You should be able to switch shells via a simple registry change. Just go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Init\" and look for a Launchxx
(where xx is a number
) string that contains the name of the shell application you want to switch
(for example Viva.exe
). Now, rename "Viva.exe"
(or whatever the shell application is named
) to "explorer.exe"
(the standard CE shell
). Soft reset and on next boot you should be running the standard CE Explorer shell, assuming its in ROM.
If you need a registry editor, try PHM regedit available here:
http://www.phm.lu/Products/Embedded/
On a different, though unrelated note:
I was looking at your device's specs and it looks like your device has an x86 based processor. This can be a big problem if you wish to run any kind of third party CE software. As very few x86 CE devices are sold to consumers, there is very little native software compiled for them. In my quest for x86 CE software, I have counted roughly 20-30 commercial/freeware apps that have a native x86 binary available. However, all is not lost! Applications that are written in managed code such as those written in eMbedded Visual Basic, the .NET Compact Framework, PocketC and others should run perfectly, provided they have an x86 runtime available. In addition to the managed languages above, you should also be able to compile an application for x86 if it has source code available. There are plenty of open source CE applications out there that should work fine. If all else fails, try emailing the author of an application you'd like to run and see if they will send you an x86 build. You may get lucky.
In addition to the above tips, you may want to have a look at my less than complete listing of software that is known to work on x86 CE devices. It includes navive, open source and managed applications. Most were tested and work on x86, but not all.
See this thread for my list:
http://www.hpcfactor.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=546&start=5Edited by TFGBD 2005-10-05 2:20 PM