122 APRIL2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE386
HELPFILE&BUSINESSHELP
Acoupleofyears ago, we bought two
Amazon Fire 7Kids’ Edition tablets forour
children.Over the past year or so,we’ve
started to see lots of messages warning that
they’re running out of space: although I
equipped both with a64GB SD card and
configured them to use it, the internal
storage remains almost full. Now they’re
grinding to ahalt and apps keep closing
without warning, so as alast resort I
decided I’d try resetting them both.
There’s only one problem: I’ve searched
everywhere on both devices to try to
track down any original pictures or videos
that our kids have taken. Iwant to back
these up in case there’s anything
irreplaceable,but Ican’t find where they’re
stored. Is there an easy waytosavethe
content, then reset the tablet?
Connor Fitton
The easiest option is to connect one tablet to
aPC, open Explorer and navigatetoMyPC.
Once the tablet is configured it should
appear as Fire; right-click it and choose Import
pictures and videos. Windows will search both
the internal storage and any inserted memory
cards, then offer you the chance to review,
organise and group photos and videos to
import. It maybequicker to just choose
Import all new items now –bydefault, the
contentwill be copied to asub-folder of
your Pictures folder in Windows. Youcan
also use Explorer to browse the Fire’s
internal and external storage,but the photo
import should get everything you want.
When the device is backed up,remove it
from the PC, log intoaparent account, drag
Rekindle my Fire
down the topbar and tap the gear icon to
open the settings menu. TapDevice Options,
then Backup &Restore,and check that
Backup &Restore is switched on. If not,
switch it on and leave the device on fora
week or so to ensure that the backup has run.
Provided the device is backed up,return to
the main settings menu, tap Storage,scroll
down and tap Erase SD card. When the erase
has finished, tap back out of the Storage
menu,return to Device Options, tap Reset to
Factory Defaults, and enter your PIN.
Once the device has reset, set up the
device again using the same Amazon
account as before.When prompted, opt
to restore your previous backup.Ifyou
ssseetheSlowNetworkConnection
wwwarning, choose Cancel to completethe
process in the background.
When setup is finished, log intoyour
profile,open Settings, go to Storage and
chhheckthatthetabletisalreadyconfigured
toooinstall all suitable content on your SD
cccard; it should be by default, which should
preserve the maximum space on the
internal storage.You can now repeat the
process to reset the second tablet.
Notaword
Acoupleofmonthsago (seeHelpfile,
Shopper383), Iasked about acombination
of tablet and pen that would let me
handwriteanovel in the quiet periods of
my job.Taking your advice,Iordered a
Samsung Galaxy TabA,anSPen and the
MyScript Nebo app.Unfortunately,I
struggled to get the SPen to do anything.
Icontacted Samsung via its helpdesk
and was told that the UK version of the
TabAhas no stylus functionality,but the
US version does. In the UK, Iwas told,
only TabSproducts support the pen, so I
had to return the whole lot forarefund.
After more research,I’ve bought
aHuawei MediaPad M5 Litewith a
separatestylus, which worked together
right off the bat. Ire-bought MyScript
Nebo,which has astunning ability to
⬆UsingWindddows’’’pictureandddvidddeoimporterismuchhheasierthhhanfffindddingthhhecontentyourselllfff
read even my diabolical handwriting. It
converts my scrawls and saves them in a
Word format document, so Imanaged to
get exactly what Iwanted in the end.
Tim McGrath
We’re sorry that our recommendation didn’t
work out. Our understanding is that the TabA
and SPen should work together provided you
specifically buy the tablet version of the
SPen, so it’s possible that you accidentally
didn’t. At the time of writing, Samsung’s UK
websiteadvertises the benefits of the Galaxy
TabAwith SPen, which would appear to
contradict the advice you received from the
helpdesk. We asked our Samsung contacts
to clarify,but unfortunately we had received
no comment before we went to press.
⬅The UK version
of the Samsung
website, showing
Galaxy TabAwith
SPen compatibility
➡Storage space on the Amazon Fire 7Kids’ Edition
can fill up pretty quickly
