The Kindle Challenge

Kindle had me clambering around the slippery snakes and ladders of techno-learning this week. There I was happily following Tiffany Dow's  experiences and starting her this month's Kindle Challenge when my Kindle app for PC threw down a challenge of its own.

" Won't. shan't, can't make me," it taunted to every attempt l made to open it.

I booted, rebooted, tried to run it as administrator. crept away and rushed back in the middle of the night when it least expected me.

Tried starting from various icons and through files--nada.

What do you do when your Kindle app with all your edited books and books for review expires?



But then common sense kicks in and you trawl through the search engines to find an answer to the problem.

The Good News

  • You are not alone.

  • Tech support from Amazon may be able to help. Tech support from Kindle forums is excellent.

  • Best of all, not one of the books you've bought from Amazon is lost.  Even the freebies are still there on your Manage My Kindle accounts page.

The Bad News

  • Anything you have acquired through another publisher is not there.
  • You're going to have to be brave and tinker with some hidden files.
  • It takes time you don't have when you're on a deadline.
But then that's when these things always happen isn't it?

The Solution for Windows?

1. Click on Documents and find the folder named My Kindle Content. If you have any non- Amazon books which you want to keep there, back up this file on  flash key or external hard drive.

2.Click on start menu, click on Amazon, click on Kindle for PC and finally uninstall.

3. Check that the uninstall has deleted your Kindle content.

4. Check your user files--that's the folder with the name you gave your PC, usually heading the right hand column on the Start menu--find data apps then open local then Amazon. If nothing has uninstalled there back up that file by copying it onto your flash drive. Only then, shut your eyes and bravely delete. It is essential to remove the kindle.info file.

5. Back to Amazon to deregister your app and download a new one.

6. Remember to register your new Kindle app when you first open it or you won't be able to download your books again.

7. Copy any other Kindle books from your back up drive straight into the My Kindle Content documents folder (each one has three files.)

8. Check all is working well. Treat yourself to a restorative drink and consider yourself an IT whizz kid.


Why Does the Kindle App malfunction? 

I had downloaded some new software which may have disagreed with it. Others find it happens because Amazon updates the app automatically and then it may have software incompatible issues. Sometimes downloading an older version of the app and unchecking the updates box in its menu tab does the trick.

For the moment, mine's as good as gold and l've no more excuses to get between me and writing that long promised eBook.

But l'd be interested to know if anyone else has suffered from Kindle or Kindle App or any other e-reader glitches.

 Oh and if you're looking for more writing challenges find the Writer's Digest popular fiction and short story competitions mentioned at Slow and Steady Writers,

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 Anne Duguid is a senior content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and   her New Year's Resolution is to blog with helpful writing,editing and publishing tips at Slow and Steady Writers far more regularly than she managed in 2011.

22 comments:

Karen Cioffi said...

Yikes! At least you figured it out. You deserve a pat on the back! And, great instructions for others who end up in this predicament.

Anne Duguid Knol said...

Thanks Karen...with a lot of help from cyber forums and fellow sufferers. I'd never considered it happening before.

Margaret Fieland said...

Many congratulations, Anne, for figuring that out and then being brave enough to delete those files.

Donna McDine said...

Kudos on navigating all this. Thanks for your step by step instructions, worthy of printing out!

Anne Duguid Knol said...

Thanks Peggy. I must admit I get really nervy about deleting files and I had committed the cardinal sin of deleting the kindle.info one before I remembered the back up. So double the worry there hehe

Debbie A Byrne said...

Annie, I had the very same problem this afternoon. I've contacted them to see what they suggest. I did check under Documents and deleted any books that I did not want anymore while I was there. This is the first time this has happened to me. Since I had already emailed them prior to reading your post, I'll wait to see what they say.

Anne Duguid Knol said...

Thanks Donna and if you're interested Wendy Laharnar in Australia had a similar problem yesterday with her Kindle. Weird or what?

She posted her solution as a reply to my article at http://slowandsteadywriters.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/writers-challenges-and-competitions.html

Anne Duguid Knol said...

Wow Debbie, amazing! And please come back and let us know their suggestion too. Then we're all set and prepared in case there's a next time. It was just such a relief to see the books were still safe though and get it sorted out.
I'm in the UK. Wendy's just told me she had the problem in Australia! 9ee my reply to Donna)
It must be a global glitch hehe but, of course, we at Writers on the Move are always ahead of the game and first with the answers lol

Heidiwriter said...

Yowser! I didn't realize everything that could go wrong with something like that. This "technology to make our lives easier" doesn't sometimes!

Shirley Corder said...

Way to go for this Anne!

Funnily enough, I had hassles with Kindle for pc yesterday. It suddenly refused to work. It was there, but each time I clicked on it the little wheel went round once as if to show it heard me, then went back to sleep.

I eventually uninstalled, downloaded a fresh set, and then reinstalled - and all was well.

Now for the big confession. I didn't backup - nor did I delete. Somehow mine worked, but I think your system is much safer. I'm storing this page of yours away somewhere for next time. Now if I can just remember where I've put it I'll be ready for the next emergency!

Anne Duguid Knol said...

True Heidi but the problem solving can be fun if you're not too pushed for time lol

Anne Duguid Knol said...

Hi Shirl, am I guessing we have some of the same organizational problems as well as sharing Kindle app malfunctions? :-)
Must admit I can be a bit naughty about the backing up too but this time I had all my edited books on the Kindle too and as they weren't bought from Amazon I could have lost them in the uninstall.
I was probably over zealous but didn't want to risk uninstalling and reinstalling and that not work.

Wendy said...

oh ah, I didn't uninstall or backup, I just upgraded my Kindle and Kindle for pc. Hope that will be enough to maintain the status quo. I'll still have that restorative drink and one for you. :)

Anne Duguid Knol said...

Thanks Wendy--all the more welcome because I'm on a tap water fast before blood tests this morning :-)

Mary Jo Guglielmo said...

Just one more reason I like turning the pages of a book!

Anne Duguid Knol said...

lol. Mary Jo. Point well understood after this.

Debbie A Byrne said...

I followed the instructions in the email they sent me - for the most part. Some things didn't quite sync up, but everything turned out fine. I checked and all my books are there and they open for me, and that is what I wanted. I'm not sure if I will buy a separate ereader. I wanted to try the PC one so that I could play around with it and learn, using free books.

Debbie A Byrne said...

And wow! What an active and popular blog post! LOL I hope we don't have more problems, but it certainly has brought forth much discussion. Hope everyone has success at getting their Kindles working again.

Helen Henderson said...

Thanks for the tips. Someone else I know didn't have lost books but each page lost a line, then the next day it miraculously corrected itself. Am sending her your tips. Helen


_____________________________________________
Helen Henderson
Stories that take you to the stars, the Old West, or worlds of imagination. The journey begins at helenhenderson-author.webs.com and helenhenderson-author.blogspot.com.

Wendy said...

I'd be lost without my hand-held Kindle. I was one who rebelled against it but now... So easy to carry and read anywhere. And feather-weight The page is always open where you left off, no matter how many books you read at the same time and the printsize is changeable. I have the cover with the inbuilt light too so I can read in bed without disturbing my better half. I am guilty of acepting some free classics from Amazon. I had no trouble updating the ereader. It was the Kindle for pc which separately houses the library I was worried about. Now all is fine.

widdershins said...

*checks own Kindle for PC's to see if it'll open* ... BUGGER!!!! It's too late in the evening to mess around with files now. I might do something I'll regret later ... *makes not to self to follow Annie's instructions to the letter - tomorrow*

Thanks for bringing this to my attention Annie. I would've been very cranky at that little icon otherwise.

Widder

Magdalena Ball said...

Very thoughtful of you to share your solution Annie - so that others with this problem won't have to suffer like you did. I use a Kindle rather than Kindle on PC, and have never had these kinds of difficulties but I did notice that occasionally a book disappears - so far nothing I couldn't restore but it was irritating to lose a book that I'd been plannign to read while overseas and not be able to get it back. Mind you, sometimes my hard copies disappear too...

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