Auto Service Manual

[Greg Martin]

I have a Auto service manual on my wife's 5 year old Sony Vaio what I don't use because it's like a dinosaur. My question is, can I transfer the manual data onto my IPad Air?

 

[giradman]

Hi Greg - if the manual is a PDF file (or can be converted into one), then simply email it to yourself; open it in your iPad's mail app, and save to iBooks or GoodReader - both of these apps are great for PDFs. If not in PDF format or not convertible, please supply more information as to the document's format. Dave

 

[ardchoille]

You could also upload the serice manual to a Dropbox account for safe keeping in the even that your device is ever lost. The official Dropbox app is in the App Store (free) and allows you to upload and download content to a free Dropbox account - this is how I transfer stuff between devices.

 

[Greg Martin]

Thanks Giradman , your reply sounds exactly right only if I were a genius, so I'll have to do some research, you pointed me in the right direction.

 

[caq]

The title of my reply should not be referring to AirDrop, so ignore the title of my reply. It was an error.



If you have Goodreader, possibly iBooks or Pages, you might be able to just locate where the file is on the computer. Connect the pad to the computer and then rather than sync after the pad is connected via iTubes, scroll way down to where some of the apps are listed at the bottom of the screen. Goodreader allows you to just locate files you want to put onto the pad via their app from the PC right there. I am not sure if Pages and iBooks will allow this.



I hope I am explaining this clearly. For instance, I have Goodreader and can transfer docs from my PC to my Goodreader app or the Goodreader app to the PC without syncing. I can just scroll down to the bottom of the screen on the computer when you connect the pad through iTunes and select Goodreader. It will show the files stored on Goodreader on the right. At the bottom there are options to transfer to Goodreader from the PC or from Goodreader to the PC. I used to email myself all the time; I found this by accident and just connect to the PC via iTunes and select the files I want to move to or from the pad or PC. Never tried this with Pages or iBooks. I hope I made sense here.

 

[Greg Martin]

Thanks Caq, that's a lot to digest , I'll half to read it several times before it's sinks in. Thanks again.

 

[caq]

You're welcome. If I remember, the next time I do it, I will jot down the steps with exactly which screens as I do it. I will check the different apps at the bottom and see if iBooks and Pages does this also. With a lot of apps you can only add and remove content when syncing, such as music. You can't just copy and paste the music onto your pad and you can't delete it from the pad without syncing. With GoodReader you can. Also, they can be removed directly from the pad just by selecting the tools in GoodReader and selecting the document you want to delete and select to delete, move, rename, whatever. No computer hookup to iTunes necessary after you transfer it the iPad.



I'll take notes the next time I am doing it at my computer in iTunes, or maybe specifically go to the computer to do it, when I get a chance. I just happened to scroll down on the screen one time when I was syncing and found some of the apps listed down there. Clicked on GoodReader and noticed the add and remove documents options and tried each one and found I could do that. It was very cool. For me, a HUGE find because of all the PDF's I have on my pad, and how many I get with the info I need from the internet when using my pad to browse that I want to transfer to my computer, I was emailing them to myself and then had a bunch of emails to delete, etc. now I just transfer when I am connected. For large PDF's this is much easier for me.



I don't think we can promote an app. That is not my intention here, this is just a good way to transfer PDF's from computer to pad, or pad to computer without emailing, and I don't think this method is GoodReader specific. I think it can be done with other apps, just depends on if they are programmed to allow it, I think. I am not a programmer, so I don't know. I always thought things from the computer had to be synced to be put on the pad and had to be synced to be removed, like the music. This was big for me.



So for a large auto manual, you might want to check to see if iBooks, Pages or any other app that you have allows this. If not, and you will be wanting to transfer a lot of apps from your computer to the pad without having to do a sync, check for an app that will allow it to be done the way GoodReader does it.



You might want to find one that allows you to delete docs without hooking up to the computer, also. I had a couple manuals that were too large to transfer via email. Said they exceeded the allowed size for emailing. There were a lot of photos. I used the above method. One of the large ones became outdated upon my upgrading to a newer program and I was able to delete it without having to connect to the computer, as you do with photos. Very handy.



I tend to dodge connecting to iTunes any more than I have to because I have a very hard time with iTunes and getting to the pad. It gets harder for me to figure out with each iTunes update. Not user friendly, or at least not "CAQ" friendly. So being able to delete them without even connecting to the computer is a biggy with me.



You are connecting into iTunes with this to add documents, but not going through the time of synching and if you do sync and then remember a document you wanted transferred, you can just add it after without re-syncing, which is what I used to do.



If moderators read this and want the info about this process documented more clearly with "how-to" specifics put together some place on the site, let me know and I will do it and put it there. I haven't seen it anywhere, but may have missed it, or maybe it isn't needed and just something most others know about. In the meantime, when I get a chance, I will do a little more poking around this site as I have time, and see if I can find if this is needed and where it would be and just put it there. I have a webinar this afternoon, and I also have a wall hanging to embroider and try to frame within the next few days, so it won't be done today.