Getting a Hard Drive Fixed; Saving Internet Favorites
There's no other major item most of us own that is as confusing, unpredictable and unreliable as our personal computers. Everybody has questions about them, and we aim to help.
Here are a few questions about computers I've received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about a possibly corrupted hard drive, saving Internet favorites and firewalls.
If you have a question, send it to me at
mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg's Mailbox.
Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can't routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.
Q: I recently turned on my desktop PC after it had been idle for over five months. A screeching sound came from the hard drive. The screen then stated "OS not found." When I used a floppy to boot up, and looked for the hard disk, I got a message of "Invalid drive specification." Please tell me the hard drive is not corrupted and my data aren't lost.
A: I can't tell you that the drive isn't corrupted. It might be. But there may well be a solution. The messages you got suggest that the computer isn't seeing the drive, and so it can't find Windows and can't boot up from the drive. This might mean the drive is corrupted, but it doesn't necessarily mean your data are lost or irretrievable.
If I were you, I'd immediately consult a computer repair expert. He or she might be able to get the drive working again, with no loss of data. If the data still can't easily be accessed, you can always hire a company that specializes in recovering lost data. Two such firms are Ontrack and DriveSavers, but there are many others.
Q: I have quite a lengthy list of Internet Favorites without which I would be lost if my hard drive crashed. Is there a device I can get which would enable me to save or back up my favorites list?
A: You don't need a "device." Internet Explorer Favorites are very small files, and even your lengthy list isn't likely to take up much disk space. So, assuming your PC has a CD burner, you could easily back up your Favorites to a blank CD. You could also save the Favorites to several floppy disks. If neither of those options works, you could buy an inexpensive USB thumb drive and copy the Favorites to it.
Q: If my cable modem-router combination has a built-in firewall, do I even need a software firewall program?
A: If the hardware firewall is good, it can hide your computer from hackers and snoopers on the Internet, and greatly hinder incoming attacks and intrusions. But in most cases, hardware firewalls can't prevent rogue programs that may already be on your PC from calling out via your net connection to report on your activities, or launch attacks on other computers. For that kind of outbound protection, you need a good software firewall, like ZoneAlarm. It also never hurts to have both hardware and software protection.
* * *
Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can't routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.
修复你的电脑硬盘
在我们大多数人所拥有的主要物品中，再没有什么比个人电脑更令人费解、更变幻莫测、更靠不住的了。每个人都有些关于电脑的问题，而《莫博士信箱》将为您提供帮助。
这周我将回答关于可能损坏的硬盘、存储“我的最爱”以及防火墙等问题。
问：前不久我打开了已经有5个多月未使用的电脑，硬盘发出一声尖锐的声音。屏幕上显示“OS not found”。当我使用软盘启动时，屏幕上出现了“Invalid drive specification”。请告诉我硬盘没有损坏，我的数据没有丢失。
答：我不能告诉你硬盘没有损坏。它可能已经坏了。但即使这样也有解决的办法。你看到的电脑屏幕上的信息表示电脑找不到硬盘，因此它找不到Windows，无法从硬盘启动。这也许意味著硬盘已经坏掉了，但却不一定意味著你的数据丢失了或不能恢复。
如果我是你，我会马上咨询一位电脑修复专家。他或她也许能够让硬盘重新恢复工作，而不会损失任何的数据。如果仍然不能够轻松得到数据，你可以雇佣一个专业恢复丢失数据的公司。Ontrack和DriveSavers就是两个这样的公司，当然还有其它许多公司。
问：我在“我的最爱”里储存了许多网址，如果我的硬盘坏掉我可就什么也做不了了。有没有什么设备能够让我将“我的最爱“储存或备份。
答：你不需要什么“设备”。IE“我的最爱”是非常小的文件，即使你存储的网址很多也不可能占用很大的硬盘空间。因此，假设你的电脑上有一个光盘刻录机，你能够很容易的将“我的最爱”备份到一张空白的光盘里面。你还可以将“我的最爱”备份到几张软盘里面。如果这两种方法都行不通，你可以购买一个价格便宜的USB移动硬盘，将“我的最爱”文件复制到上面。
问：如果我的有线调制解调器＋路由器有一个内置防火墙，我需要一个防火墙软件吗？
答：如果防火墙硬件很不错的话，它能够在互联网上隐藏你的电脑，使骇客和窥探者无法发现它，并且还能有效的阻止外部的入侵和攻击。但是在大多数情况下，防火墙硬件不能阻止你电脑上的恶意程序通过网络连接呼出由此泄露你在电脑上的操作，也不能阻止这种恶意程序对其它电脑展开攻击。为了防止这种自内向外的泄露或攻击，你需要一个好的软件防火墙，比如ZoneAlarm。拥有防火墙硬件和软件的双重保护有百利而无一害。
