IPods as Portable Backup Devices
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 portable backup devices, converting music files between formats and Virtual PC software.
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: Can you recommend a portable backup device for a Windows computer that is easy to use and not too big? I need something I can carry in my computer bag, which holds 50 to 100 gigabytes.
A: One possibility is to buy a large-capacity iPod, or other hard-disk-based MP3 player. These devices are easy to hook up to a PC, and can be used to store and transfer files, as well as music. That makes them some of the smallest and lightest portable hard disks available. For instance, there is a 60-gigabyte model of the iPod that sells for $449. The Creative Nomad Zen Xtra comes in a 60-gigabyte model for $299.
Or, you can buy a small, external hard disk that has no music functions or screen. These may be larger than an iPod, but they are still quite portable. Sony makes one called the Giga Vault that is battery powered and comes in an 80-gigabyte size for about $350. And there are others.
Q: I very much want an iPod but don't want to wait for Apple to offer one that can handle Microsoft's WMA music format. How do I convert my 11 gigabytes of music from WMA to MP3 with one click of the mouse as opposed to album by album?
A: When you install Apple's iTunes software, which comes with the iPod, the program will search your hard disk for any WMA files you have. It then will offer to convert them all automatically, in one step, to the MP3 format, which the iPod can handle. I have tested this multiple times on multiple PCs and it works quite well, although I never have tried it with as much WMA music as you own. With the size of your collection, I suspect this one-time step will take quite awhile.
There is one caveat, however. This iTunes WMA conversion works only with unencrypted WMA files that aren't copy-protected -- the kind you might have created from your own CDs using Windows Media Player. It won't work on protected WMA files you may have purchased from online music sites like Musicmatch, Napster or MSN Music. It won't even work on files from your own CDs if you allowed Windows Media Player to encrypt these files. Encryption was the default setting in that program a few years back -- something Microsoft did to curry favor with the record labels.
If your collection includes a large number of encrypted, protected WMA files, the iPod probably isn't the best player for you. You probably should buy a WMA-compatible player, like a Creative, Rio or iRiver model.
Q: I know that Microsoft makes a program called Virtual PC that allows you to run Windows programs on a Macintosh. Will this product allow an iMac G5 to run Windows 98?
A: Virtual PC creates a virtual, software-based Windows computer in a portion of your Mac's hard disk. It then runs a real copy of Windows in that virtual computer.
Microsoft sells the product in several configurations. For people who have a licensed copy of Windows that can be installed on a new PC, Microsoft sells Virtual PC by itself. For most others, the company sells Virtual PC with a complete copy of Windows already inside. It offers these latter configurations with Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000.
All of these configurations work on the iMac G5. But none of the bundles includes Windows 98. However, if you have a set of Windows 98 installation disks, you could buy the plain, stand-alone version of Virtual PC , create the virtual computer, and then install Windows 98 on it.
But there's a catch. Microsoft doesn't officially support the use of Windows 98 with Virtual PC . On its Web site, the company warns: "If you install an unsupported operating system, such as Windows 98, some features do not work."
用iPod做移动备份工具
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。
本周我将回答读者有关便携式移动备份工具、如何转换不同格式的音乐文件、以及有关Virtual PC的一些问题。
问：你能向我推荐一种能作为Windows电脑备份工具的便携设备吗？我希望它能放进我的电脑包，容量在50G到100G之间。
答：一个可能的选择是大容量的iPod，或者是其他硬盘MP3。这些设备易于连到电脑上，并能够用来储存、转移文件和音乐。它们可以说是市面上最为轻便、小巧的移动硬盘之一。比如有一款iPod的容量为60G，售价449美元；Creative Nomad Zen Xtra也有一款容量为60G，而售价为299美元。
或者，你还可以购买一个没有音乐播放功能和屏幕的小移动硬盘，它们的体积可能较iPod要大，但携带起来也还算方便。索尼公司(Sony Corp., 又名:新力公司)有一款带充电电池的Giga Vault移动硬盘，容量为50G，售价在350美元左右。其他还有许多种移动硬盘这里就不一一赘述。
问：我很想买一个iPod，但我不想等到苹果电脑(Apple)推出能兼容微软(Microsoft) WMA音乐格式的新款iPod后再买。我怎样才能做到只点击一下鼠标就能把我所有11G的音乐文件从WMA格式转成MP3格式、而不是一首歌一首歌的转呢？
答：当你安装iPod随机附带的苹果iTunes软件时，它会搜索你硬盘上所有的WMA文件。之后它会让你通过一步操作将所有WMA文件转成能在iPod上使用的MP3文件。我在不同的电脑上多次测试过这个程序，它运行都很不错。但我从未一次转换过你提到的这么多的文件，我怀疑用这种方法转换你所有的WMA文件可能需要花上一段时间。
有一点我要向你说明。iTunes这种转换程序只对那些没有受到复制保护的未加密WMA文件发挥作用，你用Windows Media Player从你自己CD上复制到电脑上的音乐文件就属于此类。你从Musicmatch、Napster或MSN Music等音乐网站上购买的WMA音乐文件都受到复制保护，因此不能用它来转换。如果你让Windows Media Player加密了那些从你自己的CD上复制的音乐文件，也无法用它转换。几年前，加密功能还是Windows Media Player上的一种默认设置，微软这样做也是为了讨好那些唱片公司。
如果你有大量得到保护的加密WMA文件，iPod可能不是你最佳的选择，你应该购买一台兼容WMA的音乐播放器，比如像Creative、Rio或iRiver。
问：我知道微软有一种名为Virtual PC的程序，能让用户在Macintosh上运行Windows程序。这种程序能让iMac G5运行Windows 98吗？
答：Virtual PC在Mac电脑的硬盘上制造出一个虚拟的Windows电脑，用户能在上面运行真正的Windows。
微软出售这种软件有几种方式。对于那些有一套授权Windows并能安装在新电脑上的用户，微软会单独出售该软件。而对于绝大多数用户，微软会将Virtual PC随一套完整的Windows一同出售，包括Windows XP Home、Windows XP Professional和Windows 2000。
以上述几种形式出售的Virtual PC都能在iMac G5上运行。但这些软件包中都不包含Windows 98。不过，如果你有一套Windows 98安装盘，你可以购买一套单独的简装版Virtual PC，用它生成一个虚拟电脑后，再在上面安装Windows 98。
但这有一个问题。微软并不支持在Virtual PC上使用Windows 98。它在自己的网站上警告称，如果你安装了一套公司并不支持的操作系统，比如Windows 98，其中的一些功能可能会无法实现。
