Windows – Bluetooth file transfer says “The request could not be honored”

In windows XP, you could have used squirt.exe. Type fsquirt at the command line to see if it still exists in windows 8.

There is a software tool for PC called Bluetooth File Transfer. The current version is 1.2.1.1 and it's made by a company called Medieval Software from Italy. I am not exactly sure what the license status is for this software, but it seems to be freeware. Or is it shareware? If you know more about this please post a comment.

This software uses OBEX protocol for communicating with the phone. For it to work the phone needs to support Bluetooth FTP profile (File Transfer Profile). Not to be confused with FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

Here's how you will use it.

1. Install the software, of course. You can download it from the authors' website. There is an Android version and a Java version (Java2ME). Make sure you click the PC version. The link above points directly to the page for the PC version.

2. Make sure you have paired your Android phone with your PC. I won't go through the steps here. I will assume you have already done so.

3. Make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone and make your phone discoverable. Also make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your PC.

4. Enable FTP profile on the phone.

5. Start Medieval Bluetooth OBEX File Transfer and click the Connect button on top left.

6. You will see a new dialog called Bluetooth Network. While your phone is still discoverable, click the Refresh button and wait. It will scan for Bluetooth devices. It will only find it if your phone is not too far away from the PC, and the phone needs to be set to discoverable. Most Android phones have a timeout for how long they stay discoverable. That's usually 120 seconds or 2 minutes. You have to click this button within that time frame. If it times out you need to make it discoverable again.

7. When you see your phone in the Bluetooth Network dialog, mark it and then click the "Accept selected device" button. The PC should now connect to the phone and you should be able to browse its contents.

8. To copy one or several files from the PC to the phone you can just drag one or multiple files, or a folder with files, and drop it on the folder where you want to copy it. In the images below you can see how I am copying 40 JPEG files from Desktop to the phone.

This tool does not integrate with the Windows Shell, so there is no option for it on the Context menu or an icon in the Computer view (Win+E). So you have to start the software and connect to the phone each time. But the best thing is that once you are set up you can browse the phone contents and copy multiples files to and from the phone with simple drag and drop.