New Kindle Questions

[sadievan]

I just got my new K3 the other day. Have been playing with it and have a few questions. Will have more as time goes on I'm sure.

1. Do you back up your books on your computer or just leave them on the archives on Amazon.

2. If you do backup or liberate your books, do you download them to K for PC or download them to computer to be transferred to the Kindle. I understand these are 2 different methods.

3. If you transfer them to the computer for transfer to the Kindle, do you rename the files to the book name so it is easier to distinguish books.

4. When I bookmark a page on the Kindle, it goes into a file, I forget the name now. Is there a way to delete a certain bookmark. So far I've only been able to delete the 'whole' bookmark file, not individual bookmarks if there was more than one.

Thanks to all. This forum has been so helpful to me.

Carol

[HarryT]

Carol, there's no "right" way to do a backup. Do whatever works for you. Personally I do make a backup copy of all my books on my PC.

You can delete a bookmark by going to the page in the book on which it occurs, pressing the "Menu" key, and selecting "Remove Bookmark" from the menu.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Carol, there's no "right" way to do a backup. Do whatever works for you. Personally I do make a backup copy of all my books on my PC.

You can delete a bookmark by going to the page in the book on which it occurs, pressing the "Menu" key, and selecting "Remove Bookmark" from the menu.

Thanks Harry,

I'm learning thanks to this forum. Do you download your books to the K4PC app on your computer or do you download them to the computer for transfer to the Kindle. I understand these are 2 different things and if you download to k4pc, it cannot be sideloaded to the kindle.

So the only way to delete a note/bookmark is to go to the actual page and do it from there.

Carol

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sadievan

Thanks Harry,

I'm learning thanks to this forum. Do you download your books to the K4PC app on your computer or do you download them to the computer for transfer to the Kindle. I understand these are 2 different things and if you download to k4pc, it cannot be sideloaded to the kindle.

Amazon books are encoded for a particular device, so yes, if you download a book for "Kindle for PC" it won't then work on a Kindle (unless you remove the DRM, of course).

So the only way to delete a note/bookmark is to go to the actual page and do it from there.

You can also do it from the list of all the annotations and bookmarks in the book. Just select it in the list and press the "Del" key.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by sadievan

I just got my new K3 the other day. Have been playing with it and have a few questions. Will have more as time goes on I'm sure.

1. Do you back up your books on your computer or just leave them on the archives on Amazon.

They are always on the archives at Amazon (well the books purchased from amazon, that is) but I also back them up to a computer and a removable storage drive

2. If you do backup or liberate your books, do you download them to K for PC or download them to computer to be transferred to the Kindle. I understand these are 2 different methods.

No K4PC involved. I use Calibre for library management and my Calibre library is backed up. I removed DRM as the books are imported into Calibre but I also keep DRM'd versions as well.

3. If you transfer them to the computer for transfer to the Kindle, do you rename the files to the book name so it is easier to distinguish books.

Nope, I just use Calibre.

4. When I bookmark a page on the Kindle, it goes into a file, I forget the name now. Is there a way to delete a certain bookmark. So far I've only been able to delete the 'whole' bookmark file, not individual bookmarks if there was more than one.

Thanks to all. This forum has been so helpful to me.

As HarryT says, just go to the page and either use the menu to remove the bookmark or press alt+b (that toggles the bookmark on and off).


Edit: I realized I might be confusing you. I also have a K1 and K1 books can easily have their DRM removed. Updated K2s and all K3 owners should use K4PC for DRM removal.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Amazon books are encoded for a particular device, so yes, if you download a book for "Kindle for PC" it won't then work on a Kindle (unless you remove the DRM, of course).



You can also do it from the list of all the annotations and bookmarks in the book. Just select it in the list and press the "Del" key.

I've tried going to my 'clippings' file and putting the curser in front of the clipping and hitting del key and nothing happens. Will have to try some more. I'm sure the problem is between the chair and kindle.

Carol

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

They are always on the archives at Amazon (well the books purchased from amazon, that is) but I also back them up to a computer and a removable storage drive

I have been backing up to removable storage too.

No K4PC involved. I use Calibre for library management and my Calibre library is backed up. I removed DRM as the books are imported into Calibre but I also keep DRM'd versions as well.

Ah!! I also remove the DRM and backup my Calibre. On your DRM'd versions as well, do you download to computer for transfer to the Kindle then?

Edit: Just read your edit. Are you saying you cannot 'free' your books without downloading to k4pc.

Nope, I just use Calibre.

So do you import another copy of the book into Calibre with the DRM also.

As HarryT says, just go to the page and either use the menu to remove the bookmark or press alt+b (that toggles the bookmark on and off).

Will have to play with this feature more.

Thanks,
Carol

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by sadievan

Edit: Just read your edit. Are you saying you cannot 'free' your books without downloading to k4pc.

I can because there is a Calibre plug-in that works with Kindle 1. There were some firmware changes to K2 and K3, so that plug-in no longer works with them.

So do you import another copy of the book into Calibre with the DRM also.

In my case when I buy books from Amazon they are automatically sent to my K1 (I re-download to my K2 or K3 from the archives). Since K1 has an SD card, I keep all the DRM'd books on that card. I import the books from Kindle 1 into Calibre and use the plug-in to remove DRM on import. Since you have a K3, you will need to download your books to K4PC and use the Calibre K4PC plug-in to remove your DRM.

Sorry for the confusion.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I can because there is a Calibre plug-in that works with Kindle 1. There were some firmware changes to K2 and K3, so that plug-in no longer works with them.



In my case when I buy books from Amazon they are automatically sent to my K1 (I re-download to my K2 or K3 from the archives). Since K1 has an SD card, I keep all the DRM'd books on that card. I import the books from Kindle 1 into Calibre and use the plug-in to remove DRM on import. Since you have a K3, you will need to download your books to K4PC and use the Calibre K4PC plug-in to remove your DRM.

Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks for clearing that up. So the DRM'd versions you keep are on your k1 sd card and only good for the k1 correct.

Carol

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by sadievan

Thanks for clearing that up. So the DRM'd versions you keep are on your k1 sd card and only good for the k1 correct.

Carol

Correct! After they are run through the Calibre plug-in they can be used on any of my Kindles or converted for use on another reader.

The same will be true for the books you download to K4PC. In DRM'd form they will only work with that particular installation of K4PC. Without DRM, they can go anywhere.

[abookreader]

Personally this is what I do.

I have an old Kindle 1 that doesn't even function anymore but I've kept its serial number registered to my Amazon Account since it was never up-datable past the firmware where the DeDRM script wouldn't work. Kindle 4 PC books would work for this also. I've kept the K1 around because I worry about Amazon someday forcing updates to Kindle 4 PC which might knock out the ability to remove DRM.

Every book I buy I go to Amazon and click transfer via computer and select that old Kindle as the machine I want the book DRMd for. Amazon sends a file to my computer and I immediately put that into Calibre. Calibre removes the DRM and also renames the file and saves it under a folder for the Author. I delete the original DRMd file from my computer download file then - no need to keep it around since the K1 it is DRMd to doesn't even work.

Then I click send to eReader on Calibre for my K3.

My computer gets backed up nightly to an external hard drive so I get a back-up of my Calibre there in case my laptop hard drive fails. Then I also have an online back-up service which gives me a 3rd copy out of my house.

So for my books I have

Amazon Cloud (or other retailers)
Calibre on my laptop
Calibre folders on my External Hard Drive
Calibre folders in my Online Back-up Service

and whatever books happen to be on my Kindle (all un-DRMd Mobi Files)

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Correct! After they are run through the Calibre plug-in they can be used on any of my Kindles or converted for use on another reader.

The same will be true for the books you download to K4PC. In DRM'd form they will only work with that particular installation of K4PC. Without DRM, they can go anywhere.

Thanks so much. I just tried to download a book to my computer to transfer to kindle and it would not free up in Calibre. I wasn't aware of that before. I do use the k4pc and back that up and then put all of my books in Calibre and 'free' them. Back up Calibre too. It's a great program. Have used it to transfer books bought from other sites to my kindle.

Carol

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sadievan

I've tried going to my 'clippings' file and putting the curser in front of the clipping and hitting del key and nothing happens. Will have to try some more. I'm sure the problem is between the chair and kindle.

Carol

No, not like that. In the book itself , press the "Menu" button, and select "View my Notes and Marks". That will display the list of all your annotations, bookmarks, etc, in that book, and you can go to any one, or simply delete it from the list.

When you get the chance, it's well worth taking the time to read the Kindle User Guide. It's long, but full of useful information.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by abookreader

Personally this is what I do.

I have an old Kindle 1 that doesn't even function anymore but I've kept its serial number registered to my Amazon Account since it was never up-datable past the firmware where the DeDRM script wouldn't work. Kindle 4 PC books would work for this also. I've kept the K1 around because I worry about Amazon someday forcing updates to Kindle 4 PC which might knock out the ability to remove DRM.

Every book I buy I go to Amazon and click transfer via computer and select that old Kindle as the machine I want the book DRMd for. Amazon sends a file to my computer and I immediately put that into Calibre. Calibre removes the DRM and also renames the file and saves it under a folder for the Author. I delete the original DRMd file from my computer download file then - no need to keep it around since the K1 it is DRMd to doesn't even work.

Then I click send to eReader on Calibre for my K3.

My computer gets backed up nightly to an external hard drive so I get a back-up of my Calibre there in case my laptop hard drive fails. Then I also have an online back-up service which gives me a 3rd copy out of my house.

So for my books I have

Amazon Cloud (or other retailers)
Calibre on my laptop
Calibre folders on my External Hard Drive
Calibre folders in my Online Back-up Service

and whatever books happen to be on my Kindle (all un-DRMd Mobi Files)

Thanks for your answer. This is kind of what I do now. Download to k4pc and then import to Calibre to 'free up'. Back up everything to external sources.

So you send your DRM free books to your kindle?

Carol

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, not like that. In the book itself , press the "Menu" button, and select "View my Notes and Marks". That will display the list of all your annotations, bookmarks, etc, in that book, and you can go to any one, or simply delete it from the list.

Ah!! thanks. That's what I was doing wrong.

When you get the chance, it's well worth taking the time to read the Kindle User Guide. It's long, but full of useful information.

Your no fun. Don't you know the rules. 'If all else fails, read the directions.' Just kidding. I have been reading a little bit each day. More fun to jump in and play though.

Carol