Ebook Phreek

Frequently Asked Questions

Got a question that’s not addressed here? Drop an email to us and we’ll try to ease your puzzlement.

Are all these ebooks really free?
Yes.

Do I need broadband to download these eBooks?
No, Most ebooks are between 1 and 5MB in size, and even the larger ones can be downloaded fairly quickly even on a slow connection.

Will they work on my computer?
Probably. But if not, there is some free reader software listed on this page that might help.

What does “Format” mean?
Format is another way of saying “file type”. Each format has an embedded code that tells your computer how to read the file. You can tell what type of file an eBook is by looking at the extension at the end of the file name. The most common eBook formats are:
.exe – Self-extracting files, no reader needed.
.lit – Microsoft Reader files, requires the MS Reader.
.txt or .ref – Plain or rich text files, read with almost any word processor.
.doc – Microsoft Word files, read with many word processors.
.pdf – Adobe acrobat files, many readers can read PDF files.
.prc – MobiPocket reader files, requires a dedicated reader.
.htm or .html – Files for web browsers, read with almost any browser.
.pdb or .prc – Files for the Palm Reader, requires a dedicated reader.
.prc – Gemstar eBook files, require a dedicated reader.
.kml – Hiebook files, require a dedicated reader.
.chm – HTML Help file compatible with Windows 95 or newer.

Can I read these ebooks while away from my PC?
If you have a portable ebook reader you can take it with you, or you print it out. Most of the time, you can just print a copy right from within the ebook or by using your word processing program. The best formats for printing are .pdf, .doc, .html, txt and .rtf.

You can use a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) such as the Palm Pilot or the Casio Cassiopea or Philips Nino. Some publishers write ebooks in .html which can be read in the mini-browser that comes with Windows CE on PDAs.

If you have a laptop, you can just save them to a disk and take them with you.

There are portable devices that you can get, like those from RocketBook or Softbook, which you can take with you… and technology is moving toward a paperback-sized reader that can hold dozens or even hundreds of complete books.

I keep getting an I/O Error 32 when I try to open an ebook
Fortunately there is an easy solution to the I/O Error 32:
When you first download an ebook, depending on what compiler was used to create it, the ebook may store data within your computer’s temporary files folder. When that happens, the next time you try to open the ebook it may try to store data in the temporary files folder again, but finds that the data already exists, so it becomes confused and produces the error — a little popup box appears saying “I/O Error 32″. If you press OK the ebook opens but it seems to be empty.
To temporarily fix the problem (you’ll need to do this each time you want to open the ebook), you’ll need to locate the folder on your computer that stores the temp files. The location of the folder will vary — on Windows 2000+ it’s usually here:
C:\Documents and Settings\(username)\Local Settings\Temp (The (username) text above indicates your user name for your computer. It may even be “default user.”)
Once you’ve located the temp folder, open it and you’ll find some additional sub-folders in which the names begin with “CA” followed by about 18 alpha-numeric characters. Once you locate these folders simply delete them.
Note: The /Local Setting/ Temp file is usually a “hidden” file, so you may need to enable the “View Hidden Files” in your folder options. You can locate this on your toolbar at the top of the window. Click on “Tools” > “Folder Options” > “View” then on “Show hidden files.”

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