Microsoft ActiveSync 4.0 - Reinstalling 3.x Version Connects As Guest
By Raj Pillai, Copyright 2004-2005
 Version 1.24  Created 14/11/2005

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Introduction:

If you decide to revert to an older version of ActiveSync after installing version 4.0, you might not be able to setup a successful partnership.  It will always connect as a guest.  It simply fails to show the first dialog which enables you to decide what kind of a partnership should be established.

Uninstalling ActiveSync 4.0:

If you take a look at the readme.doc file that accompanies with ActiveSync 4.0, it tells that to successfully uninstall ActiveSync 4.0 and reinstall a previous version of ActiveSync on your Desktop PC, perform the following procedure:

1. Uninstall ActiveSync 4.0.
2. Open File Explorer, navigate to the System32 directory in your Windows directory,
   and then manually delete the dynamic-link library Rapi.dll.
3. Reinstall the previous version of ActiveSync.

But you might end up facing the issue I have described in the introduction even after following this advice.

So What Do You Do?

If you have already uninstalled ActiveSync 4.0 and installed 3.x, then do the following:

1. Open the Task Manager on your computer.  To do so, right click the Taskbar and click 
   the Task Manager or Simply press the "Ctrl + Alt + Del" keys.
2. Select the Processes tab, select and end the wcescomm.exe process.  Otherwise you will not be able to deleted the files mentioned below.
3. Click Start -> Run and type:
   
   %SystemRoot%\System32
   
   And click Ok.  This should open up the system32 folder.
    
4. Locate and delete the following files:
   
   - rapi.dll
   - ceutil.dll
   
   Note: If you are unable to delete the file, restart the computer and then attempt to delete the files.
    
5. Reinstall 3.x and attempt to setup a partnership.

Cause of this issue:

When you revert to the older version of ActiveSync after installing version 4.0, the setup program doesn't replace all the files since newer versions are available.  To know about files that are copied or replaced by the ActiveSync setup program, open the "wcesetup.log" that is available in the Temp folder.  To view the file do the following:

• Click Start -> Run and type:
  
  %temp%\wcesetup.log
  
  And click Ok.  This should open up the log file.
   

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