Hi! I'm Confused!

[Russ]

I think I may have to give up! . . . Am I dumb or what?

Eilene --

1 - No, you cannot give up. We will not allow it. If you did that, Oion and I would be banished and left forever to float in cyberspace as mere bits and bytes -- remnants of our former selves. You wouldn't want that on your conscience, would you?

2 - No, you are not dumb. You found this place, registered and managed to post your problem in a coherent manner. That, alone, puts you on the far right side of the "Bell Curve." A lot of people cannot do the first; fewer can do the second, and a very large number cannot manage the last. (Are we done with that subject? I really, really, hate having to repeat myself -- but I will, if necessary.)

Ok, let's start over. I am flailing a bit here, because I don't know which reader apps you are using and am probably not familiar with them, anyhow. So, I will make some simplifying assumptions in this process.

1 - This is important: Take a deeeep breath. Exhale. Finished? Good; now we can move on.
2 - You have downloaded or transferred some number of books to some number of locations. If they are epub files, most of them will have recognizable names. Some of them came (presumably) from the Sony reader. I don't know their file naming conventions, so they may not be recognizable.
3 - It doesn't matter where you put the book files if your reader app has navigation ability (e.g., Freda). Some apps are preset to open to their own default folder (e.g., Kindle)
4 - File Explorer is your friend. It will work better with a mouse for this sort of thing, but that is not a firm requirement.
5 - I'm going to use Freda as my example, because I know how it works. There will be useful parallels with the other apps
6 - Open Freda, note the name of the folder to which it opens. Identify any unreadable files in that folder.
7 - Open File Explorer and navigate to that folder. Delete the unreadable files.
8 - Hopefully, that left you with at least one readable file. If so, open it and try reading it. If you can read at least one book file, then we have cracked the code.
9 - If not, find one of your downloaded, non-DRM files and move it to that folder. Again, if you can read just one, we have solved most of the problem.
10 - Identify the one to three reader apps you prefer at this point, and lets work on them (I used Freda because the guy who developed it used to post here -- as good a reason as any.)
11 - Tell us what those apps are, so we can be looking at the same thing you are. I will install them on my RT for ease of communication.
12 - Don't worry about cleaning up the other trash right now. We can do that when we have you satisfactorily reading.
13 - I'm in the Eastern time zone, so I'm gonna throw my dogs out and go to bed. I will check on you in the morning.
14 - Meanwhile, you cannot quit and you are not dumb! Got that? Good.

Good night,

Russ

 

[Eilene]

Great suggestions and I will take the You Tube help .. I agree, it is sometimes much easier to see it done rather than read about it. I did download the manual at first, but got bored with reading it! Bad move! I am getting the book thing down much better now that you guys helped me. Not to say I won't be back for more help somewhere along the line. I don't really have the full concept of the forums layout but I will get better as I use it. I like the personal aspect of it . . . never have been much for using forums but am finding this one great. I hope I can help someone someday to play it forward a bit!

 

[Russ]

Not to say I won't be back for more help somewhere along the line. . . . I hope I can help someone someday to play it forward a bit!

Eilene --

Don't be shy about coming back for help. The really dumb questions tend to be those not asked, when asking them would have solved your problem quickly and easily.

Good tech support forums work on a "pass it along" basis. Somebody helps you, then, when you have more experience, you will help somebody else. That's how it works when it's good.

Good night (again),

Russ

 

[Eilene]

I read your last post first . . . and then when I read this one I smiled and felt a little better about myself. I absolutely do not want you an Oion floating in cyberspace, therefore I will do my utmost to keep you busy! I can do that! Right now I have 4 readers installed. One is simply called BOOK, one is Book Bazaar Reader, another, Fiction Book Lite and Freda. Since your good instruction, I am now able to read a book in any one of the four. Also, now that I learned the art of swish and swipe and drag, I am even able to delete, move and add the books! Also, I can change the fonts to larger when needed! You guys should really be proud of yourselves! I think I can handle the reader problem now and will be moving on to bigger and better problems in the future. I am assuming you will not read this until morning so while I say Good Night, I am saying Good Morning and have a GREAT day to you! Bye . . Eilene

 

[Russ]

I am now able to read a book in any one of the four. Also, now that I learned the art of swish and swipe and drag, I am even able to delete, move and add the books! Also, I can change the fonts to larger when needed! You guys should really be proud of yourselves!

Good Morning, Eilene --

Actually, you are the one who is entitled to be proud of yourself. You kept at it until you accomplished what you wanted to do. As we say down here in the Backward South, "Ya done good, girl."

Take care,

Russ

 

[oion]

I'm going to add:

You might not be a "skilled" user, but you're a "good" user because you keep trying without tossing a fit. There is always a learning curve when you use a new interface/platform; some seem to take to it like fish in water, while others never manage to integrate their conceptualization of process with a platform. Most of us are in between somewhere.

It's super easy to get frustrated within an hour and post a 1-star "review" on a website that "it didn't come with a manual" or "there's no way to delete" or "you can't even search the store," when all of those items have simple fixes or instructions. But those are neither skilled nor good users, nor smart consumers. The people who want to learn and are willing to give a new platform an honest chance are the best people to teach, really, so we (speaking for myself and Russ at least) love to see more newbie users like yourself around.

 

[Eilene]

Now . . . if I can learn to use the forum better . . . I will be happier! I have a little problem following "threads" or just finding new posts . . but I will keep looking and trying. I really love my RT and always have it with me. The book thing really had me going until you and Russ helped me. And I love the encouraging words! Thank you!

 

[cali]

Welcome to the site.