Custom Ringtones and Sounds in Windows Mobile 6.5

Windows Mobile 6.5 offered flexible options for personalizing device audio, allowing users to assign custom ringtones to specific contacts, set global phone alerts, and modify operating system sound schemes. This article covers the audio formats supported by the platform, where files needed to be stored, how to assign ringtones through the user interface, and how system-wide sound events were customized.

Supported Audio Formats

Windows Mobile 6.5 supported several mainstream audio formats natively:

  • MP3 (.mp3): The preferred format for full-track songs and high-quality ringtones.
  • WMA (.wma): Microsoft’s native Windows Media Audio format, offering good compression at smaller file sizes.
  • WAV (.wav): Primarily used for short notification alerts and system sound schemes.
  • MIDI (.mid): Polyphonic files favored on earlier hardware due to minimal file size and low processing requirements.

Directory Placement for Ringtones

To make audio files accessible via the native settings menu, users had to place them in specific directories using the built-in File Explorer or by connecting the device to a PC via ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center:

  1. Internal Storage: Files placed in \Windows\Rings or directly in the \Windows folder immediately populated the ringtone selection menus.
  2. User Storage: Files placed in \My Documents\My Ringtones on the internal memory were also recognized automatically.
  3. Storage Card: To preserve internal ROM, users could store files on a microSD card under \Storage Card\My Documents\My Ringtones. However, storing active ringtones on removable storage occasionally caused delays if the phone had to wake the card from a sleep state during an incoming call.

Setting General and Contact-Specific Ringtones

Once the files were located in an indexed directory, users configured them through the native settings interface:

  • Global Ringtone: Navigate to Start > Settings > Sounds & Notifications (or Phone settings depending on OEM variations). Under the Phone tab, select the desired file from the Ring tone drop-down menu and choose the alert type (e.g., Ring, Increasing ring, or Vibrate and ring).
  • Contact-Specific Ringtones: Open the Contacts application, select an individual contact, choose Edit, and scroll to the Ringtone field. Selecting an audio file here overrode the default global ringtone whenever that specific contact called.

Customizing System Sound Schemes

Windows Mobile 6.5 handled system events—such as screen taps, low battery warnings, alarms, and incoming text messages—separately from phone calls.

Under Start > Settings > Sounds & Notifications > Sounds, users could toggle sound schemes on or off for events, notifications, and screen taps. To replace individual system sounds, only .wav files were accepted. Users placed the custom .wav files into the \Windows directory, making them available in the drop-down menu for events like "Messaging: New text message" or "Reminders."

Advanced Customization via the Registry

Advanced users modified system sounds by editing the Windows Mobile Registry using tools like Resco Registry or PHM Registry Editor. By navigating to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\Sounds, users could manually direct specific system events to custom file paths anywhere on the device, allowing custom audio to be assigned even if it did not appear within the standard graphical menus.