Choosing a Photo-Sharing Web Site
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 choosing a photo-sharing Web site, syncing laptops and desktops and printing photos.
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Q: I'm unhappy with the photo-sharing Web sites that I've found and I wanted to ask if you've found any better ones. One problem I've run into is that they require you to sign in (create an account) to view your friends' photos. They also don't make it easy to download photos and they don't allow much privacy.
A: You might try Smugmug at smugmug.com. It costs $40 a year, but offers unlimited storage, password protection, retrieval of photos in high-resolution format and it doesn't require your friends to register or to receive spam. It is also a handsome site that allows you to customize the way your photos are presented and to tweak the photos themselves, to a limited extent.
Q: What do you recommend for remotely syncing laptops and desktops?
A: I use a free product called FolderShare, which is now owned by Microsoft, and can be downloaded at
www.foldershare.com. You install the FolderShare software on each computer, and it runs in the background, silently synchronizing all the files in folders that you designate on each computer. If you add or alter a file on one computer, the software matches that change on the others.
For instance, you might set it up to synchronize the files in the My Documents folders on multiple Windows machines. It also works on the Macintosh, and can synchronize files between Macs, or mixed groups of Windows and Mac computers. For instance, you can set it up to keep the My Pictures folder on a Dell synchronized with the Pictures folder on a Mac.
Q: While on vacation I uploaded many photos to my Dell laptop. I also have a Dell desktop at home hooked up to a H-P Photosmart printer. When I get home, how can I print these photos? Do I have to transfer them to the desktop or can I just print them from the notebook? If so, how do I go about it?
A: Assuming the printer isn't on a home network, and isn't accessible from any PC on the network, you have two choices. The simplest method would be to transfer the pictures to the desktop computer, by copying them to a thumb-sized USB drive or burning them to a CD, from the laptop, and then copying them from the thumb drive or CD onto the desktop.
The other approach would be to install the printer's software onto the laptop, assuming you still have the disk that came with it, and then unplug the printer from the desktop and plug it into the laptop.
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Because of the volume of email I receive, I can't routinely answer individual questions by email, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.
推荐一个照片共享网站
在我们大多数人拥有的大件电器中，再没有什么比个人电脑更令人费解、更变幻莫测的了。每个人或许都有些关于电脑的问题，而《莫博士信箱》将为您提供帮助。
本周我将回答读者关于如何选择照片共享网站、在台式机和笔记本电脑之间进行远程同步更新以及打印照片的问题。
问：我对我找到的那些照片共享网站并不满意，你是否知道更好的此类网站？我碰到的一个问题是网站要求访客注册（创建一个账户）后才能浏览朋友的照片。另外，从这些网站下载照片也并非易事，它们在保护用户隐私方面也有欠缺。
答：你可以试一试Smugmug，网址是
www.smugmug.com。这是一个收费网站，会费为每年40美元。该网站提供无限的存储空间、密码保护以及在高分辨率的状态下读取照片等功能。另外，你的朋友无需注册便可浏览你的相册，因此，他们也就不用担心会收到垃圾邮件。该网站还允许用户按照自己喜爱的方式来展示照片，并可以在一定程度上对照片本身进行调整。
问：你对远程同步更新笔记本和台式机有什么建议么？
答：我现在用的是一款由微软(Microsoft)所有的免费软件FolderShare，这个软件可以去
www.foldershare.com下载。你在每台电脑上都安装这个软件，然后它就会在后台运行，为你所指定的每台电脑里面的文件夹同步更新里面的所有文件。如果你在一台电脑上添加或更改了某个文件，这款软件就会在其他电脑上做出相应的改动。
例如，你可以用这款软件去同步更新运行Windows的多台电脑中的“我的文件”文件夹。这款软件还可以在Macintosh操作系统环境下运行，可以在Mac电脑之间、甚至Mac电脑与Windows电脑之间同步更新文件。例如，你可以让戴尔(Dell)电脑中“我的图片”文件夹与Mac电脑“图片”文件夹保持同步更新。
问：我在度假的时候把许多照片都存在戴尔笔记本电脑里面了。我在家还有一台连接着惠普(H-P) Photosmart打印机的戴尔台式机。我回家之后如何把笔记本中的照片打印出来？我是否需要把这些照片转移到台式机，还是从笔记本中就能直接打印？如果能够直接打印的话，该如何操作？
答：如果打印机不在家庭网络之中，而且联网的任何个人电脑都无法接入这台打印机，那么有两种方案供你选择。最简单的方法是先将照片从笔记本导入到U盘里面或者把照片刻录至CD光盘，然后再把U盘或光盘里面的照片复制到台式机里面。
另一种方法是在笔记本电脑上安装打印机的驱动程序（前提是你还保留着和打印机一起提供的安装光盘），然后把打印机从台式机上拔下来，插到笔记本上面。
Walter S. Mossberg
