Content Option for backing up your books yourself

screwballl · 12-16-2010, 02:44 PM

I know we all have our own ways, but do we entirely want our collections to be backed up and handled by Amazon, where they can choose to remove content from your Archives if they see fit?

Here is what I am doing (in Windows) already even though I just got my Kindle:

Install Microsoft SyncToy or any software that allows for partial or full backup from a given drive. Setup a sync process to read everything from the base/root of the Kindle and copy it to a specific folder on a hard drive.

That way even if it is lost from your archives, you still have a copy of it on your hard drive. If you REALLY want extra security, there are ways you can setup a sync with something like Google Docs or Gmail Drive to back them up online as well.

TallMomof2 · 12-16-2010, 03:23 PM

IMO, the only true backup requires you to remove the DRM. If you no longer own the device that your backup is keyed to then the backup is pretty worthless. That said I keep all my uninfested ebooks in Calibre which is backed up by my Dropbox account in real time and nightly by WHS and my entire PC is backed up Carbonite for offsite protection.

jbcohen · 12-16-2010, 03:30 PM

In the real world one of the many hats I wear si that of an information Security Officer. As such I am quite alarmed by Amazon's ability to reach into your Kindle and remove anything they like and it implies to me that if Amazon can do that anyone can do that in any way. If I so desire I can, with the right tools, delete anything from anyone's kindle at any time. This is one of the reason why I advise people with Kindles to never use the Wifi to go directly to the internet and instead go to the internet via your desktop computer where your PC's firewall can block intruders from removing content from your kindle.

wesleyer · 12-16-2010, 03:43 PM

Why the FUD spreading ? Anything against Amazon ?

DiapDealer · 12-16-2010, 03:46 PM

FUD is rather trendy lately, isn't it?

reech · 12-16-2010, 04:18 PM

Mind you, I've a ton of tinfoil hats I need to offload quickly and cheaply. I'll do a deal...

(Seriously - if Amazon take a book of my Kindle for legitimate reasons; for example, a publisher lying about having the rights to an ebook edition of a book - then they'll refund me in full. If I was worried about anyone else 'reaching' into my Kindle \ Computer \ House, then I'd stay in a jelly-like state, quivering and flopping about at the slightest noise. Honestly, people, it's just not an issue.)

Tiersten · 12-16-2010, 04:19 PM

I've never used SyncToy but any of these types of tools should work as the Kindle appears as a regular drive when it is plugged in. rsync is probably your best bet if you're not using a Windows OS.

The easy but basic option would be to just have a batch file or script which you run every time you plug the Kindle in. Somebody was trying to get it to work via the autorun facility in Windows but Windows won't allow you to have autorun files on a "hard disk" like the Kindle appears as unless you alter system settings.

jbcohen just can't keep away from the Kindle board for some reason. I don't I've ever seen a positive post from him regarding the Kindle.

screwballl · 12-16-2010, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

In the real world one of the many hats I wear si that of an information Security Officer. As such I am quite alarmed by Amazon's ability to reach into your Kindle and remove anything they like and it implies to me that if Amazon can do that anyone can do that in any way. If I so desire I can, with the right tools, delete anything from anyone's kindle at any time. This is one of the reason why I advise people with Kindles to never use the Wifi to go directly to the internet and instead go to the internet via your desktop computer where your PC's firewall can block intruders from removing content from your kindle.

Where did you hear this load of horse manure? They can only remove things from your "archive" which is their online storage/backup of your content, if they find that they illegally sold a book when they should not have, or other legal reasons. They are not able to directly remove content from your Kindle, whether wifi/3G is on or not. Your Kindle just sees the item is removed from your archive and uploads it again the next time you run an upload sync.

and even though I am new to this forum, I have already seen that too Tiersten. jbcohen just needs to go off to his own forum and let those of us that enjoy the Kindle, enjoy it.
Oh wait he has a $40 alurtek? Wow they have ZERO room to talk about a quality product like the Kindle, I am surprised that thing even worked more than a few days with as many that have been returned, refurbished and reconditioned....

jocampo · 12-16-2010, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

In the real world one of the many hats I wear si that of an information Security Officer. As such I am quite alarmed by Amazon's ability to reach into your Kindle and remove anything they like and it implies to me that if Amazon can do that anyone can do that in any way. If I so desire I can, with the right tools, delete anything from anyone's kindle at any time. This is one of the reason why I advise people with Kindles to never use the Wifi to go directly to the internet and instead go to the internet via your desktop computer where your PC's firewall can block intruders from removing content from your kindle.

jbcohen

"archive" folders in Amazon Kindle act like a shared folder in Windows. Technically speaking, they can wipe out or delete whatever you have there, but never from your local drive or Kindle folder (the one that you use for you downloaded books)

There was a very commented issue this year about a book that was deleted but from a user's account at Amazon. Bezos apologized and I think the reason was copyright problems. Bezos himself said that will never happen again and no one should have deleted that since the very beginning.

Now, I don't work for Amazon

... and regardless of what they say, I download my books locally and I do have 3 backups: a Linux server at home, my Ubuntu Laptop and my the laptop I use at work. Call me paranoid, but because I'm an IT person, backups are my "daily breakfast"

jocampo · 12-16-2010, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

your PC's firewall can block intruders from removing content from your kindle.

Really???? ....

...

If you believe on that and/or you feel safer because you use Windows Firewall or just a simple firewall, let me explode your bubble and bring you to real world!

A firewall is just a network or software device who inspects and check TCP/IP packets, based on some rules. That's it.

DiapDealer · 12-16-2010, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by screwball

if they find that they illegally sold a book when they should not have, or other legal reasons. They are not able to directly remove content from your Kindle, whether wifi/3G is on or not.

Uhmmm... at the risk of triggering more FUD, they certainly do have the ability to remove content from your Kindle if the wireless is turned on. Maybe you remember a big stink about it awhile back? Now, before I get fitted for a tinfoil hat... no, I'm not overly worried about it and I do believe they learned their lesson from the previous incident.

Carry on.

abookreader · 12-16-2010, 06:04 PM

I think it is good advice - no matter where you buy your books from to back them up yourself. Don't rely on any retailer, including Amazon, to protect your interests.

I have no doubt that with the wireless on Amazon probably has the capability to manipulate Kindle files. However, I'm guessing from the estimates I've read there are probably around 7 or 8 million Kindles out there by now so I'm really doubting that they find the contents of my particular Kindle all that fascinating in a super secret spy let's see what our customers are up to kind of way.

I'm just not that unique.

But ... nobody will ever care about keeping your possessions as safe as you yourself do and I find it much more reassuring to know that I'll never have to call some Customer Service schmuck and beg for my book. I will always have my books.

tomsem · 12-16-2010, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

IMO, the only true backup requires you to remove the DRM. If you no longer own the device that your backup is keyed to then the backup is pretty worthless. That said I keep all my uninfested ebooks in Calibre which is backed up by my Dropbox account in real time and nightly by WHS and my entire PC is backed up Carbonite for offsite protection.

I think there is something to be said for a periodic 'full backup'. The main purpose would be to more easily restore the state of your Kindle in the event that a system reset is required. But it would also backup any annotations/bookmarks that you have created for non-Amazon content. These are not backed up with your Amazon account, Calibre doesn't store those files, and Carbonite won't back them up either unless they are on your PC somewhere.

And you'd also be able to strip DRM if it came down to that.

desertblues · 12-17-2010, 02:08 AM

I always make a backup, every week, of the contents of my Kindle on two seperate external disks. Not much work.

terencek · 12-17-2010, 02:52 AM

Backing up the Kindle is dead easy and you can either do it with a manual copy and paste, or you can use a simple backup tool to automate it to run with one click, e.g. the excellent freebie for which you could Google, Karen's Replicator. Just remember if doing a manual backup, that you need to make all the files and folders visible (i.e. no hidden files/folders) or it may not copy the vital control files on the Kindle like your collections configuration.

12-16-2010, 02:44 PM	#1
screwballl NewKindler Posts: 504 Karma: 1865773 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NWFL Device: Kindle3 Wifi	Option for backing up your books yourself I know we all have our own ways, but do we entirely want our collections to be backed up and handled by Amazon, where they can choose to remove content from your Archives if they see fit? Here is what I am doing (in Windows) already even though I just got my Kindle: Install Microsoft SyncToy or any software that allows for partial or full backup from a given drive. Setup a sync process to read everything from the base/root of the Kindle and copy it to a specific folder on a hard drive. That way even if it is lost from your archives, you still have a copy of it on your hard drive. If you REALLY want extra security, there are ways you can setup a sync with something like Google Docs or Gmail Drive to back them up online as well.

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12-16-2010, 03:23 PM	#2
TallMomof2 Kindlephilia Posts: 2,017 Karma: 1139255 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Snowpacolypse 2010 Device: Too many to count	IMO, the only true backup requires you to remove the DRM. If you no longer own the device that your backup is keyed to then the backup is pretty worthless. That said I keep all my uninfested ebooks in Calibre which is backed up by my Dropbox account in real time and nightly by WHS and my entire PC is backed up Carbonite for offsite protection.

12-16-2010, 03:30 PM	#3
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	In the real world one of the many hats I wear si that of an information Security Officer. As such I am quite alarmed by Amazon's ability to reach into your Kindle and remove anything they like and it implies to me that if Amazon can do that anyone can do that in any way. If I so desire I can, with the right tools, delete anything from anyone's kindle at any time. This is one of the reason why I advise people with Kindles to never use the Wifi to go directly to the internet and instead go to the internet via your desktop computer where your PC's firewall can block intruders from removing content from your kindle.

12-16-2010, 03:43 PM	#4
wesleyer Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 604 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: none	Why the FUD spreading ? Anything against Amazon ?

12-16-2010, 03:46 PM	#5
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,548 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	FUD is rather trendy lately, isn't it?

12-16-2010, 04:18 PM	#6
reech Connoisseur Posts: 97 Karma: 132 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: Sony eReader PRS-600	Mind you, I've a ton of tinfoil hats I need to offload quickly and cheaply. I'll do a deal... (Seriously - if Amazon take a book of my Kindle for legitimate reasons; for example, a publisher lying about having the rights to an ebook edition of a book - then they'll refund me in full. If I was worried about anyone else 'reaching' into my Kindle \ Computer \ House, then I'd stay in a jelly-like state, quivering and flopping about at the slightest noise. Honestly, people, it's just not an issue.)

12-16-2010, 04:19 PM	#7
Tiersten Guru Posts: 987 Karma: 8641 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle 3G+WiFi	I've never used SyncToy but any of these types of tools should work as the Kindle appears as a regular drive when it is plugged in. rsync is probably your best bet if you're not using a Windows OS. The easy but basic option would be to just have a batch file or script which you run every time you plug the Kindle in. Somebody was trying to get it to work via the autorun facility in Windows but Windows won't allow you to have autorun files on a "hard disk" like the Kindle appears as unless you alter system settings. jbcohen just can't keep away from the Kindle board for some reason. I don't I've ever seen a positive post from him regarding the Kindle.

12-16-2010, 06:04 PM	#12
abookreader Wizard Posts: 1,516 Karma: 2567610 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD	I think it is good advice - no matter where you buy your books from to back them up yourself. Don't rely on any retailer, including Amazon, to protect your interests. I have no doubt that with the wireless on Amazon probably has the capability to manipulate Kindle files. However, I'm guessing from the estimates I've read there are probably around 7 or 8 million Kindles out there by now so I'm really doubting that they find the contents of my particular Kindle all that fascinating in a super secret spy let's see what our customers are up to kind of way. I'm just not that unique. But ... nobody will ever care about keeping your possessions as safe as you yourself do and I find it much more reassuring to know that I'll never have to call some Customer Service schmuck and beg for my book. I will always have my books.

12-17-2010, 02:08 AM	#14
desertblues Home for the moment Posts: 5,127 Karma: 27718936 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: travelling Device: various	I always make a backup, every week, of the contents of my Kindle on two seperate external disks. Not much work.

12-17-2010, 02:52 AM	#15
terencek Groupie Posts: 170 Karma: 1010944 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The African bush Device: Kindle 3	Backing up the Kindle is dead easy and you can either do it with a manual copy and paste, or you can use a simple backup tool to automate it to run with one click, e.g. the excellent freebie for which you could Google, Karen's Replicator. Just remember if doing a manual backup, that you need to make all the files and folders visible (i.e. no hidden files/folders) or it may not copy the vital control files on the Kindle like your collections configuration.

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