I have some questions...incl backups

JVM · 04-08-2011, 09:09 AM

After playing around with my Kobo for a couple of weeks and reading info here and on other websites I have some outstanding questions (some of these topics are discussed on these forums, but I may not have fully understood the answers, so bear with me). Thanks for taking the time to answer or point me in the right directions.

1) Charging the battery
- most of the time I plug in on my home PC, however, if I wanted to charge the unit at work and I had the USB cord, do I need the software on my work PC (I wouldn't be allowed to install it at work). I was hoping to plug it in, select keep reading, charge it, but not sure if I can safely eject without the software.

2) Backups
- was reading some points on Kobo's site about 'preserving your library' and keeping local copies of my books, but I'm not sure how.
- I see myself mainly buying books via kobo (love those coupon codes shared here!) and when I buy them I'm downloading (I think) as .kepub files. Can I continue to do this but afterwards back them up on my PC?

3) The 100 free books
- I was going to delete some of these, but figured I should save them elsewhere first (I guess like my 'backups' question above). I will eventually run out of space and I figured I won't read many of these anyway. I'm assuming I would make copies of these the same way I backup, then delete them from the reader?

4) Related to above, when I plug in the Kobo to my PC and look at the device via Windows Explorer I see what I think are the 100+ books, but the file names are not clear. Any way to work with these so I know what I'm moving if I want to backup (via copy), delete, etc.

Thanks.

tecweston · 04-08-2011, 09:15 AM

As far as #1 goes, you can charge the Kobo on anything that has a USB connector, and you don't need the software. Just select "keep reading" on the screen when you plug it in. I've been using an iPod wall charger to charge mine, since all it is is a USB-to-AC adaptor.

digiSara · 04-08-2011, 09:34 AM

When you select "Keep reading" it doesn't actually mount to the PC so you don't need to eject it (it won't show up as a drive to eject).

Most of the books on Kobo also have a "Download EPUB" option (not all books do, but that's rare) - you can download these using ADE as a backup. The kepub format is specific to the Kobo database and as far as I know, you can't read them anywhere else whereas the EPUB is more universal.

If you download Calibre, you will be able to see the preloaded books and can decide which ones to delete that way (you can also individually delete them on the reader, but that would probably be tedious). All the preloaded books are public domain so can be found elsewhere on the web if you do delete them and want to get them back.

JVM · 04-08-2011, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tecweston

As far as #1 goes, you can charge the Kobo on anything that has a USB connector, and you don't need the software. Just select "keep reading" on the screen when you plug it in. I've been using an iPod wall charger to charge mine, since all it is is a USB-to-AC adaptor.

Thanks, I have one of those and didn't think about using it until now.

robko · 04-08-2011, 12:20 PM

The 100 books are all public domain and you likely can most of them as e-pubs from Project Gutenberg, so I wouldn't be too worried about making a copy of them.
The actual Kobo version of these pubs are (I believe still) in the Kobo database (although in a different format to the 1st Kobo firmware) so they aren't discrete files that you can copy. Someone will correct it if I'm wrong on this part

.
Robert

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04-08-2011, 09:09 AM	#1
JVM Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	I have some questions...incl backups After playing around with my Kobo for a couple of weeks and reading info here and on other websites I have some outstanding questions (some of these topics are discussed on these forums, but I may not have fully understood the answers, so bear with me). Thanks for taking the time to answer or point me in the right directions. 1) Charging the battery - most of the time I plug in on my home PC, however, if I wanted to charge the unit at work and I had the USB cord, do I need the software on my work PC (I wouldn't be allowed to install it at work). I was hoping to plug it in, select keep reading, charge it, but not sure if I can safely eject without the software. 2) Backups - was reading some points on Kobo's site about 'preserving your library' and keeping local copies of my books, but I'm not sure how. - I see myself mainly buying books via kobo (love those coupon codes shared here!) and when I buy them I'm downloading (I think) as .kepub files. Can I continue to do this but afterwards back them up on my PC? 3) The 100 free books - I was going to delete some of these, but figured I should save them elsewhere first (I guess like my 'backups' question above). I will eventually run out of space and I figured I won't read many of these anyway. I'm assuming I would make copies of these the same way I backup, then delete them from the reader? 4) Related to above, when I plug in the Kobo to my PC and look at the device via Windows Explorer I see what I think are the 100+ books, but the file names are not clear. Any way to work with these so I know what I'm moving if I want to backup (via copy), delete, etc. Thanks.

04-08-2011, 09:15 AM	#2
tecweston Comic book artist Posts: 553 Karma: 1760679 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Detroit Device: Nook Glowlight, iPad, iPhone	As far as #1 goes, you can charge the Kobo on anything that has a USB connector, and you don't need the software. Just select "keep reading" on the screen when you plug it in. I've been using an iPod wall charger to charge mine, since all it is is a USB-to-AC adaptor.

04-08-2011, 09:34 AM	#3
digiSara Groupie Posts: 158 Karma: 153344 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kobo wifi	When you select "Keep reading" it doesn't actually mount to the PC so you don't need to eject it (it won't show up as a drive to eject). Most of the books on Kobo also have a "Download EPUB" option (not all books do, but that's rare) - you can download these using ADE as a backup. The kepub format is specific to the Kobo database and as far as I know, you can't read them anywhere else whereas the EPUB is more universal. If you download Calibre, you will be able to see the preloaded books and can decide which ones to delete that way (you can also individually delete them on the reader, but that would probably be tedious). All the preloaded books are public domain so can be found elsewhere on the web if you do delete them and want to get them back.

04-08-2011, 12:20 PM	#5
robko Wizard Posts: 2,454 Karma: 5469320 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	The 100 books are all public domain and you likely can most of them as e-pubs from Project Gutenberg, so I wouldn't be too worried about making a copy of them. The actual Kobo version of these pubs are (I believe still) in the Kobo database (although in a different format to the 1st Kobo firmware) so they aren't discrete files that you can copy. Someone will correct it if I'm wrong on this part . Robert

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