can anyone activate MS reader?

[Alucard]

I just got my Axim and I'm trying to activate MS Reader.
However I get stuck at the "Place PocketPC in cradle" step. I've got it all connected, but it (the site) doesn't seem to recognise that fact and places me in a recurring loop.

I never had this issues with my iPaq.

Any help? Thanks. :)

EDIT: Thanks a lot for your help, after deleting cookies everything worked perfectly. :)

[PJE]

Hi Alucard,

I placed my Axim in the cradle of a PC with a guest activesync setup (it's my third machine...).

I waited for the device to sychronize.

I entered the web address and then my Passport account details (you have a passport account?).

I pressed the activate button on the web page and the first couple of times it came back with an error so I removed my Axim and reconnected. On the third (I think) attempt it worked correctly.

Hope this was of help.

Keep trying...

PJE

PS. The web page also said something about only having 8 activations on a single passport account...

[hhollick]

I just got my Axim and I'm trying to activate MS Reader.
However I get stuck at the "Place PocketPC in cradle" step. I've got it all connected, but it (the site) doesn't seem to recognise that fact and places me in a recurring loop.


I had the exact same problem. I had to delete all of my cookies. After doing so I was able to activate successfully. There is a MS knowledge base article that says to delete a few cookies related to Passport. This did not work for. Deleting all my cookies did the trick. (Tools, Internet Options, Delete Cookies)

I guess you could say that once I lost all my cookies everything was okay with Microsoft Passport. :P

Good luck
Heather

[Pony99CA]

PS. The web page also said something about only having 8 activations on a single passport account...

I thought it used to allow only four activations. I just checked Microsoft's Reader Activation FAQ (http://www.microsoft.com/reader/support/faq/activation.asp#5), and the limit is now eight. That's cool. :-)

Steve

[spursdude]

I thought it used to allow only four activations. I just checked Microsoft's Reader Activation FAQ (http://www.microsoft.com/reader/support/faq/activation.asp#5), and the limit is now eight. That's cool. :-)

Steve

Wow, I'm really glad about that. I've been up to my back at 4 activations (2 computers, 1 reinstall of Windows, and my Pocket PC). I ddn't know what I would do with my laptop...

BTW, why is Microsoft insistent on activation of Reader?

[Corazon]

Yes deleting all cookies is the key, although I only had to do that for my desktop version of MS reader. Once I got my Axim and went to activate it, it went without a hitch. I was much relieved since I really didn't want to delete all my cookies again. (although you know, I probably could have saved them somewhere else, but sometimes inspiration like that doesn't strike in a timely manner).

The reason I believe for the activation is so that it is capable of decoding purchased books. Otherwise it will only read free books. I am not totally sure why the distinction myself, because I don't believe if you buy a book it is tied to you in any way specifically.

[Pony99CA]

BTW, why is Microsoft insistent on activation of Reader?

It's for the protection of authors and publishers to prevent protected e-books from being copied freely. With an eight-device limit, you could theoretically only give copies of a book you purchased to seven other people.

Steve

[Jonathan1]

Personally I like Palm Reader's method better. The activation code is your credit card. And the actual activation is done all on the computer itself. It doesn't have to call home to mama and there are NO limits as to how many devices you can have it on.

Its slick since who in their right mind is going to hand out their credit card # and if they do hand it out its easily traceable back to the originator. None of this Orwellian crap that MS is doing with product activation. Seriously guys. Look at the Palm Reader. It’s a sweet e-book reader that is worth a glance.

www.peanutpress.com Don't let the web site fool you. It may be Palm source but don't hold that against them :wink: You can download software for Windows, Mac, Pocket PC, and of course Palm (I've been told they are working on a linux ver as well.)


The only times I ever go back to MS Reader now are for a collection of e-books that I created from web based stories. Cut from web site -> paste into Word -> Convert to reader. Easy as that.

[Computer Ninja]

I was able to activate the reader twice (I had to do a hard reset once so far). Worked like a charm. Surprised peeps are having problems.

[Pony99CA]

I was able to activate the reader twice (I had to do a hard reset once so far). Worked like a charm. Surprised peeps are having problems.
You don't need to activate Reader again after a hard reset if you know what files to back up. I did a hard reset when installing the iPAQ 3870 ROM update, and didn't need to reactivate Reader.

Here are the files:

Microsoft Activation.unload
msreader-exe.sig
msreader-exe-manifest.sig
secrep.dat
secrep.dll
secrep.xml
secrepid.dat

Steve

[theonegod]

I had a problem where my PPC reader activated fine but I couldnt download any books because the storefronts wouldnt detect that I had an activated reader. This was fixed when I downloaded reader on my desktop and then activated it using the same account. After that I had no trouble.