Personal Tech

The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro was online to answer your personal tech questions and discuss recent reviews, including Google Pack and Windows Defender .

A transcript follows .

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Past editions of Rob's e-letter are online here .

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Rob Pegoraro: Good afternoon... it's time for the usual back-and-forth on tech topics. For example, the subjects of my last three columns: Microsoft's Windows Defender anti-spyware utility, the patent battles between Research in Motion and NTP Inc., and Google's Google Pack bundle of Web, security and multimedia software. Let's go to the first caller...

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Washington, D.C.: Thank you for the update on Windows Defender. If we downloaded and installed Microsoft Beta Anti-Spyware since the beginning of the year, should we install this instead? Is Defender another, later beta version? Has my beta Anti-Spyware automatically been updated to match Defender but is still going under the old name?

washingtonpost.com: Fast Forward: Microsoft Tests a Windows Defense

Rob Pegoraro: Defender replaces Microsoft Anti-Spyware. I do recommend upgrading; Defender has a lot of changes and adjustments behind the scenes that should make a stronger shield overall. Out of the box, it's not as assertive as Anti-Spyware in letting you approve or veto the actions of individual programs, but you can change that quickly enough in its General Settings window.

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Chantilly, VA: Why would someone want to pay about $350 to Apple for an "iPod-compatible" system if they already have a perfectly good home stereo system and can easily hook up their iPod to it with a $5 "RCA" cord?

Rob Pegoraro: That's an excellent question (Chantilly's referring to Apple's new iPod HiFi, a $350 speaker rig with an iPod dock)

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Chevy Chase MD: With over the air HDTV signals, do some broadcasts have Dolby Digital or equivalent surround sound? Is there a plan for it if it doesn't exist today? I'm trying to determine if it is worth the hassle to run digital wires from my new HDTV to the receiver, which are far from each other.

Rob Pegoraro: HDTV (but not all digital) broadcasts do include surround sound, so if your TV/cable/satellite tuner includes a digital out, it should be worth your while to get those cables.

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Arlington, VA: When you install the 2006 Norton Antivirus program, it recommends turning off the firewall. Since the antivirus program (not the Norton Internet Security program) is not itself a firewall, is turning off the Windows firewall really a good idea? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: No. Further, any half-decent security developer should know better than to recommend such a grotesquely insecure step--it's their job to make sure their own app doesn't require opening the barn door like that.

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Orlando, FL: The news this morning reports AT&T's (formerly SBC) imminent purchase of BellSouth. Could this bode well for BellSouth subscribers? Does AT&T/SBC have similar technology to Verizon's Fios that's in your area?

washingtonpost.com: AT&T in $67 Billion Deal to Buy BellSouth

Rob Pegoraro: I'm not familiar with BellSouth's local services, but my impression is that they've been one of the least aggressive of the not-so-Baby-anymore Bells in rolling out new services like Verizon's Fios. AT&T, OTOH, does have a fiber-based service, but it's not as advanced as Fios: Verizon runs high-bandwidth fiber cables right to each subscriber's house, but AT&T only runs them to a neighborhood-wide node, relying on existing infrastructure to cover the last mile or so.

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Fairfax, VA: I'm "simplifying," and have numerous miscellaneous items I wish to sell. I've thought of using eBay, but am unfamiliar with the process. Do you know of a good, comprehensible primer on using eBay? Is PayPal the best payment system? Are there other reputable, free web auction sites and electronic payment systems? (Or non-auction sites that bring seller and buyer together, along with a trustworthy payment system?) Are there services that would handle the packing/shipping?

Rob Pegoraro: Ebay's own help pages should be a pretty good resource. But the site really isn't that hard to figure out:

1: list item for sale

2: watch people bid for it

3: collect payment from winning bidder, assuming this person has positive rankings from other eBayers

4: PROFIT!!!

(Don't forget to ship out the item you're selling.)

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Minneapolis, MN: In your review you state, "Unfortunately, you'll have to dig a little deeper to get Defender in its most secure state. It comes preset to grant you veto power only over the actions of known offenders, a take-candy-from-strangers approach that invites trouble. (Older versions of Defender were more aggressive about this.) Click the Tools icon, then select General Settings to fix that oversight", could you explain what you mean by "take candy... approach"?

Rob Pegoraro: By default, Defender won't notify you about the actions of programs that aren't considered dangerous--not just ones that it knows are safe, but those that it doesn't know enough about either way. Those are the strangers, and the candy is... whatever changes the strange program wants to make.

Y'know, metaphor?

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Arlington, VA: Hi Rob,

I live in an apartment, and our computer is in a semi-enclosed room that is next to the room into which the our cable connection is. We have cable internet, and have coax snaking it's way from the connection behind our tv through the doorway, into the next room.

This is awkward, and I'm thinking about getting a wireless transmitter (and a wireless card for the computer). I'd like to put the wireless transmitter on top of the TV, but between this location and the computer, there's a brick wall and a sliding glass door. Can you tell me if the wireless will work through the glass door? Will it go around a corner?

Rob Pegoraro: Probably yes on both counts, assuming you don't have metal plates or steel rebar inside that wall.

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Minneapolis, MN: I am currently running: Spybot, Adaware SE, and Spyware Blaster. They have been very effective and my PC has been trouble free. I faithfully update and run these programs but getting others (whom I help with their PC's)to regularly update and run is a challenge. Is defender a replacement for these programs, or should I run them along with Defender?

Rob Pegoraro: I'm not familiar with Spyware Blaster, but I did run Defender alongside Spybot and Ad-Aware. That was possible because those two programs, unlike Defender, are geared mainly towards removing spyware that's already on your computer. Defender also tries to stop you from picking up spyware in the first place.

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Afraid of computers, USA: Rob, thanks for taking my question. I need to buy a computer for personal use--just email and basic word processing. I know microsoft is coming out with a new version of windows soon and I would like to buy a PC w/windows...should I wait until the new program comes out or just buy a comp now? I know that the first version may have security issues, problems etc. and I just don't know if I should bother to wait or not. I don't know much about security or updates on computers and I want to this buying process to be as easy as possible. I find the whole buying computers process about as stressful as buying a car because I don't know much about either and the salesperson usually picks up on this and tries to sell me things I don't want or don't think I need. Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: Just get a Mac. I'm not kidding. Any iBook or Mac mini will be all the computer you need for e-mail and word processing, it will be far easier to set up and maintain than a Windows machine and it won't have anything close to the same virus/spyware risk. (You will need to pay an extra $150 for a copy of the Student and Teacher Edition of Microsoft Office, but you'd need to do that with any cheap Windows PC as well.)

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Alexandria, VA: I have a Mac G4 1.5 gig Ram non-Intel laptop. I run the Virtual PC program so that I can still use WordPerfect. Do I have to worry about virus coming in through the Mac into the Virtual Windows program?

Rob Pegoraro: Yes. But the virus could only infect the copy of Windows inside the Virtual PC file. Worst case, you simply delete that file off your computer.

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Olympia, WA: Can you recommend a small digital camera that can be used in wet conditions (skiing, biking, hiking, etc), has a powerful optical zoom, and some sort of image stabilization to reduce blurred images? I am not sure such a device exists. Any suggestions are welcome.Thanks and keep up the great work. I look forward to your Q/A sessions and columns.

Rob Pegoraro: I've taken a few different digicams skiing, and that's never been a problem--mainly because I keep the camera inside my jacket. (If I didn't, the batteries would expire in a hurry from the cold.) But for hiking... there are a few models advertised as waterproof (for instance, Pentax's Optio WP). But I don't know if they include stabilization; that feature is still making its way into most models.

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Annadale, VA: Just a note on your recent "Patently Absurd" column.

I created several pieces software that was patented by the company I was working for at the time.

For one of the patents, I told management that it was too obvious to patent ("obvious to a practitioner of the art" the patent office says). To prove it, as I went to various software conferences I would talk to people in the same subfield and describe the problem my software would solve. They ALWAYS came up with the same solution.

The company said apply. We were awarded the patent. AFAIK, it's never been used by the company. And when find someone infringing, I keep my mouth shut.

washingtonpost.com: BlackBerry Lawsuit Is Patently Absurd (February 25, 2006)

Rob Pegoraro: Your secret's safe with us, Annandale.

(This story is exactly what's wrong with the patent system; a company looking to pad its patent portfolio can spend all the time it wants crafting an application that looks airtight, but the patent examiner has far less time to evaluate it on its merits, and challenging a patent after it's been issued--as RIM has found out--is anything but quick.)

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Leesburg, Va.: Probably off-topic, but here goes. What in the hell is Microsoft "dot-NET" runtime technology? Do I need it, do I want it? Having now installed v. 2.0, can I uninstall v. 1.1? I am not a developer, but I have a notion that the Google Earth program uses it. I'm thinking about installing the new Paint.NET program, but not until I know just exactly what the "dot.NET" technology is and does. The explanations I have read online might as well be in Chinese. Thanks.

p.s. I enjoy your column very much & read it regularly. Very informative. Thank you!

washingtonpost.com: Fast Forward: Column Archive

Rob Pegoraro: .Net is a sort of software framework that a lot of applications now rely on. Microsoft, however, has described it in far hazier terms as some sort of special Internet sauce that provides a magical new level of capability. That's a lot of hooey, if you ask me, and confusing hooey at that.

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Arlington, VA: You wrote a week ago that Ad-Aware does not provide a good shield against spyware. Which programs do you recommend for shielding a Windows PC?

Rob Pegoraro: The single most important program is the human brain. Unless you're running some seriously obsolete software, you're going to have a hard time picking up spyware unless you *choose* to run code that ought to raise anybody's skepticism. (Hint: sites offering pirated games or free porn probably don't have your best interests at heart when they insist that you install a weird ActiveX plug-in.)

Beyond that, running safer software, like the Firefox browser, reduces the risks of you making one of those mistakes. And Windows Defender, the app I reviewed yesterday, adds another layer of defense with its real-time protection. For emergency cleanup purposes, I would supplement it with SpyBot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware.

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Afraid?: Tell "afraid of computers" to get openoffice for his mac. Free, and I have several customers who only wanted word and they LOVE it.

Rob Pegoraro: No! OpenOffice for Mac requires adding Apple's X11 software to OS X, which doesn't look anything like the rest of the Mac and will only confuse a beginner. (There is the NeoOffice port of OO, but that's lagging in development and, last I checked, did not run on Intel-based Macs.)

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Washington, DC: Hi, Rob,

I'm having some serious issues with my G4 Mac. A few weeks ago it froze up while checking for email. Couldn't force-quit, had to use the power switch to shutdown and it would not reboot. Ended up having to erase the drive and re-install Panther. A few days later, after downloading all updates, the same thing happened again, this time it would only boot into the Unix command prompt :/root#. Did not have any better luck the third time. Is this a hard drive failure? The drive is 3rd-party, only three-years old. Disk Utility and Disk Warrior both give the drive a clean bill of health.

Thanks for you thoughts!

Rob Pegoraro: Could be a malfunction elsewhere in the computer... Apple has had some problems with motherboard wiring on some Macs. I didn't know the G4 Power Mac was one of them, though. Try this first: Your Mac should have come with a hardware-diagnostic CD; see what that reports about your hardware.

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Vienna, Va.: My 1999 manufactured IBM Aptiva tower cpu has suddenly developed a humming noise, which rises and falls in volume while the unit is running. Can you advise what this may be caused by, and action to take?

Many thanks in advance.

Rob Pegoraro: My initial guess is that your power supply is conking out--that happens given enough miles on the odometer. What action to take? Buy a new computer. A seven-year-old PC is not worth fixing at this point.

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Tysons Corner, VA: My mother just bought herself a new Compaq (don't recall the exact model, but one of the Home Media Center models) and the CD-RW drive acts very strangely. Files on CD are marked read-only, and the property can't be changed. This is true for any newly added file, even one that is created just for the purpose of testing. Word can't save directly to the CD either, you have to save to the HD, then copy to the CD. Any idea what could be going on?

On her previous computer, the CD-RW just acted like any other drive - that's what she wants again.

Rob Pegoraro: Her old computer must have had some extra software enabling "packet-writing" use of the CD-RW. That's not a standard feature in Windows; you'd need to add it by purchasing a disc-burning program like Easy Media Creator or Nero.

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Ashburn, Va.: Without going through a computer, is there any way (or separate device) for copying a DVD to a blank DVD?

I have a combination VCR/DVD recorder, but no DVD recorder on my computer.

I realize that Macrovision precludes duplicating a commercial DVD, but I'm referring to copying a home-made DVD.

Rob Pegoraro: If you've got one of those combo DVD player/VCR units, you should be able to do that easy enough. Otherwise, you'd need to wire a DVD player and VCR together--cables go from the DVD player's outputs to the VCR's inputs, or through an intermediary receiver.

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Dumfries, VA: Rob, Do you have any opinion about AOL Suite? It has too many features that I don't need and I don't like having to open up Mail, Explorer, etc. separately. I prefer to stick with AOL 9.0 SE. Will AOL continue to support it?

Rob Pegoraro: I haven't tried AOL Suite yet; I'm waiting for AOL to ship a non-beta version of this. But the folks in AOL PR have said pretty clearly that this bundle of programs--separate Web browser, e-mail client, instant-messaging app--is the future of AOL. There won't be any more monolithic AOL programs.

That said, AOL has generally let people keep using old programs for years after they've been retired; you just may find that you can't use some new features in your old software.

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Inwood, WV: Hello. The earlier poster who mentioned Spybot, Adaware and Spyware Blaster as keeping his PC safe had it on the nose. I use the three religiously, keep Windows Updates current, and have no problems. But getting friends that I troubleshoot for to keep them updated is tough. Spyware Blaster seems to have been the key. I used to get a lot more "hits" from Spybot and Adaware until I got it.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks, Inwood...

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Washington, DC: Hope you can help. My DVD player (and other home theater components) are in my basement which is extremely dry during the winter. Constantly getting electric shocks when I touch metal. I believe one such shock occurred when I touched my DVD player. Now the player turns on but my TV does not get a signal. Is it possible that this shock could have fried my DVD player? Is there a way to prevent this from occurring?

Rob Pegoraro: Possible, but not likely. (Note: the electrical engineer in my house is at her day job, so I can't ask her for confirmation.) How to avoid it? Touch any other conductive object before you touch the electronic hardware.

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Manassas, VA: Yesterday, we suddenly got a message on our PC laptop that our firewall and virus protection program had been turned off. I was suspicious that this could be malware talking, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. We were able to turn things back on easily enough (though Norton required us to actually activate our antivirus again), but it left me wondering how such a thing could "accidentally" happen--I don't think anyone was messing with the settings. Any ideas?

Rob Pegoraro: Some kinds of "malware" do try to shut off the defenses in Windows. I'd run a scan with a spyware remover besides the one built into Norton Internet Security.

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Detroit, Mich.: How do software manufacturers come up with the minimum requirements they state on their software? They do not always seem to be accurate. For example, Endnote 9 which states a Mac requirement of a 450 MHz and a G4 processor, does indeed not work on a powerbook with a 400 MHz G3>processor. Yet Doom 3 works fine on a 1.25 GHz emac though the box states a requirement of a faster processor and a better video card.

Rob Pegoraro: There aren't any rules about that. Sometimes, a company will be conservative in coming up with these requirements--it doesn't want customers to be disappointed in the product's performance on a system that turns out to be less than optimal. Sometimes "required" only means "we won't give you technical support if you use this hardware."

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Alexandria, Va.: We've had an on-and-off problem with our dial-up Internet service. It is not the provider's fault. I've been able to fix it in the past by using "system restore" - what a gift that is! - but when I tried today, it would not let me go back farther than Saturday, which didn't fix the problem. Is there no way to go back more, or to last month?

Rob Pegoraro: Nope. You can't restore to a point that you don't have restore data for. Now your only option is to fix whatever problem has been forcing you to turn to System Restore... good luck.

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Alexandria, VA: Hi Rob,

A few weeks ago you mentioned in one of your chats that DirecTV had not yet unveiled plans to update their HD DVR to the new HD format they're rolling out (MPEG4). Any news on this? I'm interested in the DirecTV DVR service but wouldn't want to buy it if it's not going to be compatible with the new format.

Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: None, but I'm not expecting any developments on this front until May or June--the earliest estimate I got from DirecTV at CES in January.

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Alexandria, VA: Rob --

So now, Apple will sell me a dual-core Intel Mac Mini, a single-core Intel Mac Mini, or a remaindered or refurbished Motorola Mac Mini. Me so confused. Is there any reason not to go for the dual-core?

Also, does additional memory help the Intels as much as it did the Motorolas?

Thank you!

PS -- Got a good home for a PowerMac 8500?

Rob Pegoraro: Why not get the dual-core? Well, cost--if you're not running anything too processor-intensive, you can save some cash by getting a single-core model.

Intel-based Macs benefit from extra memory *far* more than PowerPC models. The Rosetta software they use to run old PowerPC apps eats RAM for breakfast, lunch and dinner--512 MB on the iMac Core Duo feels like 256 MB on a PowerPC model.

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Arlington: During your last online session, you said that you were "soldiering along with my pathetic old, non-flat-front Zenith. This set dates to the first Clinton administration. It's small and it looks pretty bad, but it still works, which means I can continue to hold off on an HDTV purchase and watch prices come down."

If your set broke today and you were buying a replacement, would you personally lean toward plasma, LCD, etc?

Rob Pegoraro: I'd look at plasma and LCD, but not the microdisplay models (their viewing-angle limits would be a serious issue, given where the TV has to go in the living room). Whether I went with LCD or plasma would depend in large part on who had the better discount that week, how big of a screen I could get and, of course, the picture quality of each set.

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Washington, DC: If I'm running Firefox, do I need to uninstall Microsfot Explorer if I want to improve the security of my system? Does just using Firefox to surf protect me from IE viruses? thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: No, because you can't uninstall IE. Remember, it's "integrated" into Windows

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NOVA: Hello Rob and chatters!

I'm looking to join the world and get a mp3 player. Well, so is my husband, but here's the catch - he works somewhere that doesn't allow voice recorders (security issues). He still wants to have something to listen to FM radio but everything I look at has both. He wanted me to ask you and anyone else that might work in a similar "situation" if they have a mp3 player at work.

Oh and we both know that the iPod doesn't have it and we may end up doing that - we just didn't want to end up paying two different subscriptions (iTunes and other) to download music!

Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: If you get an iPod and then plug in Apple's iPod Radio Remote ($49), you'll get an FM tuner without any recording capability.

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Belmont, Mass.: I attempted to set up my new Tungsten E Palm unit and got an error code meesage which reads: "An error occurred in the application you are using. Note the error code and contact the developer of this application. (Sys0505) (0,746).

I am not a techie so please help with a simple and logical suggestion. Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: What program were you running when you got that error? It doesn't look like anything you'd get with just the software built into the T E - sounds more like you need to update whatever old program you're trying to install on it.

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Alexandria, Va.: Re: ipod: I know you've answered this in one of your columns, but can't find it on the site: what's the add-on software I can use to move music from ipod onto a new pc?

Rob Pegoraro: Here's the Help File column you're looking for: Music Copying Software; Monitoring Upload/Download Speeds (washingtonpost.com)

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Columbia, MD: Two problems - are they related? Unable to download automatic Java updates from Microsoft. I get daily reminders, but no success. Message says unable to connect to their servers. I've tried dozens of times. Fearing some kind of malicious program, I've tried to install Windows Defender. I passed the verification process fine, but then nothing happens - no error message or anything. I'm protected by Norton Internet Security (firewall, antivirus, etc) plus I use ad-aware and spybot. Any suggestions?

Rob Pegoraro: My guess is that Norton Internet Security is set in some hyper-locked-down mode that's blocking those updates. You should check its firewall settings to see if it's blocking any of these update mechanisms. (Or temporarily switch your PC to use XP's built-in firewall, then deactivate the Norton firewall.)

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Alexandria, VA: First, when do you think Microsoft will unveil the Origami project? Second, what program can be used to watch DVDs recorded to one's hard drive with DVDShrink?

washingtonpost.com: Microsoft Gets Mysterious With Origami Project

Rob Pegoraro: The "when" of "Origami" hasn't been much of a mystery--Microsoft will announce this... thing on Thursday. The "what" is still up in the air, but the current thinking seems center on this being some kind of ultra-compact laptop geared towards multimedia playback.

You may be able to play the video files produced by DVD Shrink with your existing DVD software, but VLC media player (www.videolan.org) is a much more reliable (if trickier) solution.

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Arlington, VA: My brother is being sent to Iraq, and our family is planning on signing up with Skype, to help stay in touch. Do you have any advice on Skype, how well it might work from Iraq, or any drawbacks that the glorious advertising might not discuss?

Rob Pegoraro: Skype, like other "Voice over Internet Protocol" (VoIP) systems, needs good bandwidth. That could be hard to find in the field, although at bases there's apparently reliable connections (at least according to the Sunday Magazine's cover story of a few weeks back). Anybody have advice for Arlington on this?

Good luck to your brother, BTW...

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From Daniel Greenberg: Electric Shocks-

If you are consistently getting shocks around your tech equipment, get an anti-static spray from any office supply store (Kensington makes one) and spray down the whole place until you don't get any more sparks and keep spraying it regularly. Static electricity can indeed fry electronic equipment. I've killed a few with shocks in this climate, so I always keep the spray handy.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks, Daniel!

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Rockville, Md.: Rob -- this may not fall squarely into "personal technology" but you seem like the best candidate to ask: Why aren't the HD DVRs that Comcast rents out available for sale in the open market? I've been trying to get the dual-tuner with HDMI output from Comcast for the last two months but they claim not to have any HD DVRs in stock. How can this possibly be?

Rob Pegoraro: I don't know of any cable operators that sell their set-top boxes--it's strictly a rental business.

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Greensboro, MD: To Washington DC who has the G4 that freezes. H e should know about Coctail suite of utilities and read how to reset his Cuda chip from the Apple Web Site.

The Cuda chip controls some start up functions and can get confused in the event of a freeze or power loss/surge. It is very easy to reset.

Cocktail runs some routines that are supposed to run in the middle of the night daily, weekly and monthly.

Rob Pegoraro: Here are links for those two resources:

Cocktail

Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics): Resetting the Cuda Chip

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Tina in Falls Church: I have bought a fresh copy of Norton Systemworks every year since 1998. If I shop well it costs me under 10 bucks. I'm wondering if it's overkill since I rarely use the utilities. Any suggestions for an alternate program for antivirus? I use three antispyware programs already so really want the antivirus protection.

Rob Pegoraro: The AVG and Avast anti-virus programs are both free and, in my experience, effective.

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Arlington, Va.: What providers are offering wi-fi to residential customers in Arlington? What criteria other than price should be considered in choosing a provider?

Rob Pegoraro: I don't know of any commercial vendors doing that--DSL and cable already reaches just about all the county.

But if you happen to live in Courthouse Plaza, the county is offering free WiFi there. It's supposed to expand to a few other spots, but I don't remember them offhand.

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Washington, DC: Rob, I have always trusted your advice and look forward to your column each week. Now that I am thinking about buying a new laptop, I can't help but notice that you consistently and strongly encourage everyone to consider a Mac.

A Mac would be great for my web design and photography work, but how much difficulty can I expect connecting it to our home wireless network? (We have Verizon DSL and a Linksys router.)

Also, David Pogue loves the MacBook Pro -- what do you think?

Rob Pegoraro: Unless you've got some weird, very non-standard settings on your existing wireless router, you shouldn't have any trouble connecting a Mac--or any other WiFi device, from Linux PC to Palm handheld.

I haven't reviewed the MacBook, and I'm not sure I will just yet. At $2,000 and up, it's pretty far out of the consumer price range. I'm waiting to try out an Intel-based iBook (which can't be far off, since Apple has already brought over the rest of its consumer line of machines).

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Last chance: A buddy in Iraq has asked me to burn some TV shows onto a DVD and send to him. How do I do this easily (and cheaply), I am clueless!!!

Rob Pegoraro: Easily and cheaply? Go to any consumer-electronics store, buy a DVD recorder (starting at $100 and change, you'll find them next to the DVD players) and plug it into your TV. Then use it just like you would a VCR, scheduling recordings.

There's only this catch: *Don't* burn any recordings you're going to ship to Iraq on a DVD-RAM disc, which your buddy almost certainly won't be able to play. DVD+R and DVD-R are the safest formats, followed by DVD+RW and then DVD-RW (but not DVD-RW's "VR" mode).

Sorry about the format confusion. That's 100 percent the industry's fault for not settling on a single recordable format when it would have been easy to do so.

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For Columbia --: I had a customer who couldn't get to secure sites nor d/l updates to spybot, adaware, etc. Shutting of NIS didn't help; completely uninstalling it did.

After recommending NIS for a couple of years, I'm pretty much off NIS now. If needed, I set up customers with Zone. Add to that spybot, adaware, and grisoft free and they seem to be in pretty good shape.

My concern about M$ beta products is, are they going to charge once they're not beta?

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks... FWIW, Microsft is still saying it won't charge for Defender when it ships.

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Strasburg, Va: Hey Rob - You told Manassas a little earlier that he/she should run an anti-spyware program other than Norton. Would Windows Defender do the job or some other program? Love your columns!

Rob Pegoraro: That's what I've got set up on my own laptop--Defender, with Ad-Aware and SpyBot around to clean up anything that slips by Defender. But I should note that, except when I've deliberately tried to get machines infected, I've never needed to run any of these things. Spyware is *not* inevitable.

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HD DVR boxes: Sorry for not being clearer in the second part of my question -- Comcast claims not to have -any- HD DVR boxes to rent (much less sell). Why would they maintain such a low supply, when there are plenty of us out there who are ready and willing to upgrade and pay for HD service?

Rob Pegoraro: Uh, you'd have to ask Comcast management about that. Seems to me like this is a good way to annoy customers, but, y'know, raising prices about every year for the last decade or so is also a good way to annoy customers, and we know Comcast's record with *that*.

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Marshfield, MA.: On a LCD TFT Flat screen monitor using the standard vga and not DVI plug-in could this cause pixel swim or what looks like the screen is flickering. Should I just change the Graphics card?

Rob Pegoraro: Analog connections could allow some flickering on an LCD, although I don't think I've seen that in practice. Usually, employing VGA instead of DVI just means text may look slightly fuzzier and colors may be a little off.

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From Daniel Greenberg : Static Electricity Part II:

Your DVD player may not be dead from the shock.

Try powering down, unplugging, and leaving the unit unplugged for a few minutes (or even overnight) to drain any residual charge. Then plug it in, power it up and see if it works again.

I thought I killed an expensive stereo with a shock, but brought it back to life this way.

Rob Pegoraro: Hope our static-afflicted reader is still logged on...

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Pentagon:

RE: Skype and Iraq

I would be afraid of a firewall blocking that access since they are probably using satellites to get back to the "world". Bandwidth is somewhat limited over there.

I could be wrong but the kid should ask someone "down range".

Rob Pegoraro: Seems like good advice to me. Thanks!

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Brunswick, Maine: Hi Rob,

Did you mention, some time ago, a speech recognition system which you use to compile your columns? If so could you give me a reference to that discussion or, even better, provide an updated review.

Thanks,

Jim Shepperd

Rob Pegoraro: That wasn't me--I've never used any speech recognition software to write articles

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Ellicott City, MD: Why can't one have many different anti-virus programs when one can use many different anti-spyware programs? It seems like there are so many dangers it would be good to be able to do so!

Rob Pegoraro: Maybe, but that just isn't how things work. (I have heard from readers who say they don't have any trouble using multiple anti-virus programs, but I've heard from just as many who have had computers lobotomized in this fashion, and I myself have had to boot into safe mode to fix problems caused by installing one anti-virus utility over another.)

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Columbia, MD: Thanks for your columns; without your column in the business pages I probably would not read much more about business!

I have Ad-Aware, spybot, and SpySweeper and there is an anti-spyware program in ZoneAlarm's security suite. My PC sits behind a software firewall and a hardware firewall, so if I install Defender should I get rid of one or two of the spyware programs?

I have set them up to start one behind each other, at shutdown but it does add to shutdown time. Of course I can run them manually at any time as well. But I do like to keep a 'clean, mean machine' without extras I don't need. Any advice?

Rob Pegoraro: SpySweeper is the closest equivalent to Defender--like the Microsoft program, WebRoot's application tries to monitor application behavior in real time. It's more stringent than Microsoft's; it also can't clean up anything it finds unless you pay for a subscription. I would choose either that or Defender... but if your SpySweeper subscription isn't about to run out, you might as well stick with that.

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Marietta, GA: How should I move my Picasa preferences and customizations along with the related photo files from one computer to another? Something tells me it should be easy, but I can't quite figure it out.

Rob Pegoraro: Google's help document on that topic says if you've got a CD or DVD burner on the old computer, no problem--the Backup command will get you started: Picasa

But if you don't, it has no help for you.

From what I can tell, all your Picasa info lives in two different folder locations:

C:\Documents and Settings\[your user name]\Local Settings\Application Data\Google

and

C:\Documents and Settings\[your user name]\My Documents\Pictures

So if you copy the contents of both locations to the same spots on the new computer, a new copy of Picasa should be able to read all that stuff immediately.

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Reston 20190: Hi Rob, An off-topic question. If one has .mac, can one have the service provider's emails sucked into the .mac email account, host that on the idisk, and then see them from more than one iMac? If yes so far, should the two be able to see mail simultaneously or should one always log off before the other logs on?

Rob Pegoraro: You can set a .Mac account to pick up mail at an existing POP (Post Office Protocol, the usual standard for e-mail) account, and then, yes, you should be able to read it through the .Mac Web site or the Mail program on a Mac. Because .Mac runs on a newer, better mail standard called IMAP, it's no problem at all to read mail from two locations at once.

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FOR HD DVR: It may be that the supply for your county is being exhausted faster than other counties. When I get anything for my cable, they always ask me what county I live in, so sound like poor inventory control can be added to the 'annoyances'.

Columbia, MD

Rob Pegoraro: Isn't the whole point of being a nationwide telecom conglomerate like Comcast (or Verizon or AT&T) *not* having to run separate operations in each county?

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Arlington, VA: Is the Windows firewall as good as ZoneAlarm and the other firewall programs?

Rob Pegoraro: Not if you already have, or suspect you have, spyware on your system. The Windows XP firewall doesn't monitor or block all outgoing traffic; it only governs which applications can open their own separate ports, or channels, to the Internet.

Other add-on firewalls do offer that "two-way" control. But if you have to worry about already having spyware on your PC, you've already lost--the whole point of using secure software and your own common sense is to not get into that position in the first place.

And if you are free of spyware now, the XP firewall is just as effective as the third-party ones in keeping you safe--but is also a lot simpler to install, set up and use. So that's the one I recommend and use myself.

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Alexandria, Va.: Rob --

Did Google ever clear up your question about how/when Google Pack runs its updates?

Rob Pegoraro: Not beyond what you read in that review, no. And I don't think any of my installed copies of Google Pack have found any updates yet.

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New Apple Stuff: The Hi-Fi, well I will just leave that alone...

But that 99 buck case, what is apple thinking? A poorly designed case that is much much much more expensive then more usefull models....

Apple Tax? I mean its a leather case with the apple logo. Which can be had for a lot less then 99 buckos sans Apple Stamp

Rob Pegoraro: Uh, maybe this question is best suited for Robin Givhan's chat? I don't really do fashion :)

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Rob Pegoraro: And on that note, it's time for me to sign off and start catching up on my e-mail. Thanks! I should be back here in a couple of weeks.

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