By default, most of us, see the following screen in Vista's Windows Mobile Device Center when we dock our Windows Mobile devices.

There's nothing wrong with this design, but Microsoft designed it so OEM device manufactures could customize this dialog with an image of the connected device.

The only problem is most new devices, and all older devices do not have the necessary image included on the device to make this feature work.

Here's how you can change your Windows Mobile Device Center device image:

1. Create an icon image file of your device. I recommend including an image that is 256 pixels by 256 pixels. My image is 256 high, and 128 wide, with 64 pixel side borders.
2. This icon must be named sync.ico, and it must be located on the Windows Mobile device in the "\Windows" directory.
3. Note: Windows Mobile Device Center only checks for the sync.ico file when the device is connected for the first time.
4. If the device has been connected previously, then it is necessary to Uninstall the Portable Device\Pocket PC entry from the Windows Device Manager.

If you follow these simple steps, then you should have changed your device image in Vista's Windows Mobile Device Center.

One last thing to note is that not only do you get the updated image in Windows Mobile Device Center, but you also will see the device image inside File Explorer, where appropriate.

Note: Most OEM device manufactures have high resolution images available for any devices they produce on their Web sites for magazines and the press to use.