Best way to get HP 320LX Screenshots

Hello!

My name is Jonathan and I make in-depth tech history videos for my YouTube channel, Another Boring Topic.

I am working on a deep dive video into the HP 320LX, both with CE 1.0 and 2.0 (actually got my hands on a CE 2.0 ROM and did the upgrade).

However I would like to get actual authentic screenshots of both CE 1.0 and 2.0 that are specific to each piece of the OS and applications that I am discussing.

The problem is that I cannot seem to find a good way to do this. I was considering buying a Windows 98 laptop in order to run the sync software, which I believe lets me view the 320LX's screen in a window and then grab screenshots of it from the laptop. However it looked like I would only be able to capture 2/3 of the screen, as I found a contemporary review that said the HVGA resolution was too wide for the H/PC Explorer sync to fully show.

For CE 2.0, it looks like ScreenSnap 4.0 should theoretically work, however it looks like it doesn't come in a .cab file, so I would need a full PC to sync the application across to it unless someone can point me in a different direction?

If I need to buy a legacy system, I am fine with that, I just don't want to invest the money in it if it isn't needed or wouldn't work correctly for capturing screenshots of CE 1.0 especially. My last ditch effort is going to involve taking long exposures with my Rebel T3i, with the 320LX inside of my lightbox so I don't have to use the backlight and tint everything green.

As I've been writing the script, I've been using the 320LX fairly heavily, albeit mostly for Solitaire (soooooo many games of Solitaire), I've already burned through one set of AA's and I am partway through another set. It's a great little system, and I am even getting somewhat used to the keyboard (it's no worse than my old EEE PC 900A) that I even wrote a short script in CE 1.0 using Pocket Word.

I want to make sure I do justice to it in the video, and that means getting accurate screenshots of both CE 1.0 and 2.0, no matter what it takes. This site has already been very helpful, I have spent quite a bit of time perusing article and forum posts over the past couple weeks.

Thanks in advance for any help, I really appreciate it!

Best,
Jonathan

Search the SCL for CaptCE for SH3. That will give you bitmap files to transfer off to the PC

Also see
https://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/200267/understanding_the_different_ways_to_install_software_on_windows_ce

In the three methods to install software on CE.

Awesome, thank you!

I have read that linked article multiple times (in fact its getting cited in the video ), and it was very helpful. However do I understand correctly that I cannot install CaptCE on CE 1.0 without a host computer to run the HPC/Explorer? Since 1.0 cannot use .cab files?

Since I haven't met the requirements for downloading stuff from the SCL (yet), I cannot inspect the CaptCE 0.07 files, can you tell me if I can do a manual installation of it on CE 1.0?

Thanks again for the speedy response and help!

No, you copy it over as a manual installation using a CF card and get the BMP files back the same way.


#post 18000

Perfect, thank you so much! I have a 512 MB CF card that CE 1.0 has been happily accepting so that should work perfectly. Again, thank you so much for your speedy help!

And also congratulations on your 18 thousandth post here

Ha, thank you. I hadn't noticed.

If you mention HPC:Factor in your video and post here https://www.hpcfactor.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20044&start=1 you can get your profile badge

The video probably won't be ready for release for at least 4-6 months, so I just did a one time donation on Patreon. Happy to do it, this is an amazing resource and has been very helpful in my research for this video

Also, when finding software for H/PC. If there's not a "manual installation" or "cab installer", sometimes, 7-zip can just "extract" the "host installer" files into the required chunks.

Some more things:
https://www.byedesign.co.uk/
^This is a spreadsheet program for Windows CE 2.0 that even supports XLSX and Open Document Format - still gets updates through even last month!

https://www.ghisler.com/wince2x.htm
^This is a file explorer program that works great as well on CE2. 2.52 Beta 3 is buggy on the ARM processor [i.e. not yours], but should work good on your device's processor. Otherwise, you can use 2.51.

Windows CE 1.0 has more software available than you'd think. Some of the Japanese software *MAY* work on it - and be a good guide to find some CE1 software. But, some of it does require Windows CE 1.01, while you have 1.00.

If you find issues trying to get files onto Windows CE 1.0, you could always set up a Virtual Machine with both it (HPC Explorer 1.1 [for CE1.0] and ActiveSync (ActiveSync is for CE2+) on the same install and sync via serial cable or IrDA that way. Here's a support article about that:
https://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/200193/using_handheld_pc_explorer_and_activesync_38_together_under_windows_2000_xp_or_2003/

In addition, here's some more software to play with
https://www.hpcfactor.com/scl/84/Microsoft_Corporation/PowerToys/version_1.0
^ For CE1
https://www.hpcfactor.com/scl/82/Microsoft_Corporation/PowerToys/version_2.0
^ For CE2

Edited by torch 2024-05-02 3:56 PM

Thank you, I will check those applications out.

With regards to syncing, which operating system would be the best to set up in a virtual machine? XP? Or would 98 be a better choice?

I do not have any legacy Windows machines, but I did find an article in Handheld PC magazine discussing using SoftWindows 95, which I do have an old G3 PowerBook that could run. Would this be a preferable option versus using XP or 98?

C:Amie knows more than I so I’d wait to see his input to see if he has a better idea but I would probably just make two VMs- one for HPC Explorer 1.1 and one for ActiveSync 3.8. Windows 98 would probably be best for HPC Explorer but Windows 2000 should be fine for ActiveSync (you could use Windows 98 too I guess )
The guide was for running them both on the same machine.
I don’t have experience with those other programs you mentioned. I just would prefer the simpler default option - meaning ActiveSync and HPC Explorer

And just to clarify : I hate syncing. I prefer the CF card to transfer. I only mentioned syncing to deal with programs you find that only have a host pc installer available.

Also don’t forget to apply this internet explorer update on Windows CE 1.0 if you plan to mess around with it.
https://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/200244/microsoft_pocket_internet_explorer_11/

Edited by torch 2024-05-02 4:17 PM

I have been hoping to avoid syncing and just use my CF card, but if I have to sync, I'll cobble something together

Thank you for the advice and help, I really appreciate it!

Thank-you for your contribution to our community I am quite alarmed to say that Patreon did NOT send any notification about it what so ever. If you hadn't posted, I would not have known. Something must be broken their end as it usually fires off emails and the app gives an alert, yet even the app has no alert!

Honestly, in the interest of simplicity and not messing around, if you have an XP license VirtualBox + XP SP3 + ActiveSync 3.8 = simple life. There is nothing much to mess around with and it will work with CE 2.0+ easily and 1.0 with a hack

https://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/200025/windows_ce_10_and_hpc_explorer_under_windows_xp/
https://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/200193/using_handheld_pc_explorer_and_activesync_38_together_under_windows_2000_xp_or_2003

If you don't want to do any hacking for CE 1 though, 98 is easier.