This Week's Free Ebooks From Microsoft

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.microsoft.com/reader/promotions/free_shop.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.microsoft.com/reader/pro...s/free_shop.asp</a><br /><br /></div>I think Crystal's gone on vacation (actually, I think most everyone has except Brad, Marlof and me 8O ;)), so I just wanted to let you know about this week's free Microsoft ebooks (that is, if you can get the new Reader working): <li> Persuader by Lee Child;<br /><li> Beach Music by Pat Conroy;<br /><li> Star Trek S.C.E #23: Wildfire, Book 1. Looks like some decent weekend reading to me, although I still have to start (re)reading Hitchhiker's Guide from last week.

[Kevin Remhof]

OK, kind of off-topic, but... I didn't realize the third book was a Star Trek book until I saw this posting. I even went to the MS Reader site and downloaded one of the other books.

I figured that "SCE #23 : Wildfire, Book 1" was just some generic SciFi book. In fact, from the MS Reader page, the only way to find out that it's a Star Trek book is to look at the cover picture. Odd.

[clintc]

I downloaded the pc reader and then activated both the pc reader and the pocket pc reader. Then, I downloaded The Hitchhikers Guide and it loaded automatically into the pc reader. I tried to copy the .lit file to the pocketpc but the reader on the 2200 says it can't open the book. Both the pc and pocketpc were activated with the same passport account. Have I wrongly assumed I could read drm protected stuff in both places. The activation process said something about being able to activate 6 devices with one passport account. That led me to think I would be able to read protected content in more than one place.

I'd like to read the books on the 2200. What is the solution?

[Bruce Babcock]

[quote="clintc"]I downloaded the pc reader and then activated both the pc reader and the pocket pc reader.

Did you reinstall the new Pocket PC Reader before you activated it :?:

Bruce

[clintc]

[quote=clintc]I downloaded the pc reader and then activated both the pc reader and the pocket pc reader.

Did you reinstall the new Pocket PC Reader before you activated it :?:

Bruce

No, I figured the MS-Reader that came with the 2200 was the latest version and that I did not need to update it. Is the Reader included in the rom of a mw2003 device already out of date? I can't find a version number anywhere obvious in the Ms-Reader software.

Update: Version is 2.2.1 (Build 3052) and it says it's activated.

[Chris Spera]

Did you reinstall the new Pocket PC Reader before you activated it :?:

Bruce

This is something that has been problematic for this new version of MS Reader. MS will be releasing 3 new ebooks every Friday at Noon between July and November 2003.

I have had to reactivate Reader EVERY Friday on both my desktop and PPC because the DRM in these eBooks (according to Reader) has changed every Friday...

If you haven't installed the updated version of MS Reader, then you won't be able to read these books. If you have the latest version and still can't read them, try reactivating. It shouldn't take up an additional activation from your quota, and then you'll get up to 20 (or so) premium eBooks via this cool offer.

Unfortunately, if you forget to go and get these eBooks, MS does not have previous week's books available for download. You get them now, or you don't get them according to the fine print of this offer.


Christopher Spera

[Willmonwah]

Wow, problems with the 22XX's?

With my maestro, I reinstalled reader onto a storage card, activated, and had the same problems... could it be that it's gotta be in the RAM?

Same book, too.

[Steven Cedrone]

I think Crystal's gone on vacation (actually, I think most everyone has except Brad, Marlof and me 8O ;))

Hey, what about me??? :wink:

Steve

[clintc]

I just tried to reactivate. It told me the activation stuff was already on the device, did I want to reinstall. I tapped yes. I still get the same message when I try to open the book - "Microsoft Reader is no longer able to access the book.".

I'm glad I didn't fork over some money for this hassle. Makes me want to go looking for a DRM removal utility. What a pain.

[lisantica]

I was having trouble as well.
I wrote to MS and here was their reply, but since it came after I had deleted the entire reader software and reinstalled it, I cannot say for certain if this works. Uninstalling and reinstalling did work though...although I'd hate to recommend that for fear one might lose their books.
Here's the MS reply:
"We are sorry for the inconvenience, and suggest you try deleting the
Microsoft Reader file association as follows:

1. Open Windows Explorer (right-click the Start menu and select option
Explore).
2. Go to Tools (at the top) -> Folder Options -> File Types. Scroll down
until you find the extension for Microsoft Reader. Note that there may be
several extensions; you need to locate the .lit extension (small r with
green leaves). Delete this file type association. Since you have deleted
the association, when next you click a Microsoft Reader download link, you
will be prompted to Save this file to disk.
3. Return to http://microsoft.com/reader/promotions/free_shop.asp and click
the download link for the desired eBook.
4. When prompted, save the file to My Documents -> My Library.
5. Open Microsoft Reader, and sort by Date Acquired. The file you
downloaded should be displayed at the top of the list.
"
I hope it helps someone. :D
Lisa

[griffin911]

I just got off the phone with MSReader tech support.
I had version 2.2.1 installed on my two week old 2210. I had to go to the download page
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/downloads/ppc.asp
Install, then go to
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/info/activation.asp
and reactivate to version 2.2.2.
Now the books open!

[Chris Spera]

Wow, problems with the 22XX's?

With my maestro, I reinstalled reader onto a storage card, activated, and had the same problems... could it be that it's gotta be in the RAM?

Same book, too.

Try reactivating Reader again. If that doesn't do it, then there is another problem...


Christopher Spera

[clintc]

I just got off the phone with MSReader tech support.
I had version 2.2.1 installed on my two week old 2210. I had to go to the download page
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/downloads/ppc.asp
Install, then go to
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/info/activation.asp
and reactivate to version 2.2.2.
Now the books open!

Does this mean that I have to burn some RAM to install version 2.2.2 to make the DRM crap work? This is just ridiculous. MS-Reader 2.2.1 is sitting there in the ROM and can't be used for DRM content. I think I may stick with the classics. There is a lot of great literature that I haven't read yet with no DRM. Maybe I'm just short on patience today... The 57 megs of RAM in the poor 2200 is going fast...

[clintc]

Ok....... :devilboy: I found myself a little more patience, downloaded the MS-Reader 2.2.2 version, installed it to the 2200. I did not have reactivate. When I opened the new version of ms-reader it reports that it is activated. Now, finally, Hitchhikers Guide will open.

I hope that one day MS will see the light and move away from DRM. Or, at least do a better job of implementing it.

Peace to all you ebook fans. I leave you now to read some great comedy and forget about DRM hassles

[Dazbot]

OK, so how to I download these books if I don't have microsoft reader on my desktop PC, I don't read books on my desktop, I read them on my iPAQ, that was one of the reasons a got it.

[Programmer]

Ok....... :devilboy: I found myself a little more patience, downloaded the MS-Reader 2.2.2 version, installed it to the 2200. I did not have reactivate. When I opened the new version of ms-reader it reports that it is activated. Now, finally, Hitchhikers Guide will open.

Is there any way of getting past titles? I completely missed Hitchhikers and and the other one by Bryson (i think thats his name).

If I can't get it from MS what can i do?

[ctmagnus]

Is there any way of getting past titles? I completely missed Hitchhikers and and the other one by Bryson (i think thats his name).

If I can't get it from MS what can i do?

Me too! There has to be some way to get the previous versions.

[Deslock]

D'ohhh! I'm dissapointed I missed Hitchiker's Guide (obviously, given my avatar). So here's another post asking about getting last week's freebie... is there a way?

[Bruce Babcock]

OK, so how to I download these books if I don't have microsoft reader on my desktop PC, I don't read books on my desktop, I read them on my iPAQ, that was one of the reasons a got it.

I just bit the bullet and loaded it onto my PC too, :( just so I could download. I guess if you conected to the internet with your PPC you could download directly.

[Programmer]

D'ohhh! I'm dissapointed I missed Hitchiker's Guide (obviously, given my avatar). So here's another post asking about getting last week's freebie... is there a way?

I have a copy (in RTF I think) I just wanted a more official version. ;-)

[fmcpherson]

OK, so how to I download these books if I don't have microsoft reader on my desktop PC, I don't read books on my desktop, I read them on my iPAQ, that was one of the reasons a got it.

You can't. You must have the PC version of MS Reader on your desktop in order to even download the file.

[szamot]

Man this new DRM ****e is almost as bad if not worse than PPC2003 ROM for 54xx - I still can't download the ebooks because "I don't have the latest version of the reader", even though it says v.2.2.2 built 3143 and it is activated. Further more why would the new 54xx rom ship with the old reader, come on MS get your act together, or would that be HP? :evil:

[Marc Zimmermann]

Is there any way of getting past titles?
No, unfortunately not.

If I can't get it from MS what can i do?
Have you tried amazon.com's eBook store?

[Gerard]

"I just bit the bullet and loaded it onto my PC too, just so I could download. I guess if you conected to the internet with your PPC you could download directly."

Unfortunately, no. I've tried about 5 times from my iPAQ, and the free books page redirects me to a 'download error' page every time I tap on an ebook title, where on the PC I get a brief 'download will commence shortly' sort of page just a second before the download dialogue automatically starts. Then when done, the book appears in my 'My Documents\My Library' folder on the PC and opens the PC version of Reader, to the title page of the book. I close that, as I don't read books on my notebook PC at all.

Then I can move the file to my activated 3835... only I'm sick of the reactivation nonsense, and though the new Reader version is snappy enough in response and fixed for memory leaks and I will be keeping it installed for now, I don't.

Instead, there's this little routine I just picked up this week involving a certain software which is named like a crude colloquialism naming a certain element of female anatomy (which happens to rhyme with another couple of features of female type people), which when coupled with the version number 1.4 and maybe another search term or two of relevance will reveal in Google a certain British website where it can me downloaded as compiled code or as source files. Opening a DOS command prompt window, then typing program_name.exe book_name.lit book/ (after having placed the EXE into C:\WINDOWS along with the LIT file) and hitting Enter causes a new folder to appear there full of HTML and JPG files... which can be selected for ZIPping and reading in µbook. Maybe this helps? Oh, and you have to delete the book folder from Windows after every book decompilation.

The distributor of the software, which he says he did not author, makes an excellent case for working around Microsoft's ridiculous DRM scheme, a case I happened to find resonating very closely with my own feelings about it. If I have a book by legitimate means, I feel that it is well within my rights to read it in any format I happen to prefer. If I want to convert it to plaintext, print it out in purple and green ink, in 36 point friggin' Tahoma, and read it standing on my head in the back yard while throwing lawn darts, that's my right, right? Apparently not. But as long as I am interested in getting these titles and any others in LIT format, I think I'll be converting them in the above fashion. µbook is simply a far superior reading program, much closer to the experience of reading from a paper book when properly set up. I happen to like the softly textured off-white 'paper' with a dark brown ink, in the Papyrus font at a medium size, in left-turned landscape mode, right-turned on my Casio due to better comfort with the cursorpad position on that device. I like that when I open a book in µbook, it's exactly where I stopped reading last time; no wasting time jumping to bookmarks. Generally faster, too. If and when Microsoft's Reader offers anything like that kind of flexibility, perhaps I'll go back to reading LIT files as-is. But does anyone seriously think that's likely?

[ctmagnus]

Y'know, I used to just skip over your long-winded rants but lately, I'm getting more and more out of them. :wink:

[BugDude10]

Wow, we can be a hard-to-please bunch!

The "new" version of Reader was released, I believe, to stop the certain-female-body-part-app-that-strips-DRM-from-protected-ebooks. It was released around 07/04/2003, and the free-ebook promotion may be to prompt Reader-users to get the upgrade and to stop the DRM-stripping. In any event, unless you have a brand-spanking-new device (like, produced/programmed after 07/04/2003?), you'll probably need to download and upgrade your ROM Reader. (Yes, it takes up about 2MB of RAM, but don't we all have high-capacity storage cards?)

Apparently you also need to download the updated Reader on your desktop as well, because you can't d/l directly to your PDA. Once you've upgraded both PC & PPC, though, and activated them, you should be able to d/l to desktop then copy or sync to PDA.

MS said that the previous releases aren't available, and I assume that you couldn't get them from any of the rest of us due to DRM/activation.

Yes, it's all a pain in the a$$, but WTF, you're gonna get about 40-50 free ebooks (and, if I'm not mistaken, the female-body-part app already defeats the new DRM, so you'll be able to convert these new ebooks to some other format if you want...).

[willchap]

Just thought I'd add my experience. I have re-installed and activated the MS Reader on my PPC and my desktop. However, I am only able to download the free titles directly to my PPC and not mu desktop. I get the "download error" message when I try to download to desktop. But when I download directly to my PPC it works like a charm. I don't get it.

[davidspalding]

BTW, that certain xxxx v1.4 utility was updated mere days after the new Reader was force-fed to us. It removes the NEW DRM5, and also fixes a problem in which you had to copy a "manifest" file from Reader to the directory where you decompiled the secure .LIT file.

If Gerard didn't make clear, this utility is i-l-l-e-g-a-l in the USofA, thanks to the blundering law called DMCA. Hence, the code being hosted in the UK. The utility is handy if nothing else than to remove the DRM5 wrapper, allowing the previously secure eBook to be read on older versions of Reader (e.g., version 2.0 or 2.2.1 which still reside in ROM on Pocket PC 2002 and WM2003 devices).

I hate to say "I told ya so," (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14257) well actually I don't mind saying it, but I suspect that this new force-fed update may attract even more attention to the illegal utility, for people who just don't want to use 2 MB of RAM for a new Reader installation when a serviceable version (without the memory leak fix in 2.2.2) exists in ROM.

happen to like the softly textured off-white 'paper' with a dark brown ink, in the Papyrus font at a medium size, in left-turned landscape mode, right-turned on my Casio due to better comfort with the cursorpad position on that device.

Here, here. The Casio d-pad is SO fine. I read about 30 pages of LOST by Gregory Maguire (in Mobipocket, which offers the same features, btw) yesterday while my 9 mo. old baby slept in my lap. Twice. THAT'S why eBooks can be so cool. I didn' thave to juggle a big book, just a few ounces of PDA. Yeeha.
____________

As for getting past promotional eBooks ... they're only hosted for 7 days, that's the deal, so get 'em while they are up. I suppose you could plead your case to someone who has made an insecure copy, but ... again, providing such a cracked copy would be illegal. I suppose you could try Kazaa Lite, or Gnutella, or even a Google search (for anyone dumb enough to openly link to cracked eBooks) Considering how arrogantly the RIAA is attacking consumers for sharing/downloading MP3s.... [For those who cannot read between the lines, NO, I cannot provide cracked copies. I live in the U.S., so don't even PM me about. And, NO, I will not provide personal, confidential lessons in how to do this. Learn for yourself. >:( ]

[Gerard]

Yes, sorry for not making that crystal clear; I am in Canada, where our government has not yet jumped onto this particular US bandwagon (as we usually do, but lately it seems the Federal government is holding off a little on the usual game of follow the leader), so this software is not really illegal here. And like David, I am not interested in supplying ebooks in whatever format when Microsoft has made it clear enough that their distribution is to be limited to a week per set of titles. I'm not exactly clear on how that works legally, but my guess is that they have purchased rights for one week of distribution only, and that any re-distribution either during or after that period would be illegal due to copyrights held by the authors. Microsoft is offering us gifts. I think it would be shameful to break their rules barring distribution in that context. If you can't be bothered to take advantage of these offerings in time, well, you were warned. Many sites posted big notices of this giveaway, so it's no secret.