[Windows Phone 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] prahladvarda:
Hey everyone,

I thought of making a simple guide or tutorial on how to get TRUE mass storage working on a windows phone 7/7.5 device with all methods put together under one heading in a single thread. I wanted to do this because many users find the lack of mass storage to be a serious problem especially when it comes transferring .pdf/.ppt/.pptx/.doc/.docx files to their devices or when they want to transfer any file that they downloaded on their wp7 devices to their pc. I hope this helps them.

The USB storage enabler that you find everywhere is not system wide. It just shows the folders that zune can access.

Requirements:

-Full unlocked or interop unlocked windows phone 7/7.5/7.8 device with working WP7 Root Tools

-PC with Windows XP/Vista/7/8

-Windows phone SDK(If you don't want to download and install the whole 1.4GiB here is the miniSDK)

-Connection to a router(for using webserver only)

-Zune

Assuming that you want the mass storage mode to transfer files between your phone and PC, currently there are three ways of achieving this in your WP7 device.If there are any other ways please let me know. I will update the post with links and instructions.

1: Using the Root webserver

This is by far the simplest method of accessing all files and folders on your device. You can download and upload files to the device(one at a time) and delete empty folders. No need to connect your phone to your PC via microUSB cable.

Instructions:

-Install webserver on your phone by deploying webserver.xap from PC or by XapHandler (Thanks to GoodDayToDie for Xaphandler) and mark it trusted in 'policies' tab in wp7 root tools.

-Open the application and type in your own username and password, whatever you like.

-Connect your phone and the other device in which you want to access your phone's file system to the same network.The other device can be another wp7 or any android or your PC etc.You need not have internet access. Its enough if your phone and the other device are on same network(i.e., connected to same modem/router)

-If your phone is running the webserver app, you can see the IP address of your device and the SSID of the network to which it is connected to.

-Open a web browser and type the IP address you can see(not the one that says software loopback interface!!) in the address bar on the other device.

-Enter the username and password you entered in the beginning. That takes you to a page where you have links for IsolatedStorage of webserver app, File system of your phone, content folder, about webserver. Go to file system, you can see all folders and files.

This method doesn't give access to registry and you can't delete non empty folders.

2: Using Windows phone device manager

Here you use a client on your PC and an app on the phone to communicate information on filesystem, and applications. Using this method, you can manage applications as well as access files and folders. And you can perform operations on multiple files at once, but still can't delete non empty files and there is no access to phone's registry. You can also connect to your phone via Wi-Fi.

Instructions:

-Download the windows phone device manager. Finish installation on PC.

-Connect your phone to PC using data cable and start zune. Your device shouldn't be in guest relationship with zune.

-Start windows phone device manager on your PC, it installs touchXperience on your phone for the first time.

-Go to wp7 root tools on your phone and mark touchXperience as trusted and exit the app.

-Start WPDM on PC, then start touchXperience on your phone.WPDM on PC should tell you that it is connected to 'so and so' device. There will also be a notification telling you that your phone is connected to the PC.

-Now you can explore files, install and uninstall apps, sync documents from your PC.

3: Using Windows mobile device centre

Ultrashot says that you can access file system and registry of your phone on your PC using the WMDC launcher and Windows mobile device centre on PC. I have not been able to get Windows mobile device centre installed on my PC since it is only supported on Windows Vista. So I do not have a hands-on experience myself. You can get WMDC for PC here

You will be able to:

-Manage your photos, music, videos.

-Browse the file system and transfer files.

-Edit registry through tools like CERegEdit,etc.

-Manage applications installed on your windows phone.

It is simple to use. Install WM Device Centre app on your device. Mark it as trusted in WP7 root tools or any other root access manager. Plug in your phone. If zune starts, don't worry tap WM device centre app on the phone. Your computer should just detect it as another windows mobile device and start windows mobile device centre. Scroll down for the link.

Some final words:

The files downloaded on your WP7 devices will be in the isolated storage of the respective apps. The apps from the marketplace do not have access to complete file system. So it is downloaded to their own isolated storage which will be usually

\Applications\Data\<app's GUID>\Data\

If you want to transfer .pdf files to your device, first transfer it to an easily accessible folder like 'My Documents' and then open them on your phone using a file explorer rather than directly putting them in Adobe Reader's isolated storage because they don't show up in adobe reader if you do that. Office documents(.ppt/.doc files) do show up in office app if you put them in \My Documents. Once you open your .pdf files using a file explorer, it will be copied to adobe reader's isolated storage which means after you open the .pdf files you just copied to \My Documents or any folder, you can delete them using a file manager and you can still have them stored in adobe reader's isolated storage. This way you get some space saved.

If you find these tools helpful, click 'thanks' button for the developers for these apps:

-Webserver: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1459235

-WMDC launcher: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1521763

Thanks to:

-Heathcliff74 for the unlocks and the WP7 root tools

-fiinix,GoodDayToDie for webserver

-ultrashot for WMDC launcher

-Julien Schapman for WPDM, touchXperience

Prahlad Varada