Unable to access any files other than Camera Roll images from PC

[iThalia]

I am new to iPad and IOS...
Trying to figure out how to get my data off the iPad and some new items on it.

I am aware that each app is an "island" and it stores its data in internal folders, not accessible from outside

I have some pictures - and they are all stored in the "Photos" folder or something.
I have tried to organize them in albums, so that I can access them easier from some apps, without having to scroll through 1500 photos each time.
I have now "Camera Roll", "My Photo Stream", and some named albums. I had an unpleasant surprise when , after "copying" photos to my named albums, I decided to delete the originals in "Camera Roll" - and they disappeared from albums as well, with seemingly no possibility of recovering.

There seems to be a backup... but no way to access it short of wiping off my device.

So now I am getting smart - since I also need to free space on my device to install IOS 8 (I didn't want to, but it seems the only way to access backup is through iCloud Drive, which is apparently somehow backing up my data but is not accessible unless I enable it on my device - which requires IOS 8... huh ???)

With the iPad connected to my pc, i moved all photos to pc. Great ! ! Of course with no possible way to recover the iPad organization i spent time to do in albums... so sad. But, I only have access to DCIM... and the photos on so-called "My Photo Stream" are still on iPad with no possibility to access them from the outside.

How do I delete those or how do I move those, other than a 2-hour task of selecting them one by one and deleting them ?

How do I create some kind of organization inside the photos, now that I have them on pc so I can organize them better ? I am unable to create folders inside DCIM, so the only option is to move some of the pics in there then go back on iPad and re-organize them in albums ?

How do i access ANYTHING ELSE other than photos ?
For example, I downloaded a book on kindle. where is it and how do I access it ?
How can I add more books that I have on pc ? How can I add videos ?

Is there any way I can access development tools, the terminal, anything useful ? (I imagined the iPad as sort of a mini-computer, not a giant camera and browser combo)

Thank you for any help in making my little toy more useful.

 

[J. A.]

First of all: the iPad is not a mini-computer, and if you used Windows until now, you'll need to get used to the way it works. It can't perform all the tasks a computer would, simply because it's technology compressed into a small device. But it's also not just a camera and browser combo, because it can do a lot more than this.

Here's the explanation why your photos in the albums you created were deleted when you removed them from Camera Roll: you only create a "shortcut" to the pictures in the created albums, it's not a copy you save there. As soon as you remove them from Camera Roll, they're gone from the albums as well.

If you backed up to iCloud, you'll have to restore your iPad to get these photos back to your device. You do not need iCloud Drive to get this done. Before restoring, you'll have to update to the latest software. If you don't use your computer. You can also use iTunes on your PC to restore it: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1414
In this case you don't need to update your iPad, because iTunes will do that for you. All you have to do is make sure there's enough space for the update - more than 1 GB is needed.

PhotoStream is an option to sync photos between Apple devices. When you add a picture on one device, it will also appear on the other ones. There's a limit, though: they'll only stay for 30 days, or they'll disappear earlier, of you reached the limit of 1000 photos in PhotoStream. You can access these photos on a Windows computer as well, afaik. You need to install iCloud for Windows: http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1455
From there, you'll be able to save the pictures to your PC within the 30 day limit.

To delete photos from PhotoStream, choose "Select" in the PhotoStream album, then check mark all the pictures you want to delete and tap "Delete" or the trash icon afterwards - whatever is available.

There's a free Kindle app for iPads in App Store. When you install it on your iPad, and log in, you'll be able to read books you purchased in Amazon on your iDevice. In case you want to access a book from Amazon on your computer, you'll have to install the software there to be able to. That has nothing to do with the iPad.

 

[iThalia]

Thank you, Like I said, I found out that images placed in folders are links not actual copies even though the message said "copy". Also, like I said, I know I can delete one by one images stored in the PhotoStream... selecting them one by one 1000 times with no option to select all. I also know I can install a kindle app and view ONLY ITEMS PURCHASED FROM AMAZON there - and also some items I downloaded.

What i can't do is ACCESS THE KINDLE ITEMS I HAVE ON IPAD TO COPY TO PC...
I also cannot COPY BACK SOME OF THE IMAGES I REMOVED FROM DCIM, or REORGANIZE THEM FROM PC, or ADD NEW IMAGES ON IPAD.

Even on a camera, access is bidirectional - I can access the DCIM folder and not only remove, but also add images. It seems that I am unable to do that on IPad.

Also, about the iCloud : i was unable to access iCloud in any way until I installed IOS8 - there was no option (Every site I went to told me to "enable iCloud Drive from the iCloud in Settings" but there WAS NO ICLOUD DRIVE option).

So now that i installed IOS8, and have 5 GB less storage on my IPad, I can see if iCloud Drive will allow me to transfer some files...

 

[J. A.]

The update takes less than 2 GB storage. I wonder what's taking the rest (3 GB) on your iPad.

There's no way to transfer purchases from the Kindle app to your computer. You have to install software on your PC to access them there.

I think you found out how to transfer pictures to a computer, using iTunes: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083

If you use iCloud, the photos from your PhotoStream will be found on your computer (in iCloud), and you can put them into a folder you prefer.

To get pictures to your iPad, this is what you have to do when you use iTunes: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4236

And because another thread reminded me of this: there are quite a few options to sync photos or files between devices.

You can use online storage, such as Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box and others to sync files. The apps to these are available for free in App Store. You can also use these to transfer photos to your computer, or get them back to the iPad. Flickr would be another option to sync images. You get a lot of storage space (1 TB).

There's the Apotop Wi-Reader, discussed in this thread: http://www.ipadforums.net/threads/apotop-wi-reader-wireless-reader-router.109434/
which is able to help transfering files to or from the iPad.

For photos, there's the Airstash: http://www.ipadforums.net/threads/airstash-review.108000/ which can help syncing.

 

[scifan57]

In regards to your Kindle purchases, Amazon offers a Kindle app for the PC, similar in operation to the one offered for the Mac. If you put the Kindle reader app on your PC, you could download all your Kindle purchases to it direct from your Kindle account at Amazon.

 

[iThalia]

Thank you, I saw that I can e-mail the kindle items to myself using a kindle email address. it seems that that will have to be the way to send any other files i want on my ipad, that i want to use in kindle.

i don't know what takes 5gb... from start when the update showed up it said it takes 5gb of space.

once i installed the icloud on pc, the photo stream showed up there. It disappeared from the ipad photos section... the weirdness never ceases. I imagine if search enough i will find them... perhaps they moved from the photos to some obscure location that i will find in icloud ? i don't know yet what the icloud structure is on ipad or where to find its files.

but that is a problem for another day...

Thank you both for the help

 

[scifan57]

Thank you, I saw that I can e-mail the kindle items to myself using a kindle email address. it seems that that will have to be the way to send any other files i want on my ipad, that i want to use in kindle.

i don't know what takes 5gb... from start when the update showed up it said it takes 5gb of space.

once i installed the icloud on pc, the photo stream showed up there. It disappeared from the ipad photos section... the weirdness never ceases. I imagine if search enough i will find them... perhaps they moved from the photos to some obscure location that i will find in icloud ? i don't know yet what the icloud structure is on ipad or where to find its files.

but that is a problem for another day...

Thank you both for the help

Most of that 5GB of storage required for the update is used during the downloading and installation process of the upgrade and is freed up after the upgrade has been completed.