Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre

[Stevex]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

How would one install a program for a single user on a multi-user, stand-alone PC (something that Windows certainly seems to support) if the binary wasn't installed to AppData?

If installed to Program Files or Program Files (x86), any user could launch it, no?

The other side of that coin is programs that install themselves in every users roaming profile and with an autoexec such as dropbox and a pc with a dozen roaming profiles on it has a dozen copies of these things that all start up simultaneously with the pc.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Install the executable in "Program Files"; put the configuration data in either the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" branch of the Registry, or in AppData. Other users won't see the app because it will appear neither in their "Start" menu nor their desktop.

That doesn't sound like "installed for a single user" to me. Anybody could make a shortcut to Program Files. What you're describing sounds like "installed for all users, configured for only one." Why even make a distinction between installed for one/installed for all if the only difference between the two is a shortcut?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

That doesn't sound like "installed for a single user" to me. Anybody could make a shortcut to Program Files. What you're describing sounds like "installed for all users, only configured for one." Why even make a distinction between installed for one/installed for all if the only difference between the two is a shortcut?

Because the idea is that if you install it for user "A" and you subsequently decide that you want it to be available to user "B" as well, it's simply a case of setting up the appropriate configuration for user B, rather than installing a complete duplicate of the application. Ie executables are common, but configuration is user-specific. (That's exactly what Calibre does, for example.)

How do other operating systems handle this?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How do other operating systems handle this?

They don't (at least as far as Linux is concerned). Package management software/repositories typically only deal with system-wide installs. But many custom program installers provide the ability to install entirely within a user's home directory (not to mention the ability to change install locations by custom compiling).

[Conan46]

When I upgraded one of my Windows 10 installs from Windows 7 it kept the default generic user and made that generic user a 'super user'. So when I signed into my MS account it created a second user 'me' via my MS user account and it synced with my other Windows 10 install on another laptop. Problem was it left generic user as super user and I had to use my password for everything, installing programs, any changes I wanted to make, and some changes I simply could not make. Once I made myself super user I no longer needed to use a password for everything. This reminds me somewhat of Linux. Debian wants a password for everything and wants separate user accounts to have different privileges. Ubuntu makes the user a super user and is more like the generic setup with a signed in user on Windows 10, or so it seems to me.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by PeterT

The other reason for installs to AppData is to support roaming apps; in an Active Directory environment AppData/Roaming is replicated to and from the server infrastructure as a user logs on and off the PC.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Ummm... not to mention multi-gigabytes of files on their desktop being replicated. Where I work, corporate policy has been to disable roaming profiles ever since certain geniuses started storing work related video files on their desktops. Nothing like the conversation when you try to explain that a 20-30 minute bootup time when copying a 38GB profile is about right to make you wonder why you work with <expletive deleted> maroons.

[kirdek138]

Maaaan thank you ! You're a GOD ! I've searched the web many hours before seeing your post.
I thank the world to have people like you who are increbly competent and that want to help the others with their knowledge !
You make a better internet

Thanks again !

[Willa]

Bought a book from Amazon today and clicked on the Kindle for PC link to download it - and even though I have the do not automatically update button set, it updated it to version 1.21.

I did option 2 from the first post - opening a command prompt and it worked on my Windows 10 computer. THANK YOU!

[HWLange]

Is Calibre 3.x able to convert the KFX format ?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by HWLange

Is Calibre 3.x able to convert the KFX format ?

There is a plugin that can import unencrypted KFX files. Currently I'd recommend avoiding KFX if possible, if you want to convert to (say) ePub.

[Ah234]

This might be helpful to some. Rather than constantly trying to update plugins etc., the manual approach of screenshots and OCRs is a little slower but is bullet-proof.

Download the open-source 'LightScreen'. In the options set a directory to where all screenshots will be saved. Set it to capture the full screen with the hot key of your choice (e.g. Prnt).

Open Kindle, set it to full-screen mode. Select a smallish font size. Turn off highlighting as this messes with the OCR. Start at page 1. Press one of the arrow keys to go to the next page. Press Prnt to capture. Press the arrow key again for the next page. Press Prnt. This can be done at a rate of about 1 page a second until the whole book has been captured.

After a few minutes you'll have a folder full of screenshots, each numbered consecutively. In Windows 10 select all the screenshots, then right click 'Print' and then 'Print to PDF'. All the screenshots are combined into one PDF.

The resulting PDF can then be opened in the opensource 'FreeOCR' and converted into text.

[anacreon]

Method 2 : after verifying that the renderer-test.exe is in C:\Users\my name\AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\application, I entered the following

C:\Users\my name>ren %localappdata%\Amazon\Kindle\application\renderer-test.exe renderer-test.xxx

which was rejected as incorrect.

Can somebody tell me how I should write it? I'm a command window neophyte, and have no idea of the syntax (for example why the %localappdata% instead of \AppData\Local).

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by anacreon

Can somebody tell me how I should write it? I'm a command window neophyte, and have no idea of the syntax (for example why the %localappdata% instead of \AppData\Local).

%localappdata% is supposed to be equivalent to AppData\Local within your user profile directory. If you have a command window open with your user directory as the current directory then the following should work:

ren AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\application\renderer-test.exe renderer-test.xxx

Alternatively you could navigate to this directory and rename the renderer-test.exe file using the Explorer GUI. (You would need to enable display of file name extensions and hidden items for this to work.)

I cannot explain why some users have trouble using %localappdata%. It was added to Windows starting with Vista.

[anacreon]

Originally Posted by jhowell

%localappdata% is supposed to be equivalent to AppData\Local within your user profile directory. If you have a command window open with your user directory as the current directory then the following should work:

ren AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\application\renderer-test.exe renderer-test.xxx

Alternatively you could navigate to this directory and rename the renderer-test.exe file using the Explorer GUI. (You would need to enable display of file name extensions and hidden items for this to work.)

I cannot explain why some users have trouble using %localappdata%. It was added to Windows starting with Vista.

Thank you, the code worked. I'll have to wait until I next buy an Amazon book to test it, since I asked for a refund and bought the book concerned from ebook.de - surprinsingly, they often have a better price than most for epubs in euros those days.

FYI I'm on Windows 10 version 1709.

[bmbosse]

Thank You!! copy and pasted the code and it worked perfectly!