June 9, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
Safely Remove Your Kindle:
For many of you, most of the books you get for your Kindle will be from Amazon. Connecting the nifty little cable that came with your Kindle will mostly be to a wall outlet to recharge it periodically. If you connect your Kindle to your computer to transfer books to it (or just recharge it), you need to "safely remove" the Kindle from your computer memory before you can actually disconnect the usb cable. This will also remove the USB connection message from the front of your Kindle screen so you can continue to use it while it charges via the USB connection. THEN you can jerk the cable and keep your conscience clear.
Actually if you just disconnect the cable you probably won't go straight to hell, and your Kindle will probably be just fine. You really don't want to tempt Fate. If you have an issue with files not showing up, or not looking right, jerking the USB without going through the "safely remove part" could be the culprit.
I really hope you take advantage of all the other places you can get books for your Kindle. Amazon is great, but the Internet is a big place, with lots of goodies just waiting to be found, and the Kindle is a wonderful tool, begging to be used to its fullest capabilities. And you always have me to point you in the direction of great freebies as I find them, on Amazon or wherever else I can find!
Mac Users:
When you connect your Kindle to your Mac via the USB connector, you will see a Kindle icon appear on your Desktop (main screen). This lets you know your computer is aware of your Kindle. Double click this icon to open your Kindle and view the folders within. The Documents folder is where any ebooks you download will need to go in order for you to read them on your Kindle. When you are finished transferring your files, remove your Kindle by dragging the icon and dropping it right into the trash. That basically undocks your Kindle; releases it from the USB bond. You can disconnect the USB cable at that time and go your merry way.
PC Users:
It is just as easy for you to release your Kindle when you are finished dragging new ebook files to the Documents folder on your Kindle. The moment you hook your Kindle to the computer with the USB cable, a special icon will appear in the Computer area (My Computer) of your machine. Left click once on the Start button (bottom left of the main screen), then move the mouse pointer up and to the right until you see Computer (or My Computer if you are still using XP), click it to open it. You will see what looks like an extra hard drive, or an external drive with the name Kindle. This is your little machine, with Windows acknowledging its existence. Right click on it and choose Eject or Safely Remove. It doesn't matter which. You will see a little popup appear letting you know you can now disconnect it.
