The Palm Pilot m100 that I have been using had a tremendous amount of
data stored only on it. It has now came on with the screen reading
"Welcome to Setup", instead of showing the address book, calendar,
etc... New batteries had recently been installed, and nothing
indicated that they may have been low. Palm's technical support
advised me to proceed with the Setup, but when through, the data was
nowhere to be found. The company says that the data cannot be
retrieved, and the management does not seem to appreciate the severity
and seriousness of the problem.

If anyone out there in GoogleAnswers Land can do what seems to be
impossible according to Palm, that is to specify how to recover the
lost data, I shall be extremely grateful and pleased to reward.

Please take care not to waste any time with this question unless you
have prior experience with a solution to this problem with the Pilot,
since it does seem to be futile.

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Request for Question Clarification by legolas-ga on 19 Nov 2002 17:20 PST

When was the last time you hotsynced the palm?

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Clarification of Question by reb-ga on 19 Nov 2002 17:27 PST

It was not used with hotsyncing.

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Request for Question Clarification by legolas-ga on 19 Nov 2002 17:32 PST

Would you accept an answer that details how to prevent this from
happening in the future? Unfortunately, Palms do not use NVRAM
(non-volitile RAM): that means, if there is a total lack of power to
the device and the capacitor power is drained, it is gone. Forever.
It's kind of like how there is no residual microwaves in a microwave
after it's finished cooking your food, or how there's no 'left over'
electric after you turn off the light switch.

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Clarification of Question by reb-ga on 19 Nov 2002 17:54 PST

I appreciate your consideration of the question, but unfortunately
cannot accept less than a solution. I am aware of the idea of copying
the data to a computer, but that is often not feasible, and I do not
plan to use this device again for data storage, with its appareant
unreliability. I wish I could pay for associated information, without
a solution, but shall have to post an easier question next time. Thank
you, anyway.

Dear Reb - 
   This post is only to let you know a little more about Palm Pilots
and other portable electronic equipment on the market.   Most devices
like the Palm units and cell phones use what is called Flash Memory. 
They are great for recalling number and address and keeping notes on
as you did.  As you have found out most unfortunately is that they are
not good for keeping vital records on.  There is really no physical
space where your information is kept like a computer.   On a computer
you store your information on a hard drive and then access it through
any number of memory devices (DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, etc).    SO there is
not going to be an answer for you problem.  The information is lost. 
The company from which you purchased the machine, or made the machine,
is not giving you the run around.  Its just the unfortunate truth in
your situation.

There are other devices out on the market now that you may want to
look into for the future.   I would highly recommend posting another
question of less cost for that information.   We would be more than
willing to help you in the future.

Regards,
Morningstar

Thank you, Morningstar, for your comment. I do not say I have got a
run around, but I did find out, as you said, not to rely on the
device.

In my experience, it is a goo dlesson no tto rely on any recording
media to store your data.

PDAs can have a complete loss of power or other disaster which causes
them to no longer have your data available. (Although the memory is
not usually known as "flash" memory, which I'll describe next)

"Flash" memory is  type of memory that can be erased and rewritten,
but doesn't require power to maintain it's state. Also known as
non-volatile memory, it's often used to store settings in devices like
older modems, some computer BIOSes, and in memory cards such as
Compact Flash and Smart Media. It is subject to physical damage,
accidental deletion, and extreme weather. Probably also in danger from
magnetic fields.

Magnetic media comes in 3 common forms: Diskettes, Fixed Disks, and
tapes.
Tapes are subject to magnetic fields, degradation of the magnetic
storage from age and or heavy use, and any physical damage that could
break or stretch the tape.
Diskettes are subject to magnetic fields, accidental file deletion,
degradation due to age or use, physical damage, etc.
Fixed disks are subject to accidental damage, failure of the motor,
controller board, heads, or the magnetic medium of the platters. Also
very susceptible to damage from movement, accidental deletion, etc.
Optical Media includes pressed CDs/DVDs/etc., recorded CDs/DVDs/etc.
and rewritable media. All are susceptible to heat and physical
damage/scratching, loss, and so forth. Recordable media are basically
a plastic disc with a thin layer of dye/metal. Direct sunlight can
effect this, as can age. Rewritable media don't use the same
technology, instead they use a phase-change media. Also susceptible to
age and usage problems.
Physical media include written works and punch cards, which are
subject to loss, physical damage, weather damage, fading and tearing,
etc. Also included here would be actual records, which are subject to
heat and scratching, breaking, and wearing down of the "data"
contained in the grooves.
There is also human memory, which is subject to random loss of data,
periodic unavailability of data, a tendency for stored data to become
"corrupted," the difficulty of backup and/or duplication of data, and
a complete loss of data at the time of death.

As you can see, no storage medium is flawless, and none should be
relied on completely. Everything should be backed up to at least one
other source, since the more backup there is, the greater the odds of
saving data should one method fail. It's not likely that 3 or 4 backup
methods would all fail at the same time.

In the case of your PDA, I would advise frequent hot-syncing to a
computer, (you say it's not easy to do, but if your data is that
critical, you should find a way to make an effort - perhaps purchase a
notebook to take with you for backing up. It doesn't have to be top of
the line.) Even if you absolutely cannot backup to a computer,
whenever possible backup the data to whatever sort of removable media
your PDA can read (don't buy one without a media card slot) or print
the contact database out once in a while. Most PDAs can print
wirelessly via infrared or other wireless technologies. Once the data
is in the computer, back it up to CD, and keep the CDs somewhere asfe
(like a safety deposit box)

Sorry don't have any answer to your actual question.

Sparky4ca-ga

Sparky4ca,

That is an excellent exposition regarding media. I do take care to
back up my computer work. I have never encountered such volatility
with data before, except on the early throwaway PDAs. Tech support
said that the Pilot must have "reset itself". What a feature.
I appreciate your thoughts.

reb-ga