MS Reader can no longer...

sdhenderson · 10-10-03, 07:39 PM

I get the message "Microsoft Reader can no longer open this ebook" on the free ebooks I downloaded from Microsoft, which leads to the all to obvious question (obvious to everyone but Microsoft apparently) "WHY?".

I can read the books on my PC, which I don't want to do. I have downloaded the latest version of reader to my Ax, and re-activated it, no luck. Any ideas?

**hnelson59** · 10-10-03, 07:45 PM

you need to download the new version of ms reader for pocket pc. there is a desktop version and the pocket pc version. i have both and the one on the pocket pc works fine. i have a dozen of the free e-books on my sd card.

hope this helsp!

sdhenderson · 10-10-03, 07:54 PM

I tried that, no luck.

**hnelson59** · 10-10-03, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sdhenderson
I tried that, no luck.

how are you opening ms reader? if you are using supplied icon, check copyright date on ppc version. if it does not have 2003 on it, it is not the new one. i made a shortcut for the new version which gets downloaded to RAM not ROM. this could be the problem. took me a couple of tries to figure it out.

dpart · 10-10-03, 08:12 PM

I ran into the same problem except that I had updated both my PC and my Ax. I got the same error message on both. The problem was caused when I reactivated the readers with a different email address than the one that I was using when I first activated the reader a few months ago. To fix the problem I just reactivated with the old email address.

Doug

sdhenderson · 10-10-03, 11:02 PM

Yep, it was the old version that was running, I created a new link, problem solved. Thanks.

shdytxmn · 10-11-03, 01:12 PM

I knew I should have asked the same question here rather than the Dell help desk. Their suggestion - - - a hard reset. Wow, what a suggestion. I guess at the end of the day, this suggestion would ultimately fix every software issue, but it is a pretty drastic solution.

I fixed mine last night by removing all versions of Reader from the Ax and simply reinstalling the new version. Piece of cake.

KPDUTY · 10-11-03, 02:30 PM

Make sure you truly have the latest version installed on your PPC.

There is a hickup in the installation process that sometimes installs the new version; however, the old version is not removed and is actually what you are executing.

To check the version, execute msreader on your Axim and then select Page 3 of the settings option. You should see:

Version 2.2.2 (Build 3143)

If you see this, then I am all wet and your problem lies elseware.

If you see the older version, then search this site for the solution. (It's been posted more than once).

Good luck . . .

KPDUTY · 10-11-03, 02:32 PM

Doug, I had the same problem. My older FREE ebooks from MS are no longer accessable because I change my email address.

Please explain how you returned to an older email address (my old email wasn't an MSN passport account).

How can you re-activate using a non passport account email address?

Quote:

Originally posted by dpart
I ran into the same problem except that I had updated both my PC and my Ax. I got the same error message on both. The problem was caused when I reactivated the readers with a different email address than the one that I was using when I first activated the reader a few months ago. To fix the problem I just reactivated with the old email address.

Doug

dpart · 10-11-03, 04:38 PM

My old email wasn't an MSN passport account either. I didn't reinstall the reader program, I just went to the MS Reader home page and navigated to the activation page and filled out the info as usual but with the old email. I had to do this for both my PC and my Axim. If this doesn't work let me know and I'll go through the motions and see if I missed something.

dpart · 10-11-03, 05:01 PM

KPDUTY,

OK so it wasn't that easy. I just went thru the motions and of course ran in the same problem that you described. When I activated for the very first time, I had logged on at the MS reader activation site using my MSN Passport account that had my old email as the User Name. The second time I activated, which screwed things up, I had log in using my HotMail account which used my Hotmail email as the User Name. So all I had to do to get my MS Reader programs activated with the original email name was to log in using my Passport account instead of my Hotmail account and activating again. So I guess you'll have to have an MSN Passport account with the old email name to do this.

KPDUTY · 10-11-03, 05:15 PM

Thanks for taking the time . . . looks like im SOL because my original activation was with a mail account that was not a passport account.

I remember when I first activated , you did not need a passport account.

The problem is that the free ebooks from the ms site are no longer usable by me. MS's solution is to just reload the ebooks, but as you know, they only post them a month at a time. So all the books I downloaded previously for future reading are useless.

(I guess I should just learn to read faster)

dpart · 10-11-03, 05:29 PM

KPDUTY,
I think I signed up for the Passport account just so that I could use the MS reader. I really didn't want to be force to sign up for an account that I had no use for. I do enjoy reading books on my Ax so I guess it was worth it.

Can you sign up for a passport account, supplying your old email and just use it for activation?

Astounded EEG · 10-14-03, 10:49 PM

if all else fails, install to your RAM. This solved all my problems.

dunno bout new/old email addresses...

turtlethegreat · 10-16-03, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hnelson59
how are you opening ms reader? if you are using supplied icon, check copyright date on ppc version. if it does not have 2003 on it, it is not the new one. i made a shortcut for the new version which gets downloaded to RAM not ROM. this could be the problem. took me a couple of tries to figure it out.

How do you check the copyright date? Dumb question probably.

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