help with my new go520

[paul_j_c2000]

hi i admit to being a complete dimwit with these things so if these questions seem obvious to you experts i am sorry,
i have every thing working great,i plug it into the dock and the computer loads TomTom Home i am really happy,i have found some poi's to download from tomtom (free)which i have done i have found that there are loads on this site but i am unsure how to go about installing them?plus i see my 520 has a sd slot in it ,is this for extra poi's how big does it have to be,i cant find any thing useful in the instructions any help please paul

[Andy_P]

Hi...
One of the most useful things you can get used to doing when you connect the TT to the PC is to STOP 'Home' starting up, or at least shut it down again!

Apart from software updates and buying new maps, there is nothing it can do that can't be done easier without it, so long as you're happy with the normal copying and pasting of files from one place on your PC to another.

When you connect to the PC, Windows recognises the TT520 as two new disk drives - one for the internal memory and one for the SD card slot. It gives them "drive letters" just like your main hard drive (which is normally "C:")

If you use Windows Explorer to open up the TT internal memory, you'll see all the files and folders it uses.

To do what you're asking, the one thing you need to know is that all the POI files you want to use need to go into the folder where the MAP lives (in your case "great_britain" or something like that).

So to use POIs from here or anywhere else on the net:
1. Download them
2. They will probably arrive on your PC as a "ZIP" archive so you need to right-click and select "extract all" to get to the files them selves.
3. for each POI category you will end up with TWO files - "Starbucks.ov2" and "Starbucks.bmp" for example. One is the actual data, and the other is the "icon" picture you'll see on screen.
4. Just copy those two files and paste them into the named map folder ("Great Britain or whatever).
5. Finally, just like any other POI you need to set the TT to show it on the map in the Preferences menu.

The same applies for any voices or map colour schemes or camera databases etc. You just need to know where to put them and you do it just by copy and paste.

As for the SD card slot, yes it can be used for extra maps or music files and things like that, but it can't be used for POIs alone, simply because of rule one above - the POIs need to be in the folder of the map you're using.

Hope that helps, ask again if I've not made anything clear!

[john877]

Just to remind you to make a back up in explorer before you do any changes so you have a copy to fall back on!!! Tomtoms are known to get corrupted software if the correct disconnect procedure is not used

[paul_j_c2000]

thanks for quick replys will be trying these things tomorrow can you give me a quick reminder on the backing up method in explorer i have made a back up in tomtom home (i think) is this the same thanks again for your patience paul

[Anita]

Follow the instructions for #1 on the FAQs Page.

It's worth spending some time looking at the other useful stuff on that page too.
_________________
Anita
TomTom VIA 135 - App 12.075
UK map 1125.12264
Samsung Galaxy S21

[Andy_P]

Hi again.
You're not a beginner any more.... Time to move into the
TomTom section of the forum .

In the index there, you'll see some "sticky" topics at the top.
Take a look at the "TomTom FAQs" one. Number 1 is how to make a Windows Explorer backup, but there's lots of other useful stuff there too.

And THIS TOPIC explains why we DON'T recommend "Home" to make your backups....

[mikealder]

[dhn]

Mike......

Andy's explanation 5 posts above yours is simply brilliant. There is no ther word to describe it: clear, concise and accurate.

Any way to make a sticky or something out of it?

[Andy_P]

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