Vista - Mobile Device Center Changes Device ID

I've just attempted to switch from XP to Vista. I have an iPaq6925 with
Windows Mobile 5 installed and several third party applications. After a day
of wrangling with it, I've discoverd that the WMDC seems to be changing the
Device ID from what I made it to WINDOWSMOBILEXX every time I sync. This
totally disables my third part software and for my application, makes the
mobile device worthless.

On the WMDC control panel it properly refers to my device by it's "given"
name and says it is partnered with it, but every time I sync, the third party
programs either lock up or tell me they will only work on device named "given
name".

I'm ready to pitch the thing out the window.
I've seen several other posts on the web about this problem, but no fixes.
Ideas please?