Intro and Getting started

If you own a fairly recent Windows Mobile 5 device (let's say less than a year old or there abouts), then the chance that you'll be able to upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 is quite high. Today we're taking a closer look at how to upgrade the HTC Hermes, this also known as the TyTN. Although our device wasn't originally from HTC, it's currently running a HTC branded version of Windows Mobile 5. HTC announced that it is releasing updates for several of its Windows Mobile 5 devices during August 2007, with the TyTN being the first of the devices that got the new firmware.

HTC isn't the only device manufacturer to offer upgrades for its Windows Mobile 5 devices, and if you're a Dopod owner you'll find that HTC has actually purchased Dopod and offers the same upgrades for the Dopod devices. Asus also offer updates for several of its Windows Mobile 5 PDAs and we're expecting others to follow suit. If you own a network branded device, we suggest you contact your network operator and ask them if they'll offer an upgrade for the specific device.

However, if you're somewhat skilled with a computer you can find several versions of the HTC firmwares for branded devices, and it is very possible to upgrade these devices with a generic firmware from HTC. However, if you're considering going about it this way, we'd like to offer a few words of warning. First, you won't get any support from your device provider if something goes wrong. Secondly, you might lose some pre-installed applications. And lastly, you'll have to find the firmwares online and some of them are homemade concoctions which don't always work, so be careful and do some reading before you go ahead with this.

There's some preparation work that has to be done before you can proceed with the upgrade, just to make sure you backup all your data on the device. First of all, download and install ActiveSync 4.5 or you won't be able to sync your device once you've installed Windows Mobile 6. Next, do a full backup of any files on the device, as these will be wiped during the upgrade. Once this is done and you've downloaded the correct software version for your device, you're ready to go ahead with the upgrade.