Most people who install TuneLab on their Pocket PC do so through ActiveSync (or Windows Mobile Device Center on Vista). For some, this is the first and last time they use ActiveSync. But ActiveSync can do much more.
When you connect your Pocket PC to a computer using the USB cable, ActiveSync asks you if you would like to establish a partnership between the Pocket PC and the computer.
You can choose not to set up a partnership and instead select "Guest". If you select "Guest", then you have the bare minimum necessary to do things like install programs (like TuneLab) and explore the files on the Pocket PC from your desktop computer. (Just click on "Explore" in the ActiveSync window.) Using the right-click you can then copy and paste individual files or whole folders between the Pocket PC and the desktop computer. Tuning files are small, but if you are copying the whole My Documents folder, you might have some fairly large image or sound files there too. Copying the entire folder may take a while.
On the other hand, you can choose to set up a partnership. When you do that, ActiveSync will "synchronize" various files between your Pocket PC and your computer automatically every time a connection is made. In particular, if you have files that are known to programs on both the Pocket PC and the computer (not TuneLab), then the synchronizing process can go both ways. ActiveSync is smart enought to figure out which file was modified most recently, and copy the file in the correct direction.
Beyond that, ActiveSync can also create a backup copy of the entire Pocket PC My Documents folder as a sub-folder of the My Documents folder on your computer. But if you want this service, you must configure ActiveSync to do it. When the ActiveSync window is showing and the partnership is established, select "Options". Then under the "Sync Options" tab, notice that there is a list of types of synchronication operations. On of them is simply called "Files". Make sure that option is checked. Then every time you connect your Pocket PC with your computer, you can see it check that the computer copy and the Pocket PC copy of the My Documents folder are in sync. If they are not in sync, ActiveSync will copy only the files that have changed, so it takes much less time than the "Guest" method of copying the entire My Documents folder manually. Also, if you change or add a file into the computer copy of the backed up folder, then ActiveSync will copy the file the other way. And if your Pocket PC ever goes completely dead and you need to start from a cold start, ActiveSync will automatically restore all the My Documents folder to the Pocket PC.
Total Backup:
What has been described so far is a means to backup only certain files on your Pocket PC - namely the files in the My Documents folder. But restoring those files will not put your Pocket PC back exactly the way it was if the Pocket PC had to go through a cold restart. There are many things that happen when programs are installed. Shortcuts are placed in the Programs folder. Passwords are stored in the Registry. It is nice to be able to restore absolutely everthing. And you can. The facility is called "Backup" in ActiveSync.
This is not something that you would do often, but it does pay to do it at least once after you get your Pocket PC working the way you like it. Simply connect your Pocket PC to your computer, and then in ActiveSync, under the Tools menu select Backup/Restore and follow the directions. It may take from 15 to 30 minutes or more to do a backup. But it will backup absolutely everything - the Windows registry (including TuneLab passwords and configurations), your Owner Information. In short, it makes it possible to let all the batteries go completely dead, so that when you power it up again the Pocket PC is just like it was when it was brand new - totally empty except for the pre-installed Windows CE programs. Then you can use that same Backup/Restore function of ActiveSync to restore your Pocket PC to exactly the state it was in when you did the Backup. If you do this in conjunction with frequent backups of the My Documents folder, you should be well protected against loss of memory in your Pocket PC.