Ghost Alarms

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Subject

Author

Date

Ghost Alarms

r_z_aret

05-26-2008

Todd Allcock

r_z_aret

Todd Allcock

r_z_aret

r_z_aret

Todd Allcock

Posted by r_z_aret on May 26, 2008, 10:23 am

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I had two alarms that went off even though I used
Settings -> Clock & Alarm -> Alarm
to turn Alarm off. Threads in microsoft.public.pocketpc say SKTools
can solve the problem by letting me clean out the notifications queue.
I hope someone will provide more details (hand-holding), by checking
my logic.

I deleted a few notifications with the trial version of the SKTools,
and one of the two ghost alarms went away. So I paid for the full
version of the program. Now I see the following:

1) A whole bunch of notifications that are checked (SKTools "thinks"
they can be removed safely) but with no more info. I figure these are
corrupted entries that should be removed.

2) Several notifications that are checked, say "Windows\clock.exe" in
the top list, and say "Start on timer \Windows\clock.exe (does not
exist)" in the bottom. These look like the likely source of problems.
They also seem safe to delete.

3) Several notifications that are not checked and have info. I figure
these are legitimate and should be left intact.

Thanks.

-----------------------------------------
To reply to me, remove the underscores (_) from my email address (and please
indicate which newsgroup and message).

Robert E. Zaret, eMVP
PenFact, Inc.
20 Park Plaza, Suite 478
Boston, MA 02116
www.penfact.com

Posted by Todd Allcock on May 26, 2008, 4:58 pm

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At 26 May 2008 10:23:59 -0400 r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:

> I hope someone will provide more details (hand-holding), by checking

> my logic.

I'm not sure I'll be "hand holding" as much as sitting on your shoulder
dressed as an angel or devil... ;-)

Let me start by saying that I've performed three hard resets in my life due
solely to f---ing up my Notifications Queue, so take anything I say with a
grain of salt! ;-)

> I deleted a few notifications with the trial version of the SKTools,

> and one of the two ghost alarms went away. So I paid for the full

> version of the program. Now I see the following:

> 1) A whole bunch of notifications that are checked (SKTools "thinks"

> they can be removed safely) but with no more info. I figure these are

> corrupted entries that should be removed.

Does it name them? Given my past experience, extra ambiguous notifications
are safe.

> 2) Several notifications that are checked, say "Windows\clock.exe" in

> the top list, and say "Start on timer \Windows\clock.exe (does not

> exist)" in the bottom. These look like the likely source of problems.

> They also seem safe to delete.

Most likely.

However, to be safe, just uncheck all three alarms in the alarm clock,
close the applet out, wait a minute or so and soft-reset.

Now there should be NO "clock.exe" events in the queue, so any and all
stragglers should be safe to delete at this point.

> 3) Several notifications that are not checked and have info. I figure

> these are legitimate and should be left intact.

More than likely. With the Notifications Queue, assume anything you can't
explain is best left alone! ;-)

Posted by r_z_aret on May 27, 2008, 2:46 pm

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On Mon, 26 May 2008 14:58:19 -0600, Todd Allcock

>At 26 May 2008 10:23:59 -0400 r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:

>> I hope someone will provide more details (hand-holding), by checking

>> my logic.

>I'm not sure I'll be "hand holding" as much as sitting on your shoulder

>dressed as an angel or devil... ;-)

How you _dress_ is not an issue;-)

>Let me start by saying that I've performed three hard resets in my life due

>solely to f---ing up my Notifications Queue, so take anything I say with a

>grain of salt! ;-)

Got it.

>> I deleted a few notifications with the trial version of the SKTools,

>> and one of the two ghost alarms went away. So I paid for the full

>> version of the program. Now I see the following:

>> 1) A whole bunch of notifications that are checked (SKTools "thinks"

>> they can be removed safely) but with no more info. I figure these are

>> corrupted entries that should be removed.

>Does it name them? Given my past experience, extra ambiguous notifications

>are safe.

>> 2) Several notifications that are checked, say "Windows\clock.exe" in

>> the top list, and say "Start on timer \Windows\clock.exe (does not

>> exist)" in the bottom. These look like the likely source of problems.

>> They also seem safe to delete.

>Most likely.

>However, to be safe, just uncheck all three alarms in the alarm clock,

>close the applet out, wait a minute or so and soft-reset.

If, by "Alarm Clock", you mean the settings applet used to set alarms,
then I see no place to check anything, see no way to set more than one
alarm, and have the only alarm set to Off. And I've turned the device
off a couple of times since I set the alarm to off.

>Now there should be NO "clock.exe" events in the queue, so any and all

>stragglers should be safe to delete at this point.

First, I _do_ have several "clock.exe" events in the queue. Second,
I'm trying to figure out how to recognize stragglers.

>> 3) Several notifications that are not checked and have info. I figure

>> these are legitimate and should be left intact.

>More than likely. With the Notifications Queue, assume anything you can't

>explain is best left alone! ;-)

That pretty much means I can't do anything:-(

-----------------------------------------
To reply to me, remove the underscores (_) from my email address (and please
indicate which newsgroup and message).

Robert E. Zaret, eMVP
PenFact, Inc.
20 Park Plaza, Suite 478
Boston, MA 02116
www.penfact.com

Posted by Todd Allcock on May 27, 2008, 5:25 pm

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At 27 May 2008 14:46:21 -0400 r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:

> >However, to be safe, just uncheck all three alarms in the alarm clock,

> >close the applet out, wait a minute or so and soft-reset.

> If, by "Alarm Clock", you mean the settings applet used to set alarms,

> then I see no place to check anything, see no way to set more than one

> alarm, and have the only alarm set to Off. And I've turned the device

> off a couple of times since I set the alarm to off.

Ooops! I forgot we're talking about a Smartphone, rather than a PPC Phone!
My mistake- you've only got one alarm, rather than three.

> >Now there should be NO "clock.exe" events in the queue, so any and all

> >stragglers should be safe to delete at this point.

> First, I _do_ have several "clock.exe" events in the queue. Second,

> I'm trying to figure out how to recognize stragglers.

If you've turned off the alarm clock, there should be no clock.exe
notifications left, so they're all stragglers. That's why I suggested
turning off the alarm- that way you don't have to guess which notifications
are legit and whichare ghosts. With the alarm turned off, they're all
ghosts, and you can safely delete any clock.exe notifications. However, do
NOT delete ANY "ClockNOT.exe" Notifications!!!>>

> > With the Notifications Queue, assume anything you can't

> >explain is best left alone! ;-)

> That pretty much means I can't do anything:-(

On the bright side, SK did a great job cleaning up the ghost alarms on my
wife's Dash (a smartphone) despite my not understanding what the heck it
was doing. I think Memmaid (on PPCs) does a (slightly) better job
explaining what it's doing to the NQ, but for the most part, both might as
well be Voodoo- run them and just do what the Witch Doctor suggests! ;-)

All I've been able to come up in my long time screwing up devices is to
leave the replog.exe's, the calnot's and the clocknot's alone! Erasing the
former, screws up any number of system responses (like not detecting a USB
sync connection) while deleting any of latter two silence alarms and/or
calendar notifications forever (or at least until a hard reset!)

The clock.exe notifications are the alarm clock events (and should
correspond to the alarm clock events, but there can be multiples if it's a
daily alarm- the queue seems to store a week's worth, so a daily "wake up"
alarm can have up to seven events associated with it- one for each day of
the week, so they aren't necessarily "ghosts".) The Calendar.exe
notifications (obviously) correspond to any Calendar event with a reminder
alarm.

Good luck, and I hope I haven't caused you to need a hard-reset...

Posted by r_z_aret on May 28, 2008, 11:58 am

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On Tue, 27 May 2008 15:25:44 -0600, Todd Allcock

>At 27 May 2008 14:46:21 -0400 r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:

clip

>If you've turned off the alarm clock, there should be no clock.exe

On Tue, 27 May 2008 15:25:44 -0600, Todd Allcock

>At 27 May 2008 14:46:21 -0400 r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:

clip

>If you've turned off the alarm clock, there should be no clock.exe

>notifications left, so they're all stragglers. That's why I suggested

>turning off the alarm- that way you don't have to guess which notifications

>are legit and whichare ghosts. With the alarm turned off, they're all

>ghosts, and you can safely delete any clock.exe notifications. However, do

>NOT delete ANY "ClockNOT.exe" Notifications!!!>>

I actually found only one notification for \Windows\Clock.exe. I
deleted it, and will report back tomorrow (6:30 AM alarm)

>> > With the Notifications Queue, assume anything you can't

>> >explain is best left alone! ;-)

>> That pretty much means I can't do anything:-(

>On the bright side, SK did a great job cleaning up the ghost alarms on my

>wife's Dash (a smartphone) despite my not understanding what the heck it

>was doing. I think Memmaid (on PPCs) does a (slightly) better job

>explaining what it's doing to the NQ, but for the most part, both might as

>well be Voodoo- run them and just do what the Witch Doctor suggests! ;-)

>All I've been able to come up in my long time screwing up devices is to

>leave the replog.exe's, the calnot's and the clocknot's alone! Erasing the

>former, screws up any number of system responses (like not detecting a USB

>sync connection) while deleting any of latter two silence alarms and/or

>calendar notifications forever (or at least until a hard reset!)

>The clock.exe notifications are the alarm clock events (and should

>correspond to the alarm clock events, but there can be multiples if it's a

>daily alarm- the queue seems to store a week's worth, so a daily "wake up"

>alarm can have up to seven events associated with it- one for each day of

>the week, so they aren't necessarily "ghosts".) The Calendar.exe

>notifications (obviously) correspond to any Calendar event with a reminder

>alarm.

Nice explanation; thanks! I see a few others that I'll leave.

I will really need that phone next week. After that, I can get by with
one of my spares, and I'll try deleting all the blank notifications.

>Good luck, and I hope I haven't caused you to need a hard-reset...

Not yet.

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