Tip of the Week: Put ActiveSync in Permanent "Guest Mode"

How-to
By Phil Nickinson
last updated

If you listened to last week's podcast, Dieter and I were talking about ActiveSync and security at one point (one of many tangents we like to take) and I mentioned how I never actually sync with AS but rather always enter as "Guest Mode".

The benefits of Guest Mode is that you never have to sync anything with the computer (mine is all OTA with Hosted Exchange) yet your device can still access the internet, act as a modem and you can browse the device in your Explorer. Plus security.

Listener Eric Renken was kind enough to send in a registry hack (on the computer this time!) that will permanently enable Guest mode, meaning you'll never have to click Cancel, as on the screen above. Very cool!

So without further ado:

  • Open Registry Editor (as an administrator)
  • Navigate to HKEYLOCALMACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows CE Services
  • Create a new DWORD value called GuestOnly
  • Set its value to 1

Now when you connect up, the Setup Wizard won't appear. To undo if you want to create a partnership, simple change the value to 0.

This certainly makes my life easer. Thanks Eric!

Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson

Phil is the father of two beautiful girls and is the Dad behind Modern Dad. Before that he spent seven years at the helm of Android Central. Before that he spent a decade in a newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist newspaper. Before that — well, we don't talk much about those days. Subscribe to the Modern Dad newsletter!