Help with MS reader

[crazyoboe]

So here's my problem: I have purchased hundreds of dollars worth of ebooks in the ms reader format. My computer died. I bought a new computer. When I went to activate my microsoft reader, it didn't recognize my user name...or my email address. Apparently, my account had been deleted for inactivity, since the only thing I ever used it for was to activate the MS reader on the first computer. Sooo...I am unable to read any of my ebooks. I tried using ConvertLit, but apparently, that only works if you're using a copy of MS Reader that is activated with the same key as the book. Unfortunately, I seem to have no way of getting my old account back and getting access to these books. Does anyone know of anything else I could try? Are there any other programs that strip the DRM from MS Reader? I promise I'm not going to distribute these ebooks, I just want to be able to read them myself!

[Nate the great]

Can you go back to the retailer and download them again? That would be the easiest solution.

As for recovery, do you still have the hard disk from the old computer? Is the directory structure intact? In particular, are the Windows and MSReader folders still in the same location?

If so, then ConvertLIT might still work for you. It extracts the device id key needed to remove the DRM. Once you have the key, you are okay.

[crazyoboe]

I got the books from fictionwise, and they do not allow you to redownload the books under a different microsoft passport. I have contacted their customer support, but am not very hopeful.

And unfortunately I do not have the harddrive - I recycled the computer when I found out it would take $400 to fix. I didn't think I'd need the harddrive as I had all my files backed up on an external one.

[llasram]

Originally Posted by crazyoboe

Are there any other programs that strip the DRM from MS Reader? I promise I'm not going to distribute these ebooks, I just want to be able to read them myself!

Oooh boy, that's a pickle. You are probably out of luck if what you describe is actually the case. However, I seriously doubt that your account has been deleted. When I first started buying LIT e-books I used a passport account linked to a hotmail account I hadn't used for at least 5 years. It's more likely you got the password or e-mail address wrong. If the account really is gone / you really can't remember, you're looking at brute-forcing a 56-bit DES key per book, which is unfortunately still out-of-reach for those of us without access to supercomputing clusters.

[ProfJulie]

Go to the Microsoft Live "Contact Us" page and send them a message that describes your issue. Someone will respond to your message and help you work out your issues (I know because someone I referred this page to in another forum got speedy resolution to their problem, which was almost identical to yours).

[ilovejedd]

As mentioned, you probably used the wrong email address/passport. Try using the same email address you used for your fictionwise account. You can use any email address as a passport log-in so if you haven't tried it yet, it's worth a shot. Do you recall opening a new passport account for activation?

This is one of the reasons why I strip DRM from LIT files directly after downloading and keep several copies of the DRM-free ebooks. Another reason is you can only activate a passport on six devices. I tend to change computers quite a bit and I usually have three computers I use actively so I'd be requesting for an increase in activation quota quite often.

@llasram
Out of curiosity, how long would it take modern processors to generate a 56-bit key (which is what, 2^56 / 72 quadrillion possibilities)? Take, for example, a Core 2 Quad Q6600 at stock speed of 2.4GHz with all 4 cores running in parallel.

[llasram]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Out of curiosity, how long would it take modern processors to generate a 56-bit key (which is what, 2^56 / 72 quadrillion possibilities)? Take, for example, a Core 2 Quad Q6600 at stock speed of 2.4GHz with all 4 cores running in parallel.

On my system (1.6 GHz clock speed) it takes roughly 10 and half seconds for calibre's LIT-specific DES implementation to churn through 20 bits of keys from Python (the DES code itself is in C). If we give a roughly 4x speedup for dropping all the way to C, give a 2x speedup for a faster core, and 4x for perfectly distributing across 4 cores, and attack the keys randomly, then it would take us on average a mere 130,489 days (upper bound of 260,979 days) per book.

[Alf]

Originally Posted by llasram

it would take us on average a mere 130,489 days (upper bound of 260,979 days) per book.

Oh, come on, don't be lazy!

[4youreyes]

Please help I'm running windows xp mobi 6.2 , I just updated two days ago.Now when I plug in my kindle to download my e-books I get this message amazon kindle is not connected please connect it and press o.k to continue .I have used the previous version with no problem.,I have downloaded many e-books . I have even tried to reinstall and repair with no luck.Thanks Wendy

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by 4youreyes

Please help I'm running windows xp mobi 6.2 , I just updated two days ago.Now when I plug in my kindle to download my e-books I get this message amazon kindle is not connected please connect it and press o.k to continue

You should not have upgraded. Kindle device support was removed after version 6.0 ( I think it was). You need to go back to the previous version if you want device support.

BOb

[4youreyes]

thanks how do I that

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by 4youreyes

thanks how do I that

Actually, I think you should download Calibre instead. There is nothing you can do with MobiDesktop that you can't with Calibre.

http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/

But if you want MobiDesktop, then run the installer again. You should be offered an option to remove it. After you uninstall it, find a copy of version 6.0 and reinstall it. I used to have a copy handy, but I'm having hosting issues at the moment.

[alcofribas]

Originally Posted by ProfJulie

Go to the Microsoft Live "Contact Us" page and send them a message that describes your issue. Someone will respond to your message and help you work out your issues (I know because someone I referred this page to in another forum got speedy resolution to their problem, which was almost identical to yours).

I have the same problem (except with some Adobe e-books). I tried contacting Microsoft Live and all they did was refer me to my e-mail provider (Verizon).

"I have checked your account and verified that the Verizon Support Team handles all issues that relate to your concern. The tools required for the investigation of your issue are only available to their group."

Not terribly helpful.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by alcofribas

I have the same problem (except with some Adobe e-books).

Then you should contact Adobe, see Adobe ID and Membership FAQ.

[alcofribas]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Then you should contact Adobe, see Adobe ID and Membership FAQ.

My copy of Reader was activated with a Microsoft Passport account, not an Adobe ID, but I did try contacting Adobe. I actually found a page on their site that said they could at least look up your Passport ID.

But when I called them, they denied they could do any such thing or had any information relevant to the problem. They reiterated that Reader was a free product and they would not provide any support.

So I guess I'm out of luck.