed itself through activesync, or used it to synchronize data with
my pocket pc, then did a full reinstall again, to no avail.

Registry was also cleaned. Directories (that I knew of) was deleted.
Nothing worked.

Then I poked about a lot and found a log file and tried cleaning up some
extra files, and it now seems to work as it should.

The solution:
(assumed that you have 3.8 installed now, and it doesn't work)
1. Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft ActiveSync or wherever you installed
it, and open wcesetup.log
2. Scan for lines containing the word WARNING, here's a few from my file:

Copying static files to C:\WINDOWS\System32\
ceutil.dll - WARNING: not copied (old ver = 4.0.4343.0, source ver =
3.8.0.5004)
ppcload.dll - copied
rapi.dll - WARNING: not copied (old ver = 4.0.4343.0, source ver =
3.8.0.5004)
....
Copying static files to C:\Program Files\Microsoft ActiveSync\drivers
wceusbsh.sys - WARNING: not copied (old ver = 4.0.4232.0, source ver
= 3.7.1.3244)
....
Copying static files to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\NoteSync Forms
formdll.dll - WARNING: not copied (old ver = 4.0.4343.0, source ver
= 3.8.0.5004)
inkeng.dll - refreshed (ver = 3.8.0.5004)

3. Uninstall activesync as normal
4. Delete the directories:
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft ActiveSync
- C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\NoteSync Forms
5. Delete the files:
- C:\Windows\System32\rapi.dll
- C:\Windows\System32\ceutil.dll
- (any other files you get warnings about, take care though, you might
delete necessary system files)
6. Do a reboot
7. Reinstall activesync 3.8 and follow normal connection procedures

This worked for me, I can now bring up the status window, configure
activesync, and explore the device, everything seems to work.

Hopefully this information can be helpful to someone else as I found
quite a number of posts on the net about this problem.