Touch Pro Cleanup (Sprint Edition)

[GoodThings2Life]

Sprint Touch Pro Cleanup by GoodThings2Life

With all the requests to "clean house" on the stock ROMs, and also with a recognition that some people either can't or aren't ready to use a custom ROM (translation: business users and new users), I've put together an easily installed package that helps us trim the fat from the OEM customizations.

With that in mind, here are the instructions and guidelines for these packages. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY... I AM WILLING TO HELP WHEN THERE IS A PROBLEM, BUT IF YOU DON'T READ THE INFORMATION, I WON'T BE INCLINED TO REPEAT MYSELF.

Installing this will make several modifications to your Sprint* Touch Pro configuration to make it perform faster, have relatively stable battery life, and still provide a functional experience. DO NOT USE THIS PACKAGE ON A NON-SPRINT TOUCH PRO! If this thread is popular, and if I can get my hands on the variants, I may package them in the future.

NOTE #1: This will remove the shortcuts to all Sprint content, so if you really need those links, be sure to use the supplemental Restore Sprint Shortcuts package. That said, it is very much a "Sprint" configuration, so no specialized skins, etc. beyond what are documented below.

NOTE #2: There are four variations based on whether you prefer Large/Small Start Menu Icons and/or the Full/Light AudioPara Volume Increase, so feel free to use the one appropriate for your preferences.

NOTE #3: I will fix any issues with these packages, but I won't necessarily be adding any new features or skins. This is intended to provide as many of the "essentials" as possible without a lot of hassle. I also have limited time to work on these things, and well to be honest... if you want to go beyond the essentials, you should really be looking at Custom ROM development.

NOTE #4: Advanced users are more than welcome to edit the _setup.xml file within the cab files and continue customizing it as they see fit.

As I said before, I really consider this to be a Quick Essentials tool for those who aren't willing or aren't ready for ROM cooking.

UPDATE #1: I have posted the "tweaksonly" version that only changes the registry settings and leaves all the shortcuts alone.

-- Here is a list of the tweaks offered in the standard package...


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TouchFlo 3D Configuration Changes
----------------------------------

1. "SprintTV" tab removed.
2. "Sprint Music" tab renamed to "Music" and Sprint Music Store link removed.
3. Reconfigured default shorctus on the "Programs" tab.
4. Sets the TouchPanel sensitivity to 200.



---------------------------------
Start Menu Configuration Changes
---------------------------------

1. All shortcuts re-arranged for better organization (See important note and screenshot below).
2. Sprint program shortcuts removed. (See Supplemental Package "restore_sprint_shortcuts.cab" if you want to restore them to the "Sprint Mobile" folder as shown below).
3. Small Icons Used (see alternate versions if you like big icons).

Please pay attention to this part! The programs that come with the phone are moved to the Start Menu and are categorized into "Office Mobile, Windows Live Mobile, and Windows Mobile". Only the Sprint Shortcuts are deleted, which is why the cab file is included. Programs YOU install are left alone, and those are the programs you'll see in the "Recent" list. Here is a screenshot of how it appears with Large Icons enabled:



If this doesn't suit your tastes, no problem... just use the "TweaksOnly" version.

-----------------------------------
Control Panel Configuration Changes
-----------------------------------

1. Buttons-- Send Key Hold set to None; Up/Down Control set to Short/Fast
2. Input-- Word Completion Disabled; Voice Recording in Stereo
3. Today-- Today Timeout set to 1hour
4. Clock & Alarms-- Display Clock Always; Always Enable Alarms
5. Long Press End Key-- Lock Device
6. Microphone AGC-- Enabled
7. Power-- Backlight #3 on Battery, Full on AC; 2min, 3min, 10min Standby timers
8. Regional-- hh/mm/ss time display; MM/dd/yy date display
9. Screen-- ClearType Enabled; Text Size #4
10. TouchFLO-- All options disabled (a Supplemental Pack is provided)
11. Beams-- Disabled
12. USB to PC-- ActiveSync without Advanced Networking; Don't Prompt



------------------------------
Program Configuration Changes
------------------------------

1. Internet Explorer Optimized
2. Internet Sharing Enabled via Sprint rather than PAM
3. All Known Safe Power Management Registry Tweaks Enabled
4. GDI GlyphCache set to 32768
5. Security Prompts for Program Installs Disabled
6. Phone Services Improvements-- Location Off; All Roaming Tweaks Enabled
7. AudioPara3.csv (Loudest) bundled (see alternate versions if you prefer the light patch)
8. SMS Sent Notifications Disabled
9. Reply All function reset to Reply Only.
10. Filesystem cleaned up a bit-- Sample Images/Video/Songs Removed
11. Filesystem organized:
\Temp is universal Temp folder
\Pocket.IE is Internet Explorer Cache Folder
\Pocket.OL is Outlook Mail/Attachment Cache Folder


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How to Install:
--------------

1. Save the file somewhere convenient, like your Desktop or My Documents.
2. Connect your phone to your computer using your USB cable.
3. When ActiveSync pops up, let it do its thing, and then click the "Explore" button on the toolbar.
4. Copy the file (drag and drop usually works best) to the phone. That said, I strongly recommend putting it on your storage card.
5. Disconnect the phone from the computer.
6. On the phone, go to Start > Programs > File Explorer.
7. Find the file on your storage card (or My Documents or wherever you put it).
8. Tap on the file to open the zip file... then tap on the cab inside... when prompted, tap Install. It will require you to do a soft reset when it finishes.

----------------
Troubleshooting:
----------------

If it doesn't work, read the instructions more thoroughly and try again. If the install doesn't work for some reason and reports that it cannot be installed, then chances are I mangled something in the _setup.xml file OR you have something on your phone already that the cab doesn't like. Keep in mind, I've only tested this on my phone which was just hard reset in order to make sure the installers worked.

If it doesn't work for you, let me know which file you used and I'll make sure the installer isn't broken. Beyond that, you're on your own to figure out if any programs you've installed are unhappy with the modifications.

A couple other comments... unfortunately, this cannot be uninstalled without a hard reset. There are too many registry and file changes to do so. HOWEVER, in the next couple days I'll try to build an additional cab that undoes everything in order to prevent hard resets.

---------------------------------------------
Why THIS configuration? Why THESE settings?
---------------------------------------------

I chose this configuration because for the past year, I've observed my own usage habits as well as the habits of about 20 people that I work with as well as a significant number of users here who frequently post looking for things of this nature. My goal is to provide an experience that is functional but lightweight and efficient. Every program is no more than 2-3 taps away, and the settings are set so that the Windows Mobile experience is as fast, power conservative, and finger friendly as possible.

[GoodThings2Life]

This post contains the "uninstallers" necessary to restore the Sprint Content, if you desire it.

If you use the version called restore_sprint_shortcuts, it will restore all of the custom Sprint shortcuts to a folder on the Start Menu called "Sprint Mobile".

If you use the version called restore_sprint_content.zip it will also restore the SprintTV tab AND the Sprint Music Store link in addition to restoring the shortcuts to the Sprint Mobile folder as described above.

COMING SOON... a restore_shortcuts utility to restore ALL shortcuts to their default locations for those who later decide they just can't live with the new menu setup.

[GoodThings2Life]

This post is for those who like most parts of the Sprint Manila theme, but still want to get rid of the hyper-obnoxious yellow.

If you're like me, you look at the Sprint theme and say something like, "The Sprint theme looks pretty decent except for that god-forsaken yellow. It's like a snow field that somebody at Sprint decided to pee on! Why would they do that?!"

Well, it's taken me a week to get it how I like it, but I did it. I hope to God I never have to do it again! Editing Manila themes is by far the WORST experience I've ever had with Windows Mobile tweaking. So that said, I will NOT change this theme. It is what it is, and you either like it or hate it, and you either use it or not on your own choice. If you want to edit it yourself, go right ahead, but aside from some documentation I'm going to post in the Themes forum, I'm never touching this again! Ever!

OK, so... at the bottom you will find two installers-- sprint_manila_blue will tweak the default Sprint skin and will leave the Sprint Music and Sprint TV tabs as they are out of the box. The "revised" tweak will remove the Sprint Music Store link, rename the Sprint Music tab to "Music", and remove the Sprint TV tab.

Other changes-- ALL YELLOW has been replaced with a deep shade of BLUE (it's not exact, but it's pretty close to the PPCGeeks dark blue background, and surprisingly that wasn't intentional, lol). Also, the unread mail/sms notifications are RED... I was going to be consistent and use the blue, but they really didn't show up very well.

For those interested, the blue has a hex value of #283048. The grays used are #333333, black is #000000, and white is #FFFFFF. The light grays used for the email account, landscape, and program highlights are #C1C1C1.

Here are some screenshots:











Here's how to install this:

1. Copy the file of your choice to your phone (see the first post for details on that if you need them).
2. DISABLE TOUCHFLO3D and switch to another Today skin (temporarily). Do this by going to Start > Settings > Today ... select a skin that isn't "Sprint" and then click Items and uncheck TouchFLO3D. IF YOU DONT DO THIS, BAD THINGS MAY OR MAY NOT HAPPEN, SO JUST DO IT!
3. Install the file by tapping on it in File Explorer.
4. Soft reset even if it doesn't ask you to do so!
5. Re-select the Sprint skin and re-enable TouchFLO3D (reversing step 2).

Troubleshooting:

If you have trouble with this or if some of the graphics don't look right or if you actually find some yellow that I've somehow missed, let me know so I can look into it.

THIS CAN ONLY BE INSTALLED ON THE STOCK SPRINT THEME. DO NOT INSTALL THIS IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER ROM OR SKIN! DO NOT INSTALL THIS IF YOU HAVE MADE EXTENSIVE CHANGES ON YOUR OWN TO THE SPRINT THEME! IT CAN BE INSTALLED IN ADDITION TO MY TOUCH CLEANUP ABOVE!

[GoodThings2Life]

Reserved just in case I need the space.

[detwilers]

This is great! Even with a custom rom I would love to see more of these customization packages. Keep up the good work.

[GoodThings2Life]

Thanks! When I post the "tweaks only" version, it will be more custom-ROM friendly.

[Fruzion]

Anyway we could get a battery tweaks only cab?

[profroopchan]

I liked all the tweaks, however, I restored my phone back to before I did this mod, because I did not like how you moved around all my shortcuts, and then I have to go and restore them. I would prefer if you could make a version which does everything except moving around any of the shortcuts or removing any of the shortcuts. You could then make a add-on to remove the shortcuts later, instead of default removing them, then having to restore them. When I restored them (with your previous version of the file) it still had some of my games and stuff moved around. I know some people would like you to fill in the touch flow "programs", but that is something I really want to organize myself.

[GoodThings2Life]

@prof,

I'm working on a version that leaves the shortcuts alone. I may also make it so that it "empties" the Programs tab listing in the TouchFLO interface.

For those who are wondering, there is a method to the madness of moving them around...

I move the stuff that comes with the phone into separate folders so that they are still accessible in the same number of clicks as usual, however, it keeps them off the "Recent Programs" list since most of those functions are more readily accessible through the Manila interface AND because it allows the programs you install to take priority in the Recent Programs List. Also, these programs are the ones I assign to the Programs tab to make them more accessible. The goal here is efficiency, since nothing takes more than 2 taps to access.

[GoodThings2Life]

@Everyone...

I'm really not looking to get into a lot of individual tweaks. They have been cabbed at least 100 times already in other threads. Also, please pay special attention to NOTE#4 in the original post that provides some explanation of how to customize this on your own if you choose.