Productivity Portfolio

While all operating systems are prone to an occasional crash, I find the recovery process bothersome on two of my Palms — Zire 71 and Kyocera 7035. Both these devices have the reset button in awkward places. The Zire 71 also doesn't include a reset pin in the stylus.

Fortunately, a program called Crash has alleviated my fatal reset problems. The program is a small utility that intercepts fatal resets. Rather than hunting for a paperclip when the onscreen reset button doesn't work, I watch the device reset itself.

The program comes in two versions - Crash and Crash Pro. The Pro version, which costs $9.99, offers added features such as error logging and image selection for the reset screen.

The program has worked flawlessly for me for almost a year. I have one application that I use on a regular basis that often crashes. These fatal resets are particularly nasty, as they don't respond to the onscreen reset button. Before Crash, I had to either carry a paperclip or wear earrings. (You can use the earring post as a reset pin.) Now, I let Crash handle the work.

I should mention that some people are reluctant to install utilities that intercept program calls. Prior to my testing, I looked at the customer reviews on Palm Gear for problems, but nothing alarmed me. If the program interests you, my suggestion is try a test crash. The program has a Debug menu that produces two types of crashes so you see how the program works.

In using the program, I've only run into one drawback. The software works on fatal resets that produce an error dialog. The program doesn't handle conditions such as device freezes or looping.