Downloading 101 – Internet Explorer

Originally posted March 7, 2010

find - download - put on Kindle

We will get a book from Manybooks.net, download it to your Desktop, then transfer it to your Kindle. Well, actually we won't. You will.

Do NOT confuse manybooks net with the same name but .com at the end of it. Whoever owns that domain name hasn't decided what to do with it yet.

Manybooks.net is a great place to find wonderful (free) books for your Kindle. You can graze for daze and never scratch the surface. It is one of my favorite watering holes.

If you have a PC, you have Internet Explorer to surf the Internet. Click the "big E" on your Desktop and you will be off and running. In the address box at the top of the Internet Explorer window, remove what is already there (http://whatever....) and type manybooks.net (no need to type the http:// stuff). Press the Enter key on your keyboard to go to the site. Browsers have come a long way in the last several years. You can type a web address without the http:// or www and your browser is smart enough to know you are typing in a web site as long as you don't forget the .net, .org or .com part... saves a lot of typing in the long run. The browser automatically puts the http:// part in so you don't have to.

When you arrive at the front page of manybooks.net, you will see there are lots of links to begin browsing with. If you know a particular title or author you would like to concentrate on, there is a search box just under the logo on the left. Click in it once (so you see a blinking cursor), then type what you are looking for and press the Enter key on your keyboard.

To begin practicing, click any of the books on the front page. This will take you to a special page just for that book where you will see more information on it. If you would like to see more from that particular author, click the author's name at the top. If there are more from that author, there will be a link to a page with that author's other works listed, with links to the individual books on manybooks.net. Just below the image of the book cover, you should see a Download box with a little arrow to the right of the words select format. Click the little arrow to see the format choices (they will drop down when you left click the arrow). My personal choice is Mobipocket (.mobi) because the title stays pretty much intact, but Kindle (.azw), Mobipocket (.prc) and Plain text (.txt) are also easily used on your Kindle. Any of these four file types can be downloaded and transferred to your Kindle without conversion.

Left click on your file type choice. The drop down menu will disappear. Click the download button just below to begin your download. The next window you will see will be to choose to open or save the file. Choose Save by left clicking the Save button. You will then see another little window where you can choose where to put the file. I always choose Desktop because that way I don't have to go hunting for the files when I am ready. I use the Desktop as a staging area. After the files have been transferred to my Kindle, they are then either deleted or stored in a special folder in my main Documents folder, just for ebooks I have downloaded.

After you have chosen where you want to save your file, look at the bottom of that little window. You will see a  File name box with the file name in it (don't change this.. just look) and you will see a File type box with the type of file in it (just look).

Click the Save button when you are satisfied all is well. The last little window you will see will tell you the download is complete. Click Close on that one and you will be ready to take your book file to your Kindle. Close your Internet Explorer browser window. You won't need it any more (unless you are going to get more books).

Taking it to the Kindle...

Find your book file on your Desktop, right click on it and choose Copy. Then connect your Kindle to your computer with the USB cable. Once connected, you should see a window with choices appear. Choose Open folder to view files with a single left click.

When your Kindle folder opens, click on the Documents folder to open it. Right in in any empty white area and choose Paste. This will put a copy of your book file right in the Documents folder on your Kindle, where it needs to be. Repeat the process for each book. Disconnect your Kindle from the computer and your new books should be at the top of your Home screen with the word New next to them.

Want More? If you find this helps, you can get a daily dose of helpful tips and tricks (not to mention great heads ups on free books) for your Kindle by subscribing and reading this on your little machine. Just type mrs wizard on your Kindle (no need for capital letters) and toggle your 5-way switch to the word store. Press in on the 5-way to search the store. You should see the From the Desk of Mrs. Wizard blog right away. Press in on the 5-way again to subscribe or toggle up to read more.  Enjoy automatic delivery to your Kindle the first two weeks FREE!

Tomorrow: Downloading 101 - Firefox

Kindle File Management

Originally posted March 6, 2010 by Cindy O'Neal

Copying files from your computer to your Kindle doesn't need to be a personal curse. With a few basic file management and multi windows skills you can be comfortable browsing and copying files soon. The key is practice. Do it as many times as you need to be comfortable with the procedure. After all, if you want to take advantage of all the great free book resources out there in cyberspace, you need to develop certain skills, and file management is at the top of the list.

The most important part of file management is knowing exactly where your file (the little bugger) is at all times. On your computer, if you create the document yourself, it will usually end up in the Documents (or My Documents) folder, unless you save it somewhere else. Your Documents folder is pretty easy to get to by clicking the Start button on a Windows computer, then looking up and to the right for the Documents folder shortcut. Click it once to open. If it is a file you downloaded (like a nifty book from manybooks.net), I hope you downloaded it to your Desktop so it will be easy to spot and drag to your Kindle when the time is right.  If you are getting nervous right about now, rest assured I will be covering Downloading from the Internet for both Internet Explorer as well as Firefox in future articles. The bottom line is, you must know where your stuff is. Pay special attention when you save a file. Take your time. Look at the little save window that comes up. It always tells you where that file is going, and it always gives you a chance (with a few mouse clicks) to put it somewhere else. It's up to you to make the choice. 

I like to use my Desktop (the main computer screen) as a staging area for things I download. Then, if it is a book, it will go to the kindle, then the copy on the Desktop will be moved to a more permanent storage in another folder I have created just for books I have downloaded.

To transfer (copy) a file to your Kindle:

1. Connect the Kindle to your computer with the supplied USB cable
2. If you are using Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7), a little popup window will appear asking you what you want to do... Choose Open folder to view files by left clicking those words.
3. This will cause another window to appear with the folders on your Kindle showing. Look for and double click to open the Documents folder. You should see your books listed. The best view is Details. Click the word View at the top of the window, then the word Details. This way you can see your books listed alphabetically, straight down the window. Make sure this window is NOT filling your screen. You need to be able to put your mouse in the Title Bar of the window and (while holding down the left mouse button) drag it to move it. The Title Bar is the very top part of any window. You should see the title of the window you are working with in it. The X to close the window is on the same level. If your window is filling the screen you will not be able to drag it anywhere.
4. Move the Kindle window out of the way and find the book file you want to put on it.
5. Right click on the book file and choose the word (single left click) Copy.
6. Move your mouse pointer to the Kindle Documents folder and right click in an empty white area inside that folder. Choose Paste.
7. You should see your book file listed in your Kindle folder now. Disconnect your Kindle and your new book should be listed at the top of your Home page.

Another way to copy files from one place to another is to left click on the file and (while holding down the left mouse button) drag it to the other window. When you have your pointer where you want to drop the file, let go of the mouse button. For some people, this can get messy. Files can be accidentally dropped in the wrong place and even lost. Using the copy and paste technique can be a neater solution.

The way to really learn something new is to practice, practice, practice! After a few times, it will be more natural.

Tomorrow: Downloading 101 -- Internet Explorer
We will get a book from Manybooks.net, download it to your Desktop, then transfer it to your Kindle. Well, actually we won't. You will.

Sorting the Home Screen

Originally posted March 2, 2010 by Cindy O'Neal

The Home Screen is the first thing you see when you turn on or wake up your Kindle. It is a list of all the content on your little machine, including books, magazines, blogs, personal files, pdf files and even audio books. Think of it as your personal bookshelf on your Kindle. It is also the starting screen for some of your more interesting menu choices.

You can get to your Home Screen at any time by pressing the Home button, clearly marked on the right side of your Kindle. If your list is becoming a little over the top and making you anxious when you look at it, it may be time to do a little sorting to take back control.

Your Home Screen is (by default), sorted with the most recently accessed or received item at the top. There are other options you may want to utilize from time to time. You can always choose to sort by date again. Here's how you can check out the Sort Options for your Kindle:

• Press the Home button (if you're not already there)
• Toggle the 5-way switch up or down until Show and Sort Options are underlined (almost at the top of the screen)
• Toggle 5-way to the right or left to see choices. Stop when the choice you want is underlined.
• Press in on 5-way switch to make it happen (remember you can always put it back the way it was by choosing sort by date.

Here is a screenshot so you can get an idea where the Sort Options are and your different choices. I moved the switch and took screenshots of the other choices and layered it on top (to the right of the arrow) so you could see them all. As you move your 5-way switch to the left or right something different will be underlined. Underlined is selected on your Kindle. Once something is selected, press the switch in to make something happen.

Amazon Archives

Originally posted March 1, 2010 by Cindy O'Neal

It is amazing how many books you can get on a Kindle. You have potentially an entire library of thousands of books on your little machine, and there are quite a few places, besides amazon.com you can pick up really good free books, not to mention all the books (free and otherwise) available on Amazon just dying to be chosen for your Kindle.

In future posts, I will be going over various ways to download from some of these places, and how to store these extra goodies... on and off your Kindle, but today I want to share a little information about the Archived Items on your Kindle. This is a link to a special place in cyberspace where Amazon stores all the ebooks you purchase from them. This includes all those free books on Amazon you can't resist getting because they (1) sound really great, (2) you want to include them in your library, or (3) you plan to read them real soon.

These books can add up after a while, and while you have plenty of space on your Kindle, the sheer number of pages on your Kindle Home screen to navigate to find a title can become a little unruly. I've got about 12 pages of book titles listed on my Kindle and it can be pretty overwhelming at times. What I do to keep the list pared down (at least a little) is remove books as I read them from the Kindle itself. To delete a book from your Kindle, turn it on so the Home page is showing. Use the 5-way switch to toggle down or up until the book you want to remove is underlined. Toggle the switch to the left and you will see the words remove from device if it is a book you purchased from Amazon. Press the switch in to make it happen.

Special Note: Deleting a book you did not purchase from Amazon is the same. The only difference is when you toggle the switch to the left, instead of seeing the words remove from device, you will see the word delete. Press in on the 5-way to make it happen. You will also need to press in once more to confirm you really want to delete this book. That is because Amazon does NOT archive personal files (and that is what any books you get somewhere other than Amazon are considered). Your personal files and books should be backed up on your own computer.

If you remove a book from your Kindle that was purchased (or free) from Amazon, it is only removed from your Kindle. Since you got it from Amazon in the first place, they will keep it for you in your special cyberspace archive area as long as you want to keep it there.  To access the View Archived Items area with your Kindle, press the Home button so your list of books is displayed. Toggle the 5-way switch down until View Archived Items is underlined. Press in on the switch to go to your personal Archived Items area on amazon.com. Oh... Your Internet connection does need to be turned on your Kindle do do this.

Once you are in the Archives area, use the Next Page and Previous Page buttons on your Kindle to browse your titles. If you want to put the book back on your Kindle, just find it in the Archived Items area, move the 5-way switch till it is underlined, then press in on the switch. Your book will be resent to your Kindle.

Is that great or what?!