Can't delete Archived Item on Kindle3

[anth82]

Hi all,

This is my first post so be kind....

I recently bought a Kindle 3 and am loving it, I have purchased books, converted books and everything is working fine except for 1 thing.

On the front page there is a folder that says I have 1 archived item, I open the folder and and it is the "The New Oxford American Dictionary" when I try to download it comes up saying "This title is not available on Kindle" and there is no option to delete it.

When I go to the Amazon site to manage my Kindle there is nothing in the archive section.

Can somebody PLEASE help me get rid of this from my Kindle??

Thanks!!

[cybmole]

DONT !

- there is a way to delete it - I did it & will explain below, but it has side effects.

that book is there in case you ever install Kindle for PC or Kindle for i-gadgets. It will then install to those apps so that you have a working dictionary in those installs. A. do not explain that - it took a lot of forum thread reading to understand that point.

IF you delete it my going to manage my kindle page & finding it in orders history, then it will vanish BUT then there is no way back - Amazon CS cannot re-instate it & you lose your dictionary option in any future install of Kindle for....

& all you really achieve is that your kindle says 0 archived items, rather than 1 archived items. you cannot suppress the line that says x archived items, though you can shuffle it to end of list by sorting books on most recent,

I had to go through a hideous workaround ( in another thread ) of create a new amazon account, Dl kindle for PC & set it up with that account. the free dictionary then re-appears in the new amazon / kindle account so you can now get the new american dictionary onto a PC - then get it into Calibre with DRM removed, then register kindle for PC back to my "real" amazon account and transfer the dictionary via USB.
took me 1/2 a day & I'm still not sure how I acheived the remove DRM bit - logically what I think I did should not have worked, even...

the simpler workaround of copy new american ... from an old K for PC install, which was working, to a new K for PC install did not work - book would not open - strongly suggesting there is DRM on the dictionary which locks it to specific installs. & you can't copy the dictionary from Kindle onto a PC because it is in Kindle firmware and inaccessible via USB.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by anth82

Hi all,

This is my first post so be kind....

I recently bought a Kindle 3 and am loving it, I have purchased books, converted books and everything is working fine except for 1 thing.

On the front page there is a folder that says I have 1 archived item, I open the folder and and it is the "The New Oxford American Dictionary" when I try to download it comes up saying "This title is not available on Kindle" and there is no option to delete it.

When I go to the Amazon site to manage my Kindle there is nothing in the archive section.

Can somebody PLEASE help me get rid of this from my Kindle??

Thanks!!

It's not on your Kindle. "Archived" items are items that are available to you on Amazon's servers, but are not installed on the Kindle itself. I really wouldn't worry about it.

[hedwig]

That's interesting.
My New Oxford American Dictionary is not in my archived items. It is on the Kindle as a separate book.
I wonder if this is because I installed Kindle for Mac and hooked my Kindle up to it immediately after I got the Kindle.

[Tiersten]

The two dictionaries are permanently stored inside the Kindle firmware and are not removeable through normal means.

The dictionaries aren't supposed to appear in your Archived Items list as you're not supposed to be able to remove them from your device at all. If it is really annoying you then you should be able to remove it from the Your Orders part of the Manage Your Kindle. I'd just leave it personally since it doesn't affect anything anyway since it takes up zero space on your Kindle.

[InspectorHopkins]

This is my first post also . . .


anth82: My first thought was if there were any chance that you accidentally DELETED this dictionary from your device?? If so, then it should show up in the "archives", right?


But . . . as Tiersten pointed out, the two dictionaries that came with my Kindle 3 cannot be deleted from the device?


One of the reasons I wanted to get an e-reader was the ability to quickly look up words as I read! As a new user, all I know at this point is that you can set one dictionary or the other as the main one. I am using the "New Oxford American" as the default that my device shipped with. I have looked at the other one, the "Oxford Dictionary of English", but, so far, do not see any real difference between them. One thing at a time.

Perhaps you could try a "Reset" (or a "Hard Reset") of your device If either of those didn't work, I would contact Amazon Customer Service.



All best, and still way early into the Kindle learning curve,
Joe

[chyron8472]

Don't delete the dictionary.


If you like having the Archived Items to say "Archived Items (0)", turn off wifi/3g and restart your Kindle (press Menu, goto "Settings", press Menu, goto "Restart".) Archived Items should say zero until you turn wifi/3g back on again.

[InspectorHopkins]

Originally Posted by chyron8472

Don't delete the dictionary.


If you like having the Archived Items to say "Archived Items (0)", turn off wifi/3g and restart your Kindle (press Menu, goto "Settings", press Menu, goto "Restart".) Archived Items should say zero until you turn wifi/3g back on again.

Okay, thanks chyron!

But, as a newbie (and not to hijack anth82's thread), I have to ask if this will reset his Kindle back to its original state i.e. put the dictionary back on the home page? What happens when you turn the wifi/3G back on, then?

So far, I always have my wifi/3G turned off, unless I am looking at the Kindle store or playing around with Wikipedia or Google, etc.

I am still unsure as to what advantages/disadvantages exist to having the wifi/3G turned on or off (except that I know it will prolong battery life if it is off) . . .

Thanks for any clarification you can provide!


All best, and thank you,
Joe

[Tiersten]

I had an extra copy of the American dictionary in my Archive and I just deleted it from the Your Orders section of Manage Your Kindle. It disappeared from the Archived Items list. The two dictionaries are still on my Kindle is still there and both work as a dictionary.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by Tiersten

I had an extra copy of the American dictionary in my Archive and I just deleted it from the Your Orders section of Manage Your Kindle. It disappeared from the Archived Items list. The two dictionaries are still on my Kindle is still there and both work as a dictionary.

that is correct, they cannot be deleted from an actual Kindle as they are built in - if you try to delete them, nothing happens.

the archived copy at amazon is needed if you ever install a Kindle for ... app on any other hardware, as per my 1st post. So delete that archived dictionary at your peril as customer services cannot/will not re-instate it.

( you are warned somewhere in Amazon blurb that if you delete stuff from your archived orders, via the manage your kindle page, then whatever you deleted is gone forever, and if you want it back you'll have to pay again.
tricky with the dictionary because although it is free to begin with, I could not find a copy for sale anywhere in the Kindle section!

anything you buy & then delete on your actual kindle stays in the Amazon archives, and can be downloaded again whenever you want it back, as often as you like

amazon only archive stuff you buy from them though so if say a friend gave you an unprotected book & you put it on your kindle, amazon will not store a backup of that for you.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by InspectorHopkins

Okay, thanks chyron!

But, as a newbie (and not to hijack anth82's thread), I have to ask if this will reset his Kindle back to its original state i.e. put the dictionary back on the home page? What happens when you turn the wifi/3G back on, then?

All best, and thank you,
Joe

Kindle will always have a dictionary in its list of books, no matter what your wi-fi setting is. ( UK Kindles have 2 dictionaries.) Dictionaries are not like other books - they are built-in & cannot be deleted, & cannot be made not to appear in the books list.

If seeing them annoys you, set kindle so sort by most recent and they will gradually drop to the end of the list as you open & close other books.

you can't hide them by adding them to a collection as they will STILL also appear in the main books list.

Kindle user guide is like a book - you can delete that from Kindle & it will return to archives.

whenever Kindle wi-fi is on, it compares it's own records with Amazons , & anything you own, but do not have installed on the Kindle then shows as an archived item. if you open an archived item it re-downloads back onto your Kindle.

if anything is unclear, then experiment, ask, or both.

[Tiersten]

Originally Posted by cybmole

the archived copy at amazon is needed if you ever install a Kindle for ... app on any other hardware, as per my 1st post. So delete that archived dictionary at your peril as customer services cannot/will not re-instate it.

Ahhh okay. I understand now. Yup. Don't mess with that dictionary!

[chyron8472]

Originally Posted by InspectorHopkins

Okay, thanks chyron!

But, as a newbie (and not to hijack anth82's thread), I have to ask if this will reset his Kindle back to its original state i.e. put the dictionary back on the home page? What happens when you turn the wifi/3G back on, then?

So far, I always have my wifi/3G turned off, unless I am looking at the Kindle store or playing around with Wikipedia or Google, etc.

I am still unsure as to what advantages/disadvantages exist to having the wifi/3G turned on or off (except that I know it will prolong battery life if it is off) . . .

No, "Restart" will not reset to factory defaults. "Reset to Factory Defaults" does. ...(don't worry, the "Reset to Factory Defaults" does give you a big, wordy warning message if you select it.)

"Restart"ing your Kindle is like rebooting your PC, basically.


The only advantages to having wifi/3g off are that the battery life is (noticeably) longer, and Archived Items stays at zero after you reboot, if that's your goal. It doesn't delete files or remove collections or anything.

btw, don't freak out if you restart your Kindle and your collections and such say zero for 5 seconds or so. The Kindle takes a small while after rebooting to refresh the Home menu as to what is loaded on it.

Originally Posted by cybmole

Kindle will always have a dictionary in its list of books, no matter what your wi-fi setting is. ( UK Kindles have 2 dictionaries.) Dictionaries are not like other books - they are built-in & cannot be deleted, & cannot be made not to appear in the books list.

If seeing them annoys you, set kindle so sort by most recent and they will gradually drop to the end of the list as you open & close other books.

you can't hide them by adding them to a collection as they will STILL also appear in the main books list.

First, he was talking about removing it from Archived Items, which is not a list of items which are on the Kindle, but rather a list of items available on the associated account at Amazon for immediate download.

Second, yes you CAN hide the dictionary from the Home menu by putting it in a Collection. I have a collection called "Misc." in which I place my Kindle User Guide, my Calibre Quick Start Guide, My Clippings, and The New Oxford American Dictionary.

Items that are in collections do not appear in main Home Menu screen if you have the Home Menu sorted by Collections. If you have it sorted by Title, Author or Most Recent First, yes they do. If you have it sorted by Collections, no they don't.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by chyron8472

yes you CAN hide the dictionary from the Home menu by putting it in a Collection[/U]. ...

Items that are in collections do not appear in main Home Menu screen if you have the Home Menu sorted by Collections. If you have it sorted by Title, Author or Most Recent First, yes they do. If you have it sorted by Collections, no they don't.

OK I missed that / did not test that option.

my preference is to keep only a couple of pages of stuff on Kindle & sort by most recent. I remove stuff once it's read. I once rashly transferred several hundred titles onto Kindle & it took forever to sort them into collections & then , later, to remove them as there is no bulk delete, AFAIK.

PS the thread is now covering various questions, some relate to what is on the Kindle others relate to archiving - I was trying to respond to several points in one post.

[chyron8472]

Originally Posted by cybmole

my preference is to keep only a couple of pages of stuff on Kindle & sort by most recent. I remove stuff once it's read. I once rashly transferred several hundred titles onto Kindle & it took forever to sort them into collections & then , later, to remove them as there is no bulk delete, AFAIK.

I hear you. I usually have a number of books on my Kindle, but I sort by Collections and remove the book(s) I'm currently reading from their collections while I'm reading them so that they are the only ones on my Home screen. When you sort by Collections, the collection names and the books not in a collection are sorted by Most Recent First.

If I couldn't use collections, like my bro-in-law who has a K1, I would keep as few books on my Kindle as is necessary.


As for bulk deletion, there are two options:
1) connect and browse to the files on your Kindle from your computer, go into the "documents" folder and delete the folders/files within corresponding to which books you want to remove;

or 2) connect to your Kindle via Calibre, switch the view to show the books installed on the device, and remove them from there.

You shouldn't have to delete hundreds of books individually from your Kindle's Home screen. Deleting the files en masse from Windows Explorer or Calibre is more efficient.