Kindle4PC Mass Download

[plib]

I've searched the forum and looked at the Kindle Wiki and I haven't managed to find a way of doing mass downloads to Kindle4PC.

I've been happily clicking on the Amazon links in the "Freebies and Deals" forum for a few months, along with some other titles that I've come across in various searches, but hadn't bothered doing anything with them as I had plenty of stuff to read already on my Kobo. Today I decided it might be a good idea to download all those clicks to the computer and bring them into Calibre so I could convert and load a few on the Kobo.

I appear to have clicked about 1,050 links over those few months!

So now I have K4PC telling me that I have about 1,000 "archived items" but to get them onto the computer it appears I'm going to have to click another 1,000 buttons?

I thought one of the selling points of the Amazon "ecosystem" was the ease of syncing to all devices anywhere/anytime. Is there any way to tell K4PC to download the whole lot in one operation? Or am I condemned to get carpal tunnel?

[wallcraft]

I don't know of any mass download option. You can download from your Manage your Kindle page, but this is again one ebook at a time and takes more clicks. The best approach I have found is to select list view in Library -> Archived Items, then right click on an ebook and select download. The ebook disappears from "Archived Items" and ends up in Downloaded Items.

Practically every other Windows app with a list view would allow a shift click to select multiple items, but not K4PC.

[AnemicOak]

I think mass download would go against Amazon's whole 'it's there in the cloud any time you want it' philosophy. The best thing to do is download all your purchases as you make them or in batches every few weeks (I send mine to K4PC when buying so they download when I open the program), not that that helps you with the current situation.

[jqball]

Originally Posted by plib

I've searched the forum and looked at the Kindle Wiki and I haven't managed to find a way of doing mass downloads to Kindle4PC.

I've been happily clicking on the Amazon links in the "Freebies and Deals" forum for a few months, along with some other titles that I've come across in various searches, but hadn't bothered doing anything with them as I had plenty of stuff to read already on my Kobo. Today I decided it might be a good idea to download all those clicks to the computer and bring them into Calibre so I could convert and load a few on the Kobo.

I appear to have clicked about 1,050 links over those few months!

So now I have K4PC telling me that I have about 1,000 "archived items" but to get them onto the computer it appears I'm going to have to click another 1,000 buttons?

I thought one of the selling points of the Amazon "ecosystem" was the ease of syncing to all devices anywhere/anytime. Is there any way to tell K4PC to download the whole lot in one operation? Or am I condemned to get carpal tunnel?

I found something that might work for you, try this: AutoIt - It uses scripts (with a script editor?) to automate mouse movements and keypresses.

Let me know if that does the trick for you (I've never used it before ... just googled it when I read your message).

QBall

[jqball]

Here's a 'quote' from the home page of AutoIt for any who are interested:

AutoIt v3 is a freeware BASIC-like scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI and general scripting. It uses a combination of simulated keystrokes, mouse movement and window/control manipulation in order to automate tasks in a way not possible or reliable with other languages (e.g. VBScript and SendKeys). AutoIt is also very small, self-contained and will run on all versions of Windows out-of-the-box with no annoying “runtimes” required!

AutoIt was initially designed for PC “roll out” situations to reliably automate and configure thousands of PCs. Over time it has become a powerful language that supports complex expressions, user functions, loops and everything else that veteran scripters would expect.

Features:

Easy to learn BASIC-like syntax
Simulate keystrokes and mouse movements
Manipulate windows and processes
Interact with all standard windows controls
Scripts can be compiled into standalone executables
Create Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)
COM support
Regular expressions
Directly call external DLL and Windows API functions
Scriptable RunAs functions
Detailed helpfile and large community-based support forums
Compatible with Windows 2000 / XP / 2003 / Vista / 2008 / Windows 7 / 2008 R2
Unicode and x64 support
Digitally signed for peace of mind
Works with Windows Vista’s User Account Control (UAC)

AutoIt has been designed to be as small as possible and stand-alone with no external .dll files or registry entries required making it safe to use on Servers. Scripts can be compiled into stand-alone executables with Aut2Exe.

Also supplied is a combined COM and DLL version of AutoIt called AutoItX that allows you to add the unique features of AutoIt to your own favourite scripting or programming languages!

Best of all, AutoIt continues to be FREE – but if you want to support the time, money and effort spent on the project and web hosting then you may donate.

Take me to the downloads page!

[plib]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

I agree, any sensible Windows program should do shift-click and control-click, that was the start of my apprehension when they didn't work. I'll adjust my Amazon settings to send it to K4PC in future. AutoIt looks interesting, I'll have to see if the learning curve outweighs just clicking the damn things, though it would have applications in other areas too I suppose.

Thanks.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I think mass download would go against Amazon's whole 'it's there in the cloud any time you want it' philosophy. The best thing to do is download all your purchases as you make them or in batches every few weeks (I send mine to K4PC when buying so they download when I open the program), not that that helps you with the current situation.

This is what I do too. That way I can drag and drop into Calibre. I wouldn't want all those books cluttering my Kindles when they can just stay in the archive seeing I have to send them somewhere they go to K4PC to archived in Calibre for safe keeping. I had some weird glitch last week. I grabbed a free book and sent it to my K4PC and it showed up on all my devices. I've never had that happen before.

[jqball]

Originally Posted by plib

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

I agree, any sensible Windows program should do shift-click and control-click, that was the start of my apprehension when they didn't work. I'll adjust my Amazon settings to send it to K4PC in future. AutoIt looks interesting, I'll have to see if the learning curve outweighs just clicking the damn things, though it would have applications in other areas too I suppose.

Thanks.

You are welcome!