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Axim users still waiting for OS update from Dell

Frustrated Axim users are once again complaining on Internet message boards and forums about the lack of a patch from Dell to correct performance problems in their Windows Mobile 2003 handhelds. It now appears they will have to wait a while longer as Dell distributes the ROM update via CD.

Dell was supposed to make a patch available through its Web site on July 30 to correct performance problems that stemmed from faulty firmware shipped with Dell's Axim handhelds sold after the launch of Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 operating system on June 23. That patch never appeared, but some Axim users were able to find it on Dell's FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site on July 30, and fix their Axims.

Other Axim users who found the ROM update that day were unable to load the new firmware due to a problem with the installer, a spokesperson said.

Dell needed to fix the installer problem before shipping both the ROM update for Windows Mobile 2003 users and the operating system upgrade for Pocket PC 2002 users who purchased the upgrade, she said.

In July, Dell said those CDs would ship in two to three weeks.

Dell would not make the ROM update available online, the spokesperson said. The ROM update was only supposed to fix the problems on the limited number of Axim handhelds shipped with Windows Mobile 2003, but several users were able to find a way to hack the patch to give themselves free upgrades from Pocket PC 2002 to Windows Mobile 2003.

The company pulled the ROM update from its FTP site after it discovered the software was being used to upgrade older Axims, and promised to make a new patch available through a targeted download.

That targeted download would not happen, and users would have to get either their ROM updates or operating system upgrades via CD, the spokesperson said.

She was unable to provide a time frame for when users would receive their CDs.

Windows Mobile 2003 users who successfully downloaded the ROM update would not need to install the CD version of the ROM update, although they would still receive it anyway because they were on Dell's distribution list, the spokesperson said.

Dell did not plan to go after Pocket PC 2002 users who managed to obtain free upgrades to Windows Mobile 2003 by hacking the ROM update, she said.

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

More about: Dell, Microsoft, VIA

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