Can you copy one Kindle to another?

terencek · 07-18-2011, 09:44 AM

Forgive me if this has been asked before. But I have a very extensive range of DRM-free .mobi books on my Kindle, painstakingly divided into Collections, and I would like to sideload it to a family member's Kindle.

Will it work to simply mirror the entire contents of my Kindle onto the target one, including the Collections file?

If not, what's currently the easiest way to do this without then having to sort the many hundreds of books into Collections manually? Thanks!

CRussel · 07-18-2011, 10:39 AM

Use Calibre. Pull all your current books into it, and import the collections information into the Kindle Collections plugin for it. (This is the a separate plugin for Calibre, discussed here.)

Now, plug in the new Kindle, transfer the titles to it, and then use the Collections plugin to create the collections. Restart your new Kindle and it should see them.

ProfCrash · 07-18-2011, 10:51 AM

If you have two Kindles on the same account you can Copy Collections without using Calibre. You just need to move your books first and then you will have the option to copy collections using the Collections option on the Kindle Menu.

terencek · 07-18-2011, 12:20 PM

Thanks for the advice. Just one question though: what would actually happen if I took the easy way out and simply mirror-copied the entire contents of my original Kindle (i.e. including the Collections and the Indexing) straight across to the target Kindle (which is not on the same account).

Will it work, without overwriting the existing registration, owner details etc. on the target Kindle?

CRussel · 07-18-2011, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

If you have two Kindles on the same account you can Copy Collections without using Calibre. You just need to move your books first and then you will have the option to copy collections using the Collections option on the Kindle Menu.

I would think only for books that Amazon knows about? And, of course, they would need to be on the same account. But still, a good way to do it.

Mike L · 07-18-2011, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terencek

Just one question though: what would actually happen if I took the easy way out and simply mirror-copied the entire contents of my original Kindle (i.e. including the Collections and the Indexing) straight across to the target Kindle (which is not on the same account).

Just because the books are DRM-free doesn't mean that they are copyright-free. Unless they are all pubic-domain works, you would be infringing copyright if you did as you suggest.

ProfCrash · 07-18-2011, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike L

Just because the books are DRM-free doesn't mean that they are copyright-free. Unless they are all pubic-domain works, you would be infringing copyright if you did as you suggest.

HUH?

It is perfectly legal to have the same book on multiple Kindles. That is why most all are sold with multiple licenses.

EbokJunkie · 07-18-2011, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terencek

Will it work to simply mirror the entire contents of my Kindle onto the target one, including the Collections file?

Copy books, find hidden file collections.json in the system folder and copy it over the same file. Reboot. You're done.

terencek · 07-18-2011, 03:28 PM

Ah perfect, that's exactly what I needed to know, thanks!

Stingo · 07-18-2011, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

HUH?

It is perfectly legal to have the same book on multiple Kindles. That is why most all are sold with multiple licenses.

Not quite. It is perfectly legal if you bought them from Amazon with a multi-device license and copy them to an authorized Amazon device while preserving Amazon's drm. Any other sourcing or copying may or may not be legal.

chas0039 · 07-18-2011, 04:21 PM

I used both Calibre and just copied all the files from the documents. Calibre is veeeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyyy slow ( we are talking hours here) but it works. When I just copied everything in the document file and the collections files, all went fine in 8 minutes. An added bonus, all my "last page read" bookmarks were intact. This was not for Amazon books, just for books from here and ManyBooks.net.

dwig · 07-18-2011, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EbokJunkie

Copy books, find hidden file collections.json in the system folder and copy it over the same file. Reboot. You're done.

Not quite done...

... Given that the OP said "extensive collection...", the next steps are:

leave the Kindle on a charger for a long time, perhaps overnight
test to see if everything indexed by doing a search from the Home screen, searching for some unfindable string of characters (e.g. "afjtlewsessss", ...)

If you get a simple "0 items found" then you're done. If it mentions any unindexed items, repeat these two additional steps as many times as necessary until you get the simple "0 items found" response without it mentioning any unindexed items.

Also read "copy books" in EbokJunkie's post as meaning either:

"copy everything in the /documents folder", not just the book files, if you want to copy the side-car files that record last read position or
"copy only the files with AZW, MOBI, PRC, and/or PDF extensions" if you don't want the side-car files copied.

Sorting the folder by "type" makes it easier to pick out the book files and omit the side-car files that the reader creates.

max99 · 07-19-2011, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike L

Just because the books are DRM-free doesn't mean that they are copyright-free. Unless they are all pubic-domain works, you would be infringing copyright if you did as you suggest.

that's not the question he asked is it? i'm pretty sure the community and publishers involved would forgive anyone who held two copies of DRM free books on different devices.

meanwhile, thanks for hijacking a practical thread with irrelevant legal advise

Mike L · 07-19-2011, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max99

meanwhile, thanks for hijacking a practical thread with irrelevant legal advise

Don't single me out for your thanks. It happens all the time in this forum.

terencek · 07-20-2011, 02:24 AM

I think it's unfortunate to jump to conclusions if you're going to take a moral stand.

Let's take a hypothetical and assume for argument's sake that the 1,800 or so books I was asking about moving to another Kindle (the query which launched this thread), came from a no-copyright source like Gutenberg -- or any of the many many other sites which actively encourage the free distribution and spread of e-texts.

Moral of the story: it's dangerous to leap on a high horse without first ascertaining whether the thing has legs.....

07-18-2011, 09:44 AM	#1
terencek Groupie Posts: 170 Karma: 1010944 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The African bush Device: Kindle 3	Can you copy one Kindle to another? Forgive me if this has been asked before. But I have a very extensive range of DRM-free .mobi books on my Kindle, painstakingly divided into Collections, and I would like to sideload it to a family member's Kindle. Will it work to simply mirror the entire contents of my Kindle onto the target one, including the Collections file? If not, what's currently the easiest way to do this without then having to sort the many hundreds of books into Collections manually? Thanks!

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07-18-2011, 10:39 AM	#2
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,288 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	Use Calibre. Pull all your current books into it, and import the collections information into the Kindle Collections plugin for it. (This is the a separate plugin for Calibre, discussed here.) Now, plug in the new Kindle, transfer the titles to it, and then use the Collections plugin to create the collections. Restart your new Kindle and it should see them.

07-18-2011, 10:51 AM	#3
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	If you have two Kindles on the same account you can Copy Collections without using Calibre. You just need to move your books first and then you will have the option to copy collections using the Collections option on the Kindle Menu.

07-18-2011, 12:20 PM	#4
terencek Groupie Posts: 170 Karma: 1010944 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The African bush Device: Kindle 3	Thanks for the advice. Just one question though: what would actually happen if I took the easy way out and simply mirror-copied the entire contents of my original Kindle (i.e. including the Collections and the Indexing) straight across to the target Kindle (which is not on the same account). Will it work, without overwriting the existing registration, owner details etc. on the target Kindle?

07-18-2011, 03:28 PM	#9
terencek Groupie Posts: 170 Karma: 1010944 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The African bush Device: Kindle 3	Ah perfect, that's exactly what I needed to know, thanks!

07-18-2011, 04:21 PM	#11
chas0039 Sceptic Posts: 573 Karma: 73436 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: The Lake Device: rooted Nooks, retired. JetBook Lite, Kindle 3, 4, Kobo Nia, Libra H2O.	I used both Calibre and just copied all the files from the documents. Calibre is veeeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyyy slow ( we are talking hours here) but it works. When I just copied everything in the document file and the collections files, all went fine in 8 minutes. An added bonus, all my "last page read" bookmarks were intact. This was not for Amazon books, just for books from here and ManyBooks.net.

07-20-2011, 02:24 AM	#15
terencek Groupie Posts: 170 Karma: 1010944 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The African bush Device: Kindle 3	I think it's unfortunate to jump to conclusions if you're going to take a moral stand. Let's take a hypothetical and assume for argument's sake that the 1,800 or so books I was asking about moving to another Kindle (the query which launched this thread), came from a no-copyright source like Gutenberg -- or any of the many many other sites which actively encourage the free distribution and spread of e-texts. Moral of the story: it's dangerous to leap on a high horse without first ascertaining whether the thing has legs.....

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