How to: Use the Connect Tool for Windows Phone
December 15, 2011
The Windows Phone Connect Tool allows you to establish serial or USB connectivity to the device without running the Zune software. When you test an application on a physical Windows Phone device, usually the Zune software is running. However, you are not able to test applications that interact with the photo chooser and camera launcher tasks while the Zune software is running, because it locks the local media database.
To complete this procedure, you must have the Windows Phone SDK installed. For more information, see Installing the Windows Phone SDK.
To complete this procedure, you must also have the following:
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The Zune client software must be installed on the host computer. You can download and install the Zune client software from here.
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Your Windows Phone device must be registered. For more information, see How to: Register Your Phone for Development.
To use the Connect Tool
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Connect your phone to the computer.
The Zune software starts automatically. If the Zune software does not start, then start it manually.
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Verify that the Zune software recognizes the connected device.
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After your phone is connected, close the Zune software.
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Open a command prompt and navigate to the WPConnect folder. You can find it at one of the following locations:
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Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Phone\v7.1\Tools\WPConnect
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Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Phone\v7.1\Tools\WPConnect
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Navigate to the appropriate x86 or x64 subfolder.
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At the command prompt, enter the command WPConnect.exe.
You will receive confirmation that your device is now connected. You can now test your application without the Zune software running.
You do not need to disconnect from this tool. At any time, you can re-establish connectivity with the Zune software by launching the Zune software. However, after reestablishing connectivity with the Zune software, you must repeat the preceding procedure if you want to debug an application with photo chooser or camera launcher tasks.
For troubleshooting information, see Troubleshooting Windows Phone SDK.