Platform Builder 5.0 is only supported on Windows 2000 and XP.
This question is to aid those looking for a way to run Platform Builder 5.0 on more recent operating systems.
A few reasons one might want to do that:
Corporate IT policy may not permit the use of Windows 2000/XP
With time, genuine copies of Windows 2000/XP may become increasingly hard to obtain
Depending on your overall setup and requirements, might eliminate the need for using a virtual machine for Platform Builder 5.0
You may simply wish to run a more modern and secure operating system
This answer explains how to install and run Platform Builder 5.0 on operating systems it is not officially supported on.
Windows Server 2008 and 2012
This procedure has been found to work on:
Windows Server 2008 (32-bit)
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 R2
It is recommended that you install Platform Builder before joining a Windows domain. I've had some issues getting the Platform Manager components registered while logged in as a domain user. See also the description further below.
Virus protection software might prevent the installation of .NET Framework 1.1, at least this has been a problem with Symantec Endpoint Protection. You may have to remove any security products before starting the installation (these may be re-installed later, but see the note below on the Full vs. Basic version of Symantec EP).
To install PB5, start by copying the contents of the installation CD (or mounted .iso) to a local folder, from here onwards referred to as the installation folder.
Use an .msi editor (like Orca) to remove the following entries from Microsoft Windows CE 5.0.msi in the installation folder:
OS version check (Table LaunchCondition, Action (MsiNTProductType=1 OR ...)
Emulator device driver (Table InstallExecuteSequence, Action CA_InstallVMMDriver.3D2F911E_A60A_4C07_8F7D_5306DC073E9A)
From the installation folder, run, in this order
ISScript8.msi (installs the InstallShield 8.0 script engine)
dotnetfx.exe (installs .NET Framework 1.1)
Microsoft Windows CE 5.0.msi (installs Platform Builder 5.0)
The installation may appear to hang at the Registering Platform Manager components step. It should proceed after a few minutes. If it is still stuck after, say, ten minutes, and your machine is joined to a Windows domain, then kill the installer in Task Manager, leave the domain and try installing again (you can rejoin after the installation is complete).
During the installation, you will receive a warning about compatibility issues. Select Don't show this warning again and click Run the program without getting help.
After the installation has finished, add a registry entry as follows.
If installing on a 32-bit system:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools]
"SharedFilesDir"="C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\"
Otherwise (installing on a 64-bit system):
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Shared Tools]
"SharedFilesDir"="C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\"
Next, install Windows CE / Platform Builder updates as required (i.e. the "monthly updates" provided by Microsoft).
Optional: If any of your Windows CE targets require CJK support, you will need to update the cenlscmp tool to avoid an error during the makeimg phase. While this bug has long been fixed in Platform Builder 6.0 (PB6), the PB5 version has been left in the dust. So for CJK support you will need to copy cenlscmp from a PB6 installation, i.e. copy C:\WINCE600\PUBLIC\COMMON\OAK\BIN\I386\cenlscmp.exe to the corresponding folder in your new WINCE500 tree. Note that I've only tested the PB6 version; it is likely that newer versions would work too.
Optional: If you need support for building SDKs, you must make a copy of the Platform Builder help files, or a hard-coded assumption in the SDK builder will cause the build to fail. Copy the directory C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows CE Platform Builder\5.00\cepb\help to C:\Program Files\Windows CE Platform Builder\5.00\cepb\help.
Launch Platform Builder.
You will see a warning about compatibility issues. Select Don't show this warning again and click Run the program without getting help.
Optional: In the main window, click Tools | Customize. Click the Build OS menu once to open it. Drag the Build and Sysgen menu item out of the menu and drop it when the cursor displays a small 'X'. This will remove a dangerous command that, if clicked by accident, will require reinstalling Platform Builder. Hit Close to dismiss the Customize dialog box.
Platform Builder 5.0 is now ready to use, including the IDE itself, the build system, the help system, the debugger, and the run-time licensing tool.
Features that I haven't tested and which may or may not work include CETK and the emulator (the latter highly unlikely to work, as the emulator device driver had to be removed from the .msi).
If you use Symantec Endpoint Protection, be aware that the Full version may prevent pbxmlutils - an important Platform Builder tool - from running. This does not appear to be an issue with the Basic version.
One last hurdle is to configure the firewall to permit debugger traffic. To do this, open Windows Firewall with Advanced Security and
Under Inbound Rules, hit New Rule...
Select Program, Next
Enter the Path %ProgramFiles% (x86)\Windows CE Platform Builder\5.00\CORECON\BIN\cesvchost.exe, click Next
Ensure Allow the connection is selected, Next
Ensure Private and Domain are selected (but not Public, unless you really need this), Next
Enter a Name, e.g. "Platform Builder 5.0 debugger - cesvchost", Finish
Repeat the above with the path %ProgramFiles% (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows CE Tools\Platman\bin\cemgr.exe.
Platform Builder will now be able to receive BOOTME frames, upload images, and connect to target with the kernel debugger.
Windows 7 and 8
The procedure documented above will not work for 64-bit Windows 7 or 8 (32-bit not tested).
Modifying the .msi as described makes the installation hang at the Registering Platform Manager components step. Removing the Platform Manager components from the installer causes a number of other issues, including failed registrations of the Help system and some common controls. More importantly, with Platform Manager missing it will not be possible to install any Windows CE/Platform Builder updates, making it virtually impossible to build any non-trivial CE project.
Windows 10
Not tested.
I am having trouble setting keyboard filters on windows 7 embedded x64 on a virtual machine. I have tried updating using windows embedded developer update on my windows 7 standard development machine but it will not allow me to get keyboard filter update.
I would like to add the keyboard filter to an answer file with ICE. I would like to run the answer file in vm on WES 7. I cannot find any way to put gpedit.msc is not on the WES 7 either. Thank you.
I solved the issue. When I was setting up the OS I used the template "digital signage". I did not realize that this template was so restricted and did not contain group policy editor.
I should have used "application compatibility" template as this contains almost all of the functionality I would need. I do not have any worries about my digital footprint so I do not need to use a shaven down template. Lesson learned.
I was working on my windows 8.1 OS on my Virtual Box running Visual Studio 2012. Yes I am working on an 8.0 with a feature and after planned on migrating everything to 8.1 since it can be integrated more easily with PC And tablet. Everything was working fine and my windows phone 8 was connected via my virtual box via USB and showed up in VS2012. My Virtual Box did 2 random shutdowns and now my VS2012 only shows an option to use an emulator. This was never working before which is why I always debugged via my windows phone. Hyper-V and all of that stuff specified it was installed using a CoreInfo.exe file I got off the web to check to make sure the appropriate stuff was enabled. Now after the 2 random virtual machine shutdowns the emulator is the only option showing when I want to debug.
Things checked:
Restarted both phone and virtual box OS.
Uninstalled device driver on the virtual box machine.
The 2.0 option is checked in the settings for the virtual box OS and can see the windows phone connected on the virtual machine via the device manager.
It mysteriously started working again where the windows phone was connected instead of to a 7.1 emulator. I wish I could give a reason or an explanation to what I did to fix it but I didn't do anything to create this specific issue nor to fix it. I put this up just in case anyone was reading it.
I'm trying something very different. We have legacy Windows Mobile programs that we need to run on Windows 8.1 tablets with capacitive screens. To do this we've installed the stand alone Windows Mobile 6.1 Emulator which runs without a problem. Doing this, we can load and run our old Windows Mobile programs on the 8.1 Tablet and they run well but we are having problems with the touch or mouse click. The emulator is meant to be used with a mouse button to select and click not a touch screen. When we run our old programs we have to double-tap in order to select anything. This is not a problem until we try to enter text from the emulator keyboard. We have to tap each key twice in order to enter a character. This becomes very tiresome and makes the legacy program useless. Our legacy Win Mobile program was designed to allow our field people to collect large amounts of text and numeric data. Having to tap each key twice will not work.
We've examined the limited mouse and touch option in Windows 8.1 and nothing seems to help. So here are my questions:
Is there third party software that may improve on Windows 8.1 mouse customization? Synaptic maybe?
Is there a command line switch for the emulator we could add that would fix this problem?
Does anyone know of a method to fix this?
Thanks
I have asked this question to MS support.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17284
System Requirements:
Supported Operating System
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows XP Service Pack 3
Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit is not supported by Windows 8.x
My Double click test video
http://youtu.be/0QIilCg1kxg
I think the problem is in Windows 8 touchscreen API driver, I have tested this emulator with Win7 tablet, no problems with double click.
I am replacing a backlight driver for a device running Windows Embedded Compact 7. I'm hoping I can find the source for the application and modify it to call my driver instead of the old one.
Is there a way to tie my driver's functionality into the existing "Display" Control Panel application? Is the source available for these applications and where can I find it?
Up through CE 6.0, the source code for all Windows CE Control Panels can be found on the development PC where Platform Builder is installed at:
%WINCEROOT%\PUBLIC\WCESHELLFE\OAK\CTLPNL
I don't have a CE 7.0 installation handy to verify the location, but I suspect it's going to be in the same place or something very similar if you're using a standard shell (SYSGEN_CTLPNL). If you're using the new "Silverlight" shell ('SYSGEN_CTLPNL2`), then it's likely to be in a different location, but all of the source is still available.