Copy files to a Windows Phone 7 device in Windows Explorer

Filed under: Features, Windows Mobile, How-Tos

Don't get me wrong -- I really enjoy using Zune to listen to music on my desktop computer. When all I want to do is quickly drop a couple of songs or video clips onto my Windows Phone 7 device, however, it's a bit overkill. While my humble little Palm Pre has a USB mass storage mode which lets me copy files onto it like it was any other external hard drive, WP7 devices aren't quite as accessible.

Fortunately, there's an easy remedy -- and it only requires spending a minute in your registry. Make sure you've got the Zune desktop app installed before beginning. Now, on with the hacking!

• Press Win+R to display the run dialog box, type regedit.exe, and then click ok.
• On Vista and Windows 7, you may receive a UAC prompt -- click yes to proceed.
• When the registry editor opens, drill down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB
• Press Control+F to display the registry search dialog
• In Find What, type zunedriver -- uncheck data box to make searching faster, then click Find Next
  
  
  
• Regedit will jump to the correct key -- now you need to click to the Device Parameters key above it
• In the right pane, double-click ShowInShell and change its value from 0 to 1
• In the right pane, double-click PortableDeviceNameSpaceExcludeFromShell and change its value from 1 to 0
• In the right pane, double-click EnableLegacySupport from 0 to 1

Now all you need to do is open Explorer -- look under Portable Devices, and you should see your Windows Phone 7 device listed. You can copy, move, and delete files, or create and delete folders just like you would on any other drive. Supported media is playable in the WP7 Zune app, too!

[via WPCentral]

Copy files to a Windows Phone 7 device in Windows Explorer originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 20 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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