Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   Dragonlair
   Member

   This is totally off the wall but since the software is free, I thought it might be appropriate to check here.

   Yesterday I got a free Kindle book from Amazon. When I downloaded it, I had a few problems (normal problems based on an earlier upgrade). I started my Kindle for PC software to get the book. I was notified that there was an upgrade to 1.4.1. I took it. As soon as the upgrade happened and the software loaded again, I was told there was an upgrade to 1.6.1. That was strange but I said yes and spent hours with problems - even with Kindle Support.

   If you have Kindle for PC, I do not encourage you to upgrade unless you have a Kindle for PC Installer on your PC for an earlier version or you use Chrome or Safari and can use the new Cloud Kindle. My experience is it does not work!

   With the update, I get the splash screen and Windows immediately says there is a problem and closes the program. Oddly enough, it does not put the application files in a "Kindle for PC" folder, it puts it in a Kindle folder. The install does sometimes create a "Kindle for PC" folder but leaves it empty!

   If you don't have Kindle for PC, I do encourage you to try it just to see if it works. It looks like the build they have created is trying to get the Kindle for Kindle to work on the PC and Windows is not happy.

   Please, if you do try this version and it does not work, send Amazon Kindle Support an email to that effect. Tell them what you did and what happened. Emphasize that it is a KNOWN problem. After last night, they know about it, THAT I can guarantee!

   As a result of all my attempts, I had to re-download 37 books (my non Amazon Kindle books were not affected) and have to use a much older version than I had when this first happened. I also lost all my bookmarks for the books started. That was because I tried using Revo Uninstaller just to see if the problem was a flaky registry entry.

   I think the reason for the double update message is I got upgraded to 1.4.1 and right after I did that, they replaced the download version with 1.6.1. I may have been the first person to even try the new released version! The dates on the application files are 7/19/11 and that confused me at first. They may have made the files last month but not completed the build (incorrectly) until yesterday.

   I would welcome any comment or any ideas of what we could have tried (myself and two different techs - level one and two).

   Posted 12 years ago #
2. 

   Idunnobutiwastold
   Gaming Acolyte

   This morning, I installed version 1.6 from scratch and it seems to be running well on Windows XP.

   Download Link (22 Mb):
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311

   Screenshot:

   

   

   

   Posted 12 years ago #
3. 

   Dragonlair
   Member

   Thank you! Maybe they fixed the build. I wan the "collections" sort option. I'll wait to hear from them before I try it. I'm running Vista but that shouldn't be a problem.

   Although I had uninstalled and re-installed several times (fresh install), there was one point - I had a library folder. I wonder if that may have been the problem. I'll have to check with Kindle Support on that issue.

   Could you tell me the name of the folder created for your own books (not the 3 it gave you from the start)? Also, although it said the download was to be 22 MB, it actually was only 20 MB. What was the actual size of the installer file?

   Posted 12 years ago #
4. 

   Idunnobutiwastold
   Gaming Acolyte

   The Windows OS reports that the program installer 'KindleForPC-installer.exe' is 22.07 Mb.

   

   I can't be certain but it appears that opening Kindle-compatible files from any folder on the PC will invariably save a copy in the default location...
   C:\Documents and Settings\USERACCOUNTNAME\My Documents\My Kindle Content\

   

   Posted 12 years ago #
5. 

   Dragonlair
   Member

   The PC version has done that all along. I have about 110 books in my Kindle for PC right now and I think 40 are from Amazon - the rest are Kindle format (mobi, prc or azw) from elsewhere. There are several free book links that allow various formats such as:

   Project Gutenberg
   ManyBooks
   Baen Books

   There are others as well. I got several of the 1632 series from Baen Books. The author is one of the driving forces of that site but I'm not sure how long it's been since it's been updated.

   Posted 12 years ago #
6. 

   Dragonlair
   Member

   My Kindle for PC problem has been solved but the customer service from Amazon Kindle Support leaves a lot to be desired.

   I was promised an update on how things were going on my problem. I called last night since it had been almost a month and NOTHING. I found out that there is NO record that the guy I spoke with ever passed the problem on to the developers. Nor did he follow up with me.

   Even the guy I spoke with last night was trying to figure out what was wrong when I asked the key question - Has the software changed in the past month? The answer - yes, to version 1.7.1!

   That was my answer. I downloaded and gave that a try and it worked slick as a whistle. I did not get the free books that Idunnobutiwastold reported probably because I already had 109 book in my C:\Users\<username>\My Documents\My Kindle Content folder. Only 39 are from Amazon, the others are from elsewhere. There is a dictionary that doesn't show in my list but is there for use within a book.

   That dictionary would sure come in handy in reading Stephen Dondaldson's books. He uses weird words some times.

   If anybody has been hesitant to upgrade because of my reported problem, you should be able to do it now. However, you may find what a friend found. She loaded here Kindle for PC and it said she had an update to 1.6.1. She refused that, closed the software and re-opened it. Then it said she had an update for 1.7.1. That she took! No problem for her.

   I do recommend that occasionally, even if you use the built-in updates, you download the full installer from the site and save it (preferably in a zip) on your PC. That way, if you run into problems as I did, you can get back to a known safe and stable level of the software.

   Posted 12 years ago #
7. 

   Idunnobutiwastold
   Gaming Acolyte

   Thanks for the update, Dragonlair. After reading your post, I downloaded the 'on-demand' dictionary. I also noticed that the Kindle program was silently updated to version 1.7.

   

   Posted 12 years ago #
8. 

   Dragonlair
   Member

   You can stop that "silent update" with the options. I never let a program (other than my anti-virus) update itself without asking. Everybody else - including Microsoft has to tell me that an update is available and ask me first. Some can't even check, they have to wait for me to check.

   Posted 12 years ago #

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