Photos get reduced when copied to PC using Windows 'Your Phone' app

I leave the Create sync logs entry clear because I did not find them useful so I did not want them gradually cluttering up the computer using up storage space.

05.1 You can see Outlook 2007 selected. The list I could choose from was

- I have Outlook 2007 installed so it must have been able to detect that.
- I do not know what other installed PIMs it would automatically detect and add to the list.
- I have never checked but I believe that the entry Only MyPhoneExplorer is for people who do not have a PIM installed and want to use the Calendar view in the MPE interface as their phone calendar because, say, they find it easier to use a calendar with their computer's keyboard etc than they do writing things on their phone.

05.2 If you click on the Advanced button next to Contacts, you see


Top section - selection of Outlook folders to use - It detects that I have more than one Contacts-type folder [as you might guess from the name of the second one, I do not delete any Contacts and just drag unwanted ones into a Dormant contacts folder to gather dust.]

Sync mode - Force Outlook -> phone
- My PIM is Outlook 2007 on my computer. I regard being able to use my Contacts on the phone as a very useful bonus. But Outlook is the Master copy and I deliberately overwrite whatever is on the phone.
- I did play around with Sync both but it had unfortunate side-effects because the phone I was using at the time had trouble interpreting Outlook 'categories' and its misinterpretations got written into its Contact records so syncing back to my Outlook meant that its own records got messed up.

Show confirmation window …
- This is a great distraction. I only ever used it when I was getting used to MPE and then I turned it off.

05.2.1 Sync - Contact accounts to sync
If you click on the blue text in the Contacts section

you will see this


My phone OEM is Samsung. They bundle a Contacts app on the phone. So do Google. Using EAS for email accounts also creates additional Contacts lists. I find it all confusing.
- I left only the Phone entry checked and that provides Contacts in phoning, texting & emailing.
- Because I limit syncing to Force Outlook -> phone this setting cannot mess up my Outlook

05.3 Sync - Calendar
If you click on the Advanced button next to Calendar, you see


MPE refers to Outlook Calendar entries as Events.

Folder to sync - Once again, MPE detects that I have more than one Outlook folder of the calendar type. I select the only one that I want synced.

Sync task - I do not use Outlook Tasks [all jobs get entered into my Calendar instead]. MPE correctly detects the Tasks folder path so I could select it if I wanted.
- None of my phones have ever had their own Task app. MPE provides one so I have always used that [only during brief initial testing in my case].

Compare only changed events - This setting saves an awful lot of time syncing.

Sync mode - Force Outlook -> phone - as explained above, Outlook is my PIM and I merely want to view & use its data on my phone.

Time period - Sync events in a given time period {-7 to +731}
- The bigger the time period, the more space gets used up in the phone but I have not found this to be a limitation in practice since I stopped using my first MPE-ed phone {a 2006 SonyEricsson v600i with a tiny amount of storage space compared to today's phones - I was even able to install a USB driver for that}.
- I chose -7 days because I might well be a few days behind in tidying up my Calendar and wanted to make sure I could still see everything that might still be current. Isn't Outlook wonderful - I am up-to-date with my schedule because I have just dragged everything from the last two days into this coming weekend instead.
- I chose + 731 days [2 years + 1 day in case Leap years are involved]. I have several 'Recurring' tasks in my Outlook Calendar such as monthly system images for each computer. I also used to make quite advanced entries in it such as planned trips [do you remember that word?]. I might, just for example, be at an annual bunfight and want o check if I know when next year's is due. I did not know where to draw the line but could not imagine needing to check anything beyond two years so that's what I went for.

Show confirmation window …
- This is a great distraction. I only ever used it when I was getting used to MPE and then I turned it off.

05.3.1 Sync - Calendars to sync
If you click on the blue text in the Calendar section

you will see this


All my comments above {05.2.1 Sync - Contact accounts to sync} apply to this one as well.
I chose My calendar to sync to because that's what my phone's default calendar apps have always defaulted to.

05.4 Sync - Notes

Once again, MPE detects which Outlook folder my Notes are in.
Once again, I Force Outlook -> phone
Once again, I avoid the distraction of confirmations

- None of my phones have ever had their own Notes app. MPE provides a decent one so I have always used that. I found it a bit confusing at first & it took a bit of getting used to.

MultiSync is manually initiated from the Extras menu


and is


MultiSync is at the heart of MPE's benefits. I use it to sync chosen files to my phone [my Finances spreadsheet, my IS log, my cooking notes, equipment & computer application manuals, maps, foreign language dictionaries, bus & train timetables, …]

Start MultiSync … section
- I cleared all those because I only want to MultiSync when I want to MultiSync

I set all the other checkboxes except Refresh file lists
- Refresh file lists refers to the lists of files shown in the MPE interface Files grouping. I refresh lists manually as I go through them and they refresh as I change which one I have selected at any time. So I saved a bit of syncing time by not having it go through the whole lot refreshing. I have not re-tested this for ages so my reasoning might be complete rubbish.
- Sync files is the heart of the matter.

Sync files - Customize - There is where you enter individual file syncing job definitions
Sync files - Select jobs - After you define or later any syncing job, you need to check this item to make sure the job's checkbox remains set.

I have provided five examples and have explained why I set them up the way I did.
- Your needs will be different and your decisions will be different but I hope my examples do, between them, explain enough about how MultiSync works for you to be able to understand how to achieve what you want.

Despite all the intricate sync job definitions you are about to read in my five examples, MultiSync is initiated as a single action in the Extras menu. I can just start it then get on with something else while the MultiSync runs - no user intervention is required.

This example shows a job definition for files being sent from the phone to the computer.

When you click on Customize, you see this

- The list on the right is the list of individual file syncing job definitions
- The rest of the dialog is the definition of the currently-selected job. The options available in it change drastically depending on whether Direction [in the top-left] is Both, ->PC or-> phone

- It is very easy to intend to define a new job only to find you are altering the currently-selected job. There is no Save button.
- The left-hand part of the dialog is always populated. It contains whatever is defined for whichever job is currently selected in the list on the right.
- I guard against errors by, as my first step in defining a new job, altering the existing entry in the Title box at the top of the dialog then clicking on the big green + sign underneath the list of individual file syncing job definitions. You'll see the new Title appear on the list of jobs.
- Everything changed in the left part of the dialog immediately alters the definition of the job named in that Title box.
- If you decide you want to change a job's Title then it will be as if it was a new job definition and you have to press the green + sign to put it in the list. You'll then need to select its old name in the list & click on the big red minus sign to remove the old entry.

- The list of jobs is always shown in the sequence in which they were first created [first defined]. I have no record of having checked to see if the same sequence is used during syncing.

So to the job definition [the left-hand part of the dialog]
- I copy all my phone's screenshots to the computer and I created a specific folder on the computer to take them all. I then examine each one afterwards and move it wherever I want to for storage [i.e that folder is just an interim resting place for the phone's screenshots].
- Set the Direction first because all the other choices change as a result
- Use the Source folder & Target folder … buttons to select source & target folders. The dialog used is the standard Windows folder browsing dialog.
- Include subfolders checkbox - Decide whether or not you want to sync subfolders as well.
- Mode [Save folder / Reflect folder]
- - There is a description underneath each type. I experimented using made-up sources & targets before I properly understood how to set these choices.
- - I want to send my screenshots to the computer and I do not want MPE to delete anything from the Target folder because I might or might not have finished reviewing the files there after my previous MultiSync. So I chose the Save folder option as being suited to my needs.
- - I want to send my screenshots to the computer and then delete them from the phone. So I set the Delete files in phone checkbox.
- Disable confirmation dialog. As before, I find confirmations a distraction.
- Filter & Exclude - My screenshots always have *.jpg extensions. I could probably leave the filter as *.* but I used to have to be careful with file extensions for a previous phone so I set it for this one as well.

This example shows a job definition for files being sent from the computer to the phone.



Direction - PC to phone
Source folder - I choose to keep files ready to sync in E:\UtilityHub\HTCHub\UserDocuments. I did not want to try syncing the whole of my Documents folders so I use some scripts to keep E:\UtilityHub\HTCHub\UserDocuments up to date with the latest copies of chosen files such as my Finances spreadsheet, my IS log, my cooking notes, equipment & computer application manuals, maps, foreign language dictionaries, bus & train timetables, …
Target folder - I sync them to \InternalStorage\UserDocuments [a folder that I had created on the phone for this purpose]. Some apps insist on saving to the phone's Documents folder so I merely wanted a separate one so my own syncing was not messed up by phone apps sticking other files in the middle.

Mode - Reflect folder - My computer copies are the master copies. If I have deleted or edited something from the computer then I also want to delete it from or update it on the phone so that the phone does not gradually get swamped by unwanted or out of date files.
Mode - Disable confirmation - As explained earlier on, I regard such notifications as a distraction.

Filter - I sync many types of files so I leave the filter as *.*
Exclude - I don't want to exclude anything because I've only put files in E:\UtilityHub\HTCHub\UserDocuments if I've made the decision that I want to sync them.

Like example 1, this example shows a job definition for files being sent from the phone to the computer.



My computer is the file master. On the rare occasions when I create or edit files on the phone I move them to \InternalStorage\UserDocuments-Returns [a folder that I had created on the phone for this purpose]. I can then review them on the computer in folder E:\UtilityHub\HTCHub\UserDocuments-Returns before filing them away wherever I want to store them. I'm not suggesting that this scheme will suit you; I'm merely explaining the context for this example sync job definition.

Direction - Phone to PC

Mode - Save folder - I want all the files form the phone to be copied over. If I have been slow to review & file away the files put there in my last sync then new copies with altered filenames will be created. I thought that would be the safest decision because the file on the phone will almost certainly have been edited beyond its previous version for it to be found in that returns folder [given the delete action described in the next line].
Mode - Save folder - Delete files in phone - This check happens when the sync is complete. So, after syncing, the files that have been synced are removed from the phone. {If I decide I want them on the phone I'll copy them to an appropriate folder so they are included in the example 2 job definition.}

Mode - Disable confirmation - As explained earlier on, I regard such notifications as a distraction.

Filter - I sync many types of files so I leave the filter as *.*
Exclude - I don't want to exclude anything because I've only put files in \InternalStorage\UserDocuments-Returns if I've made the decision that I want to sync them back to the computer.

Like examples 1 & 3, this example shows a job definition for files being sent from the phone to the computer.



This example is no more than a repeat of example 1. Just as Android saves screenshots in a specific folder that I copy back to a specific folder on the computer, so Android saves internet downloads in a specific folder that I copy back to their specific folder on the computer.

Apart from keeping an *.* filter, all this example's settings are the same as those in example 1.

When syncing has been completed, I can review the files in this folder on the computer then file them away wherever I want on the computer.

This is an artificial example. I haven't got any real examples of files that I want to sync both ways.



Direction - Both directions [i.e. true syncing]

Source folder - This is the folder on the computer that I use to store radio recordings that I want to sync with the phone.
Target folder - This is the folder on the phone that I use to store radio recordings that I want to sync with the computer.

Mode - Show confirmation - Not set - As explained earlier on, I regard such notifications as a distraction.

Filter - I often find I have other files mixed in with my radio recordings [urls to related online articles, …] so I use an *.mp3 filter so I don't burden the MultiSync copying them around the place.

If you click on the Select jobs link you see this



- You need to check that all desired checkboxes are set after you have finished adding new jobs or altering existing ones.
- Leaving a checkbox unset is a method of avoiding any syncing for a job definition you have not finished defining or that you no longer need [but are hesitant to delete].

I have never altered anything in this dialog.

If I left MPE connected all day then I might want to tailor notifications but I generally run MPE, do whatever I want to do with it then close it.