Pre-flash checklist
 

As I'm sure most the geeks here are flashaholics some newbie may not be... so let's get a tutorial together for what can be done to minimize the negative impact of flashing. I'll update this post with links to content so anyone can follow the steps.

Before you do anything create an email settings CAB: Post Here

1. Copy pim.vol to storage card or windows (this contains all your contacts)
2. Copy email settings CAB to storage card
3. Flash
4. Hard reset (not sure why but a lot of chefs seem to recommend this)
5. Install a file manager (like total commander or resco, most roms have one included)
6. Copy pim.vol over from your storage card overwriting file on your device root
7. Run email settings CA
8. Enjoy your new ROM

Hopefully this is useful (and not already covered) and some folks have some great ideas for speading up the flash process

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 8.12; MSIEMobile6.0) Sprint T7380)

how do you make the email settinga cab?!

Re: Pre-flash checklist
 

little more advanced but along the same lines Pre Flash Using Sashimi

Wirelessly posted (Touch Pro 2: HTC-P4600/1.2 Opera/9.50 (Windows NT 5.1; U; en))

I'll post the tutorial asap... you can automate your entire email setup...

Setting up email accounts was what I dreaded most about flashing!!

Re: Pre-flash checklist
 

Thanks

I flashed my phone for the first time ever yesterday and forgot to save my contacts beforehand.

Re: Pre-flash checklist
 

Why not use Microsoft MyPhone for saving contacts OR simply syncing with a desktop after the flash?

Re: Pre-flash checklist
 

after the whole sidekick fiasco, im not to sure about trusting microsoft with a whole lot of my data lol

Wirelessly posted (Touch Pro 2: HTC-P4600/1.2 Opera/9.50 (Windows NT 5.1; U; en))

No reason not to other than privacy and ease. Personally copying 1 file (pim.vol) and then restoring seemed like the best option.

Have you used myphone? If so would you mind posting a tutorial in here with how to backup and restore?

Re: Pre-flash checklist
 

its easy to do and remember after like the 5th flash HAHA.

Re: Pre-flash checklist
 

Here's the tutorial for creating an email settings CAB, edited the main post

To create the CAB you need to know your Email settings, and you must have OEMizer and MakeCab (included in Windows)
1. Open OEMizer and edit the information in the main screen
2. Click on the POP3/IMAP4 checkbox and fill in the information for every account you have
3. Click on Create Cab and note the location of the OEM file location looks like this (RGU written to I:\Temp\OEM\NameOfOEM\GUID.rgu)
4. Go to the directory from Step 3 and find the file named mxip_myProv_100.provxml, rename it to something easier like settings.xml
5. Open a command prompt (Windows Key and R, or Start Menu and Run, then type cmd and hit ok)
6. In the command prompt navigate to the location of your setup.xml file, in my example, I: <enter> cd Temp\OEM <enter>
7. Type makecab setup.xml EmailSettings.cab
8. Grab the CAB file from the directory and save it in a safe place.