HGVSOLUTIONS.COM – Guide to installing POIs onto a
Pocket PC running TomTom Navigator 5.
Version 1.3 - May 2007
Introduction
This is intended as an instruction on how to install POI’s
onto TomTom Navigator 5.
A Points of Interest (POI) database consists of:
a file with extension .OV2 (e.g. UK_petrol_stations.ov2)
a companion file with extension .BMP (e.g. UK_petrol_stations .bmp)
Back up
before you continue
As a precaution we recommend that you backup all data before changing
your POI’s in case something goes wrong. Please make sure you have a recent
backup or your system and storage card. There are many
commercial and free software to enable you to back the PocketPC
to storage card and PC. You can then copy the entire contents of your storage
card to a folder on your PC.
Step 1. Download the POI files
From the website tomtomfree.com or CD ROM download the POI files,
usually they are in a .ZIP format. All tomtomfree.com files follow the mode of
having three files in the .ZIP. This is composed of;
On the CD
these are in folders for ease of use, so you can just drag and drop them , on the website you will need to download and then
unzip to an easy to find location.
We suggest
you store the POI’s locally on the PC. Create a directory called POI with a
sub-directory for the data. E.g. c:\POI\petrol_Stations\ in this folder put the.ZIP file called; petrol_stations.ZIP
and also the unzipped data; petrol.OV2, petrol.txt & petrol.BMP
The only
files that are absolutely necessary aare
the .BMP and .OV2 files and these are the ones you will be installing on the
tomtom (PDA). Please keep the .TXT file though for reference and licence reasons.
Make sure you
know where the unzipped data is located, and you can find it easily.
Step 2. Connect your PocketPC to
your PC
Shutdown TomTom Navigator (if it is still running)
Place the PocketPC into the
cradle and connect your PocketPC to your PC. Ensure
that Microsoft ActiveSync starts and that your PocketPC
is "synchronized".
Step 3. Copy the POI files from your PC
Go to the directory you created earlier on the local hard
drive of your PC where you stored the unzipped POI files (.TXT, .OV2, .BMP
files). Now you select and copy the POI files across, that is the .BMP and .OV2
files. Leave the .TXT behind it is not required on the PocketPC.
You must copy the (.OV2 and
.BMP) files – please make sure that you don’t copy the folder they are in,
it wont work.
Step 4. Copy the POI files to your PocketPC
Ensure
that your storage card is "unlocked"
Then go to the map folder on your PocketPC, for example the folders;
"Great_britain_map\”
“Great_britain_plus-map\”
“Western_Europe-map\”
This will depend on what map data you have
installed.
Paste the files copied in Step 3 into this
folder. You should now have for example;
Pda:\Great_britian_map\petrol.BMP
Pda:\Great_britian_map\petrol.OV2
You have to have both files for this to work. They should
also be called exactly the same name, so make sure there are no accidental
misspellings. If the POI files are now successfully
copied to this folder. You are ready to use
your new POIs in TomTom Navigator 5.
Step 5. Display POI’s in TomTom Navigator 5
Finally, to enable POIs in TomTom Navigator 5, start
TomTom Navigator 5 and select the POI’s in your POI categories:
Select Change
Preferences and then Manage (or Maintain) POI
Click Enable
/ Disable POI
Now turn on by making sure there is a tick next to the POI
you have just installed (see below)
They now are displayed on your TomTom Navigator 5 screen
in both 3D maps and 2D maps. Even if POI’s are not
turned on for display on screen, you can still navigate to them.
Step 6. Turn on Proximity Alerts (optional)
These are
very useful for alerting you to the presence of a POI.
The obvious one is Speed Camera’s but also includes London Congestion Charge
Zones, Low Brdiges, Petrol Stations, Cash Machines etc.
If you are
looking for something there are two options, alert on route and alert.
“Alert” -
just alerts you when you are within a set range of the POI. This is useful
because you can alter the distance depending on your likely speed. i.e. more warning is needed for 70MPH speed cameras than
30MPH ones.
“Alert on
route” – only alerts you to POI’s that are on your current route. This is not
so good for finding POI’s as you travel. It does avoid though the annoying
alerts for 30MPH speed cameras when you are on a motorway going 70MPH. Suddenly you slow down, only to find that the camera was not
on the motorway but tucked down on a local road that goes under the motorway.
Because you were within 1/2 mile of it , you were
alerted.
We would suggest that you
experiment and find what works best for you.
To set this up do as follows;
Change Preferences (as above)
Manage (or Maintain) POI
Warn when near POI
Now make sure you;
NOTE: If you decide to check the
"Warn only if POI is on route" box then POI’s that you may miss are;
Finally make sure you do a re-start. Please so a complete re-start of the PocketPC and then
start TomTom Navigator.
Troubleshooting
Q. I can’t get the POI’s to appear in the manage POI list
?
A. Often the .OV2 file is either in the wrong directory or named differently to the .BMP file. Also make sure that the .OV2 file is in the map directory (see above)
Q. Some POI’s I added are not displayed but
they are on the PDA ?
A. Make sure that you have not installed more than 40
POI’s the TT% has a limit on the POI’s you can use. If this is an issue see tomtomfree.com for a solution to this
(collected POI’s)
Q. You see no POI’s ?
A. The .OV2 file that you have installed has data for a
different place to your maps. E.g. you downloaded a French POI and have only
If you have a more complex query or are getting stuck at a
particular point we would suggest that you try this section first for help. You
can always contact us at helpdesk@tomtompoi.net