Older Sony Ericcson phones: backup and Internet access

Question

Please help me get this straight.
For I'm very confused with the Sony Ericcson web site and support service.
Would like a definite yes or no from a knowing person.

• It has been possible to use Sony Ericcson cell phones as GPRS/EDGE/3G modems. To do this, one would connect the phone to a PC, it would get recognised as a bunch of devices (a couple of modems among them). One would set the modem up and create a dial-up connection that points to it.
• It has been possible to backup contents of a phone, such as contact list or text messages, to a file on PC. This was achieved with PC Suite software. A most useful feature for those who don't want to suddenly lose 100+ invaluable phone numbers.

Is (and how) all this even possible with Windows 7?

There doesn't seem to be a PC Suite download any more on SE website. Instead they offer something called PC Companion.
This thing only allows updating phone firmware.
And it will not recognise any of my phones.

Ok then, I've got several versions of PC Suite (2.10.46, 3.204, 5.009, 6.011). Saved from the past.
On Windows 7, none would recognise any of my older phones (Z710 and W760). The software does see when I select "Phone" connection mode on the phone, it displays a "Setting phone up" dialog, but then says the phone is not connected and not installed.

In the Device manager, I only see one entry when I connect the phone: Unknown devices \ Sony Ericcson W760. "Update drivers" does not succeed as Windows is not able to find a driver.

There doesn't seem to be a driver pack or something on the Internet either. I did find something, but, when installed, it creates correct devices, but all with an exclamation point, and none work.

So, is it true that I cannot use my phone as a GPRS modem, and I cannot back up my contact list anymore? And my only option is to either stop using SE phones, or use Xperias, that back up to their own SD card?

Answer 1

With the invaluable help from grawity, whose answer I most gratefully accept, I was able to come up with the following guide.

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Drivers is all you need.

The problem is, Windows 7 is somewhat fancy about those drivers. You will need to do certain things manually.

1. Download and unzip the drivers pack. Don't be confused by the name -- it contains drivers for many models.
2. Connect your phone and select "Phone" as your connection mode. Windows will notice something as soon as you do that.
3. Go to the Device manager. Locate your unrecognized phone, which will be listed under "Unknown Devices."
   • Right-click and select Update drivers.
   • Tell Windows you know where the drivers are and provide the path to the drivers pack folder.
   • Windows will remove the "Unknown device" and replace it with several devices, all with a yellow exclamation mark.
     
4. Right-click each of the newly found devices, in turn, and select Update Drivers.
   • Click the button to locate drivers on this computer.
   • Click the button to select a driver from a list of already installed drivers.
   • Click Have Disk.
   • Click Browse and navigate to the drivers pack folder.
   • Windows will now suggest a driver from this folder. Accept it.
   • While you are doing that, more devices can appear. Apply the same driver selection technique to them.

As soon as you've done that, your phone is ready and can be used for everything.
PC Suite and PC Companion will recognize the phone right away.

And, the PC Companion actually does provide all features, including backup, sync, and connectivity. It's just the buttons that are only displayed after a phone is recognized. So if a phone is not recognized, you might think there are very few features.

Answer 2

You don't need the PC Suite for that; MyPhoneExplorer is a good alternative. Only the device drivers are needed – the ones for XP might still work. I can upload them somewhere if you have lost your driver CD. Otherwise, point Windows device installation thing to the folder with lots of .cat's and .inf's.

(By the way, if you enable USB networking in the phone, it makes GPRS work without having to configure a modem connection, and even lets you access your files through Windows File Sharing.)

Alternatively, buy a Bluetooth dongle and sync over it instead of USB. You won't need phone-specific drivers and you'll be able to access the Internet too.

You also can use SyncML or ActiveSync to keep a remote copy of your contacts and calendar. I use Google Sync servers for that – it keeps the phone synced to Gmail contacts and Google Calendar.

The W760 can backup contacts to card, see Contacts - Options - More - Advanced - Backup to m. card. The backup will be saved under /card/system/PIM/PM_Backup.vcf.

Answer 3

You might want to check out the Windows Compatibility Center to see if there's software/drivers available for your devices: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx