Microsoft Reader Books
By Chris De Herrera, Copyright 2000 -2003
 Version 1.49  Revised 8/5/2003

Microsoft Reader

Microsoft Reader is available on the PC and Pocket PC. You can download it for the desktop.  Microsoft has not announced plans to offer a version for Palm-size PCs or Handheld PCs. Feel free to e-mail your request to Microsoft for additional versions at [email protected].

Downloading Reader eBooks

There is a problem with using Netscape to download Reader eBooks.  Netscape defaults to downloading the Reader eBooks as text instead of binary files.  This corrupts the books and makes them unusable on the desktop or Pocket PC.  Internet Explorer users are able to download the Reader eBooks without a problem.  In the short run, you may want to use Internet Explorer to download Reader eBooks to avoid the problem. 

For websites that offer Reader eBook downloads, you need to add mime binary support for .LIT files.  An example of how to do this for Apache web servers is to add AddType reader/x-lit .lit to the .htaccess file in your root directory.

Troubleshooting Recommendations for Reader

1. You can copy eBooks using ActiveSync, a PC Card Reader or a CompactFlash Card Reader.  There is no conversion required to read eBooks on the Pocket PC.
2. Close Reader before removing CompactFlash cards with eBooks.
3. I recommend closing the Reader application before loading eBooks. If you don't then you may not see the new books you have copied to your machine.   According to Microsoft, Reader scans for new books every 10 seconds.
4. Do  not load the Audible player in your Pocket PC. If you do it may conflict with Reader and prevent it from loading.
5. A known issue regarding eBooks with pictures with the Pocket PC 2000 and 2002 where the system runs out of memory.  This has been resolved in Windows Mobile 2003.
6. If you purchase a DRM book, you need to install Reader version 2.2.2.  Reader 2.2.2 is supported with Windows Mobile 2003 and Pocket PC 2002.

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