Sybex Locking Ebooks?

I just wanted to know if anyone out there is having the same problem. I've used Sybex books almost exclusively in the past as study material and although I don't make a lot of use of the ebooks, I do put them on my file server/laptop so that I can search through them when the textbook isn't handy.

I just got the new 70-298 book from Sybex and I can no longer drag the ebook to the desktop and open it. Now they want you to install some program. Problem is it still doesn't open and flashes a message saying I'm 'Unauthorized" to view it.

After chatting online with tech support (the irony) they have confirmed that they have locked down the book. I was told that the cd needs to be in the drive (which it was) and that it need to use Acrobat Reader V6 that came with the book (I have V7, since when is V6 a current version)? However, my machine won't install V6 because another program with 'better features' is already installed .... Hmmmm V7 do yah think?!

Anyways, I can't believe that Sybex is basically labelling me a criminal off the get go and I can't get access to the ebook that was part of the text that I paid almost $100 for. Has anyone else had this problem? Personally, if Sybex doesn't make it right with me, it'll be the last book of theirs that I buy.

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Comments

Silentsoul

i know it might be a pain in he ass but have you tried making an iso of the cd and using dameon tools to keep it mounted? Might be a handy work around.

shednik

Silentsoul wrote:

i know it might be a pain in he ass but have you tried making an iso of the cd and using dameon tools to keep it mounted? Might be a handy work around.

I will confirm that solution does work as I have done it for my laptop, but they have been "locking" their ebooks since I bought a book from sybex at least 3 years ago.

Sag

Yes, the iso is great idea. I try to make iso's of everything because I find it a great way to manage cds without worrying about scratches etc. My main gripe comes from the fact that I would have to store copies of the entire iso (not just the ebook) on every computer that I wanted to view it on and I guess we can forget about a copy on a pda. Oh well.

I didn't realize that this book was actually quite so old (copyright 2004). Can anyone tell me if Sybex is still doing this or is only on older books? They didn't do this on my 70-290 - 20-294 2003 R2 books.