Announcing: MobiHandler (a Windows program)
 

This is an announcement/advertisement of my small Windows program for Kindle users (including K4PC): Alissa's MobiHandler.

Once installed, this small program makes your Windows Explorer to handle .azw/.mobi/.prc files better; cover images are shown as thumbnails, and you can see the book titles and authors on the list of files. You can also see the Properties of the books. It helps managing Kindle contents on Windows PC, especially when you download a lot of (probably free) .mobi files from the internet (including this site ;))

See the screen shots below.

It works on Windows XP (SP3) and Windows 7, including 64 bit editions. It should also work on Windows Vista, although I have not tested yet.

The installable file is available on my SkyDrive page at http://cid-88858bc052aea782.office.l...ic/MobiHandler. Download the file "mobihandler-1-0-setup.msi" on the page and double-click on it to install. (The ".msi" part of the file name may not be shown, depending on your settings.) You should review the Readme.txt file before downloading. It is attached below for your convenience.

If you are a programmer, the set of source files is also available on the same page as "mobihandler-1-0-src.zip".

This is the first public release, so you need to expect bugs. Please let me know if you find one. Don't install it on a PC for important purposes. Use it on your own risks.

I love to hear your feedback. Post any questions and comments here, or you can write me at <alissa_sabre@yahoo.co.jp>.

Have fun! :thumbsup:

-- Alissa

:oops2: After this initial announcement, I updated the program several times. Grab the latest file with the largest version number when you try. -- Alissa

:thumbsup: Note added on 2011-9-19: After almost 6 months, I released the version 1.1 of MobiHandler. Many problems have been solved. It is on a same SkyDrive page as before.

Very nice! Useful for browsing the "My Kindle Content" folder which rarely has filenames that are meaningful to humans.

I'm using Windows Vista, and have had no issues--I do have to manually add the columns to the "details" view, but that's not an issue at all. The covers only seem to work on medium or above icons, but that makes sense.

Thanks for the effort... and for sharing it (and the source). ;)

Nice extension! :thumbsup:

I installed it and in Vista 64 the custom columns work fine but the Thumbnails do not show. I had to open a 32bit version of Windows Explorer to see the thumbnails of the Kindle books.

Forgot to add: Avira seems to think a tmp file in the MSI setup is a trojan. I had to disable it to let it install. I thought you might want to know. It's obviously a false positive but other Antivirus programs might think so too.

Since you asked in the Readme - I have MobiPocket Reader associated with .mobi files under Windows XP and this does not seem to interfere with your program and MobiPocket Reader still works.

I like that the properties -> MOBI page includes indicators for samples and encryption.

Big thanks!

Very nice. thanks!

I'm running Windows 7... the 64 bit version. I can't get it to install. When I attempt to install the program I get the following error message:

There is a problem with the Windows installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor.

That's good! Karma up :)

Thank you for the report.

On the second point: Generally speaking, you should not simply assume such virus warnings are false and quickly disable it; you should have asked experts for judgement, especially in the case like this: the file in question appeared in the net recently and you don't know the submitter of the file well... In short, you should not believe person like me easily. :rolleyes:

But I digress. I guess your Avira considered one of the two small programs (or both) inside the .msi file and run during the installation a Trojan. They are extraordinarily small .exe files, with unusual prologue codes (unless you are a programmer you don't know what a prologue code is; never mind), and one of them modifies 64 bit only registry entries through 32 bit APIs. It sounds suspicious enough even to myself. :smack:

I think I should contact Avira support team for a solution.

On the first point: Well, it should be a bug. I tested it on Windows 7 64 bit, and thumbnails worked fine. At this moment, I have no idea why it works only with 32 bit explorer on Vista. Blossom, please be patient while I examine this bug.

:help: And I need help from other 64 bit Vista users in this forum. Please try my MobiHandler and let me know whether the Thumbnails View worked only on 32 bit Explorer, or the Thumbnails View worked on both 64 bit (default) Explorer and 32bit Explorer.

Thank you for your corporation.

-- Alissa

Good stuff with this!

Thank you, Mike, for giving me an accurate report. "A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected" is the key part of the message, although many people report it as "I got a message saying 'There is a problem with the Windows installer package.'" that doesn't help much... Anyway, as the message implies, my installer trys to run a program behind the scenes during the installation.

First thought popped up in my mind is antivirus software. Blossom kindly reported that her Avira antivirus considered my installer contained Trojan virus. I guess it mistook a program run during the installation as a virus. One possibility is that your antivirus considered same, and blocked execution of the suspicious program without explicitl warning messages.

I think I should not ask you to try installing with your antivirus turned off. (I rather advise you never obey such a request made by a person you don't know well...) So, just forget about it, at least for the moment. :disappoin

Another possibility is the folder you downloaded the .msi file into. As you know, Windows 7 is more strict on security policies than its predecessors. I don't know all the details of Windows 7 security policies, but I know some (frequently abused) folders are restricted to run .exe files directly from.

Can you try downloading the .msi file in your Windows-default download folder (I guess it is the "Download" folder below your "Documents" folder), and running (installing) it from there, please? :chinscratch:

If it doesn't help, I want to see the install log. I wrote previously "my installer trys to run a program", but actually it tries to run two separate programs during installation on 64 bit OS. I first need to know which of the two failed. It is appreciated if you can do the following (somewhat techie) steps and show me the last part of the generated log file.

1. Open "Command Prompt" from Windows Start menu.
2. Type "cd" command to go to the folder you downloaded the .msi file, e.g., "cd C:\Users\mike\Documents\Download" (without quotation signs.)
3. Type the following command: "msiexec /i mobihandler-1-0-setup.msi /l log.txt" (again, without quotation signs. The letter after the second slash (/) is "el", not "one" nor "capital i".)

The above steps should create a text file of name log.txt in the same folder as the .msi file. Open it with a text editor (e.g., Notepad), and copy-n-paste the last part of the file. Th record of the error should be near the end of the file and should be obvious. I need lines from several lines before the first indication of the error and to the end of the file. It will be 10-20 lines.

Thank you.

-- Alissa

MSI9F9.tmp is the file and TR/Crypt.XPACK.Gen2 is what Avira calls it.
No worries I am not a novice when it comes to this stuff so I wasn't at risk of being infected if it wasn't a false positive. :cool: Avira is known for being a bit sensitive anyways.

All traces have been removed as it was set in try mode but it's a nice extension however Vista 64 is finicky so it's probably some minor difference in why Thumbnails aren't working for 64bit of Windows Explorer.

Hi Alissa,

I am running Windows 7/64bit also and have the same issue. I'm running MicroSoft Security Essentials and tried disabling that, but no difference.

Here's the output from the installer:

=== Logging started: 03/04/2011 11:18:37 ===
Action 11:18:37: INSTALL.
Action start 11:18:37: INSTALL.
Action 11:18:37: ValidateProductID.
Action start 11:18:37: ValidateProductID.
Action ended 11:18:37: ValidateProductID. Return value 1.
Action 11:18:37: CostInitialize. Computing space requirements
Action start 11:18:37: CostInitialize.
Action ended 11:18:37: CostInitialize. Return value 1.
Action 11:18:37: FileCost. Computing space requirements
Action start 11:18:37: FileCost.
Action ended 11:18:37: FileCost. Return value 1.
Action 11:18:37: CostFinalize. Computing space requirements
Action start 11:18:37: CostFinalize.
Action ended 11:18:37: CostFinalize. Return value 1.
Action 11:18:37: ExecuteAction.
Action start 11:18:37: ExecuteAction.
Action start 11:18:51: INSTALL.
Action start 11:18:51: ValidateProductID.
Action ended 11:18:51: ValidateProductID. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:51: CostInitialize.
Action ended 11:18:51: CostInitialize. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:51: FileCost.
Action ended 11:18:51: FileCost. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:51: CostFinalize.
Action ended 11:18:51: CostFinalize. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:51: InstallValidate.
Action ended 11:18:51: InstallValidate. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:51: InstallInitialize.
Action ended 11:18:53: InstallInitialize. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:53: ProcessComponents.
Action ended 11:18:53: ProcessComponents. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:53: UnpublishFeatures.
Action ended 11:18:53: UnpublishFeatures. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:53: RemoveRegistryValues.
Action ended 11:18:53: RemoveRegistryValues. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:53: RemoveFiles.
Action ended 11:18:53: RemoveFiles. Return value 0.
Action start 11:18:53: InstallFiles.
Action ended 11:18:53: InstallFiles. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:53: WriteRegistryValues.
Action ended 11:18:53: WriteRegistryValues. Return value 1.
Action start 11:18:53: Reg64.
CustomAction Reg64 returned actual error code 1 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)
Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action Reg64, location: C:\Windows\Installer\MSIB60F.tmp, command: {BA91BBAF-9243-49BD-B0DA-97BFC25EB976} "c:\Program Files (x86)\Alissa\MobiHandler\mobihandler64.dll" "Alissa's MobiHandler Shell Extension (64 bit)"
MSI (s) (2C:A4) [11:18:54:573]: Product: Alissa's MobiHandler -- Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action Reg64, location: C:\Windows\Installer\MSIB60F.tmp, command: {BA91BBAF-9243-49BD-B0DA-97BFC25EB976} "c:\Program Files (x86)\Alissa\MobiHandler\mobihandler64.dll" "Alissa's MobiHandler Shell Extension (64 bit)"

Action ended 11:18:54: Reg64. Return value 3.
Action ended 11:18:54: INSTALL. Return value 3.
Action ended 11:18:54: ExecuteAction. Return value 3.
Action ended 11:18:54: INSTALL. Return value 3.
=== Logging stopped: 03/04/2011 11:18:54 ===
MSI (c) (50:C0) [11:18:54:690]: Product: Alissa's MobiHandler -- Installation failed.

MSI (c) (50:C0) [11:18:54:691]: Windows Installer installed the product. Product Name: Alissa's MobiHandler. Product Version: 1.0.1094. Product Language: 0. Manufacturer: Alissa Sabre. Installation success or error status: 1603.

It seems to be working well on my XP system. Thanks for sharing!

My Norton 2011 didn't flag anything though it warned, after checking their site, that I was "one of the first" to install/run this program and suggested caution.

Its running fine, so far, on my XPsp3 system. I did note that the Thumbnails folder view is rather slow when there are hundreds of books, perhaps a bit than a folder full of the same number of JPGs. That's somewhat expected given the amount of data processed.

In general, though, its a great little add-in.

Possible solution to 64bit install problem
 

:thanks: Thank you, paulroberthill, for the installer log.

I think I get an idea on what's happening. The cause should be related to UAC and Administrators rights. Antivirus software seems unrelated.

I uploaded a tentative update version "mobihandler-1-1-1097-setup.msi" on the same page: http://cid-88858bc052aea782.office.l...ic/MobiHandler

Mike4672, paulroberthill, and others who were unable to install on 64 bit OS, can you try 1.1.1097 and report back, please?

Workaround on thumbnail issues
 

I'm not exactly sure yet, but some thumbnail issues seem to be related to the Windows thumbnail caching. In my case, I completely disabled thumbnail caching on XP and frequently clear thumbnail cache on Windows 7. It may be the reason I didn't notice this issue.

So, if you experience thumbnail issues, e.g., you see no cover images on the Thumbnails View (XP) or Large Icons View (Vista/7) of Explorer, please try clearing the Windows thumbnail cache.

You can use Windows "Disk Cleanup" tool to do so. It should be in Start Menu | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools.

On Windows 7 (and probably on WIndows Vista, too), there is an option to not use thumbnails at all. Please make sure "Always show icons, never thumbnails" on the "View" tab in "Folder Options" is NOT checked to see cover images.

As you can see on Vista 64 the 32 bit windows explorer the MobiHandler works as it should. The mobi tab in file properties works as well.

In the 64 version of windows explorer the only thing that works is the Titles and Authors columns showing the books info. No Thumbnails and no Mobi tab in file properties window.

I tried already clearing the thumbnail cache it does nothing.

I don't have UAC enabled as it's annoying but Avira doesn't like the setup still but once I temporary disable it the handler installs fine.

Edit: I've been playing around with it and I have found once I let the thumbnails generate in 32bit Explorer that they show up on the 64 version but they wont generate any new ones added you have to go to the 32 bit version for it to generate them then the 64 bit will show them. I don't know if that helps figure things out or not but it's sorta a work around. No Mobi tab though in 64 bit no matter what I try.

Edit again: I just noticed that is does not work for non-drm mobi files at all in either 32bit or 64bit. No Thumbnails or Mobi tab just Author and Titles columns working. The thumbnails and mobi tab it works on are AZW only on my pc. :chinscratch:

Hi Alissa,

That works great! Many thanks :thumbsup: It's nice to see my covers in colour!

p.s. I have a pain in my left thigh after a 10k run. Do you have a fix for that too? :)

Paul

Go for a float - Works like magic!

This new version works perfectly in my Win7 64bit system. Thanks!

I'm using Avast, it did not report any virus issues with either version.

Help - Windows Explorer crashing
 

I have Windows XP - SP2 only.

I know you state that it is for SP3 only but unfortunately, I installed your app. But it didn't seem to be working.

When I tried to open the "My Kindle Content" folder, Explorer told me an error had occurred and must close.
This happened each time I clicked on the Kindle folder.

I then uninstalled your app from the "Add/Remove" programmes and my PC now seems to be working correctly.

Is it possible that you have a version for SP2.

The reason I ask is because the hardware on my computer does not like SP3.:o

Hi, all. Thank you for testimg.

I'm happy to know 1.1.1097 installer worked as intended. I'm sorry for not providing solutions for Vista 64 and a painful thigh. I have no enough time in weekdays.

On Windows XP SP2 issue: some key features that MobiHandler currently depends on are originally new to Vista and back ported to XP SP3 for compatibility. I think it's not easy to replace them with something available in XP SP2 and to maintain compatibility with Vista/7. One could modify the code for XP only (Incl. SP2 and SP3) though.

Feedback: on my W7 32-bit, the updated version would not install, but the original one installed and runs perfectly.... Nice little app, thanks!

Hi Alissa,

Thanks for the app. When trying to run it on 32bit Windows 7, I see the following error at the end of the installation:

"There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor".

When I click Ok on the dialog box, the install rolls back and quits.

My Windows error log shows the following. It means nothing to me, but might be useful to you:
"Product: Autodesk Material Library 2011 Base Image library -- Error 1721.There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action: LaunchLuc.exe_Removal, location: H:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\Materials2011\AssetFiles\Luc.exe, command: -l -r "H:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\Materials2011\assetlibrary_base.adsklib"

Hope that helps :)

EDIT: In case of confusion over the paths quoted above...Windows is installed on the H: drive on my PC. It's a long story! :rolleyes2:

Cheers,
Leaston

Very nice app, will be great if help me change title and author atributes directly from Explorer.

Very useful, Alissa. Thanks!

Hmm. The very first line of your log appears that this is a log from an attempt to install a software called "Autodesk Material Library 2011 Base Image library" but "Alissa's MobiHandler". :blink:

Do you have any Autodesk software installed on your PC? If so, the log is very likely from the install session of it.

If you have no Autodesk product, and you are sure the log is from an install session of MobiHandler, well, I have no idea what happened.

I understand your requirement. In fact, I considered the possibility to have the edit feature when I wrote MobiHandler. The primary reason I abandoned the idea is that it is not easy to do; as you can see here, the MOBI file format is not suitable for in-place editing.

I recommend to use a fully-featured editing tool, e.g., Calibre, if you want to change the book title.

Hello,

Great Program! I have Windows 7 64-bit and just installed mobihandler-1-1-1097-setup.msi. Everything works as expected. I wasn't sure that I had it installed at first, since the little installer window came up for 2 seconds and disappeared. Perhaps you could add a "Installation Successful" message at the end, just to clarify things.

Thank you all for your feedback. I spent this weekend tuckling thumbnail/preview issues and made no major progress. :sad3:

kranu, a good suggestion. One problem, however, is that the "Installation Successful" would appear in some fixed languages. At the moment, the 2 seconds progress window (BTW you should have a ver fast PC; it stays approx. 5-6 seconds on mine) shows messages in whatever language that your Windows is in, because those messages are actually from Windows itself. Any customized message needs to be supplied by me.

I can write English and Japanese message, and it will be a good start?

Yes, that's a good start. If you want to, you can include a green checkmark, which I think is universal for "success".

New release 1.1.1166 is available
 

Hi, all

After almost three weeks blank, I released a new version of my MobiHandler program. It is numbered as 1.1.1166. As before, it is on SkyDrive at the same page: http://cid-88858bc052aea782.office.l...ic/MobiHandler

This release is a collection of bug fixes; mostly of the installer issues. Changes to the MobiHandler program itself are minor. The most significant change in this release might be a message box shown at the end of installation process, as suggested by kranu. (Thank you for the good suggestion.)

As always, I love to hear from you. Have fun, and keep feedbacks coming!

Alissa

I would love to be able to use this program! I do have some questions though:

With this program, can I go to My Kindle Content and see thumbnails of the books? Or do I use it with my Kindle tethered to the computer?

If the answer to the first is yes, is the program automatic? In other words, after I install it I just go to MKC folder and I will see the thumbnails? Or do I have to do something else to see them?

I apologize for the simplistic questions! =}

Installed new version and no more Trojan warnings!:D

Installs perfectly. Now works on Vista 64 all AZW files show thumbnails and mobi tab as intended. Would love to see it work on plain mobi files I have in my Mobipocker reader folder. Right now for mobi books with the extension mobi only the custom columns work in both 32 or 64.

I downloaded it, but I'm still not sure how to use it - ?

It works in Windows Explorer. You can view thumbnails and it will show the covers or in the properties box it has a new tab called Mobi and it will show the metadata of that file. You can always add Authors and Title columns and it will display that info in Windows Explorer.

You can see cover images of you ebooks stored in your "My Kindle Content" folder as well as those in a Kindle Device connected with a USB cable.

As blossom wrote, MobiHandler is not an independent application program but a Shell Extension that is something like a plug-in to the Windows itself. I guess that's the point you were confused.

After installing the MobiHandler, just open your "My Kindle Content" folder with Explorer as always, e.g., by choosing "Documents" (or "My Document" on Windows XP) in the Start menu and double clicking on the "My Kindle Content". You may need to adjust the "View" of your folder window to see thumbnails. (See the first screen shot below.)

If you still don't see cover images, please try cleaning up your thumbnails cache. You can do it by choosing "Computer" in the Start menu, right-clicking on the "C:" drive, choosing "Properties", clicking on the "Disk Cleanup" button there, and click "OK" on the "Disk Cleanup" window. Make sure "Thumbnails" is checked on the "Disk Cleanup" window. (See the second screen shot below.) After the cleanup, close the folder window and reopen "My Kindle Content".

:offtopic: I know that thumbnail cache cleanup should be automatic, especially after a new install of MobiHandler. The problem is that I don't know how to do it from installer... :smack: If anybody here knows how to do it programmatically, please tech me. I very much love to know that!

MobiHandler doesn't work with K4PC 1.5
 

I've just noticed that my MobiHandler doesn't work with recently released Amazon Kindle for PC (K4PC) version 1.5. If you install both my MobiHandler (any version) and K4PC 1.5 in a same PC, MobiHandler doesn't work.

It appears that Amazon changed the COM ProgID (an internal identifier used by Windows; not usually visible to users) for Kindle for PC, introducing File Association conflict with MobiHandler.

I'm working on fixing it. Sorry for inconvenience. :bow2:

Alissa

Thank you blossom and especially you, Alissa, for your special help with this.

I don't know why I can't get this to work for me. I have Vista. I know the shell is downloaded, I ran the Disk Cleanup and made sure the thumbnail cache was checked, I clicked on View and clicked on icons - and still all I can get is at best a small blue generic picture of a book next to each title. If I right click on a book and go to Properties and choose Mobi, then I can see a thumbnail, but not otherwise. What am I missing? Something obvious, no doubt! =}