Up untl recently I had a 6210, which I was satisfied with. Sadly it
dies, and I've replaced it with a 6310i, which is the same but better,
if you get me. The phone is fine, very good in fact, but....

I was going to install the PC Suite software that came with the phone
(PC Suite 4.81) when I discovered that it doesn't work with XP SP2.

Ok, thinks I, I'll put it on my Linux box, which also dual-boots Windows
98. It works! Excellent.
Then I saw that there was an updated version (4.88) on the Nokia web
site, and this is the version Nokia recommend for the 6310i. So, I
thought "I'll have that!".
Bad move. 4.88 wouldn't see the phone on the serial cable.
I reinstalled 4.81 and now that won't see the phone either!

Apparently, according to comments on Newsgroups, Nokia software is
pretty poor, and third-party things are better. The point is, though,
that all I REALLY want to do is backup the phone data, so some
all-singing package that I have to pay for is not the right answer when
Nokia should be providing a tool for the job.

Any advice on how I can get 4.81 or 4.88 working gratefully received.

Thanks,  John