Step 3. Installing Software Files

You are now ready to transfer the files from your computer to your PDA. To complete this step, you will need to start the Palm Desktop software that came with your Palm device. If you have not installed this software before you will need to follow the instructions that came with your PDA and install it on your computer. If Palm Desktop is installed, start the HotSync Manager located in the same folder as the Palm Desktop software by double clicking.

	Figure 7: Install Manager

Once you start the HotSync Manager, go to menu bar and pull down the HotSync Menu located on the top of the screen between the edit and Users menus. Select Install from this menu and the Install Manager should come up looking similar to Figure 7.

	Figure 8: Select Files to Install

Click on the Add To List button in the Top Center. This should bring up a file tree that will allow you to locate the .prc file that we told you to remember. Once you find it, click on it and then click on the Add File Button in the bottom right (see Figure 8). Once you click Add File, you will return to the Install Manager and should see the .prc file in the list just as in Figure 9.

	Figure 9: Install Confirmation

Congratulations, you've done it. All that remains to be done is to place your Palm device in the cradle and press the HotSync button. In addition to all of your usual information being updated between your computer and your PDA, the files selected will also be installed on the Palm device. Once the synchronization process is complete, you can confirm that the operation was successful by looking in the application launcher window to see if the icons for the new programs have been created (not all programs will create individual icons. Many documents and databases will only appear when you start the appropriate viewing utility so do not be alarmed if something you have installed does not appear in the application launcher window).

As you continue to find useful applications you would like to add to your PDA, you may find yourself running out of memory. In this case, you may wish to remove some of the programs you have to make room for the new files. To learn how to remove software from your Palm device, click here. If you do not want to remove any of your applications, check out our hardware section for an overview of all the major memory upgrades available to Palm users.

We hope this guide has been useful in helping simplify the software installation process. If you still have questions or suggestions on how we can improve this guide, feel free to let us know at comments@pdajd.com .