Hello Everyone,

Among the many changes those upgrading to Windows Mobile 6.1 are noticing are (1) the SMS Inbox is now displayed in a threaded or conversation mode view and (2) sent SMS notifications are disabled. 

As usual, Microsoft, while brilliant in it design, is amazingly dull in its implementation.  By this I mean, it would have been nice for those using Windows Mobile 6.1 devices to have a way of enabling and disabling these features.  Please note that while there are a couple of Windows Mobile devices that allow these features to be toggled on and off, at the time of this post, most WM6.1 devices do not.

Until Microsoft or some third-party developer creates a user interface, in order to enable/disable the SMS threaded view and the sent SMS notifications, WM6.1 device owners must modify the Windows Mobile 6.1 Registry. 

CAUTION

Modifying/tweaking the WM6.1 registry should be done by advanced technology consumers, only. 

Generally, I think of an advanced technology user as someone who possesses enough knowledge or confidence to recover from almost any non catastrophic problem with little or no immediate person-to-person assistance.  In short, if you do not know what the Windows registry is or does, then you should not attempt to modify it without assistance from someone more technically experienced. 

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

In order to modify the WM registry, you will need to obtain a registry editor.  Don’t worry, these are free.  While there are many choices from which to choose, I recommend that PC users download an application called Mobile Registry Editor.  I like this editor because, (1) it runs on the PC instead of the mobile device itself, and (2) no PC installation is required. 

Paste the following URL into your web browser: to download the program.

http://www.breaksoft.com/Download/MRE/MobileRegistryEditor.zip

NOTE:
Generally, to disable a feature in the Windows Mobile registry, set its key’s value to 0.  Conversely, to enable a feature in the Windows Mobile registry, set its key’s value to 1.

THREADED TEXT MESSAGES

To disable the threaded SMS (conversation mode) view:

1.
In a Windows Mobile registry editor, navigate to
HKey_Current_User/Software/Microsoft/Inbox/Settings/OEM

2.
If the “OEM” branch does not exist, create a new key named OEM.  Next, highlight OEM and create a new D Word named SMSInboxThreadingDisabled and set its value to 1.

3.
Disconnect the device from the PC and reboot the device.

4.
To restore the Threaded view, simply delete this key or set its value to 0.

SMS NOTIFICATIONS

To disable SMS Sent notifications:

1.
In a Windows Mobile Registry editor, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Inbox\Settings

2.
If the “Settings” branch does not exist, create a new key named Settings.  Next, highlight Settings and create a new D Word named   SMSNoSentMsg and set its value to 1.       and set its value to 1.

3.
Disconnect the device from the PC and reboot the device.

4.
To enable sent SMS notifications, simply delete this key or set its value to 0.

Good Luck and Enjoy,

Mark