Removing Spyware; Backing Up Media Files
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 spyware, backing up media files and the Treo 600.
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.
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Q: While visiting a Web site yesterday a window opened saying I needed a special download. Naively, I downloaded it and now I have an annoying program that starts up when I am on the Net. My antivirus software is no help. How can I get rid of this program?
A: It sounds like you downloaded some sort of spyware or adware. Antivirus programs aren't effective against these kind of invasions. You'll need to download and run a reputable antispyware program, which can detect and eliminate these things.
One such program is Spybot, at
www.safer-networking.org. Another is Ad-Aware, at
www.lavasoftusa.com. A third is Spy Sweeper, at
www.webroot.com.Q: I would like to copy my photo and music files to some kind of backup medium, but if I use a recordable CD drive it will take many, many disks. Should I consider buying a hard drive that transfers my data via a USB port?
A: That's a good idea. External hard disks hold a lot of data, are fairly inexpensive, and plug into any current Windows or Macintosh computer via the USB 2.0 or FireWire port. With the Windows XP and Mac OS X operating systems, these hard disks are recognized and ready to use in seconds, without any special software.
Once an external hard disk is plugged into your computer, you can freely copy whole folders of music and photo files to them. If you want to automate the process, you can buy an inexpensive file-synchronization program.
Q: I have a new Treo 600 with Snapper Mail e-mail software. You wrote that, with this combination, it's possible to open e-mail Microsoft Office document attachments. But I can't seem to do it. What's the trick?
A: You need to install another program that can handle Office documents on a Palm-based device like the Treo. Once you do so, Snapper will automatically send Office document attachments to this added program, which will display them. There are two such programs that work with Snapper. One is Quickoffice, from Mobility Electronics (
www.mobl.com/software/). The other is Documents to Go, from DataViz (
www.dataviz.com).
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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.
如何删除间谍软件？
问：当我昨天浏览一个网站时，弹出一个窗口称我需要下载一个软件。我未加思考地做了，结果现在上网的时候就会出现一个令人讨厌的程序。我安装的杀毒软件也帮不上忙。如何去掉这个程序呢？
答：听上去你似乎安装了一个间谍程序或是广告程序。杀毒软件对此是无能为力的。你得下载一个非常有效的能检测和删除它们的反间谍程序。
Spybot就是一个反间谍程序，你可以在
www.safer-networking.org上下载。还有
www.lavasoftusa.com的Ad-Aware和
www.webroot.com的Spy Sweeper。
问：我想把照片和音乐文档复制到其他媒介上作为备份，但如果我用可记录光盘机，就需要许多张盘。我是否应当购买一个硬驱，通过USB接口转移数据？
答：这是个好主意。外接硬盘能存储大量数据，而且价格便宜，只要通过USB 2.0或FireWire接口就可以进入任何打开的窗口或苹果机。在Windows XP以及Mac OS X操作系统中，只需几秒钟就可以读取这些硬盘，而无需安装特别软件。
一旦电脑插上外接硬盘，你就可以轻松地把音乐和照片文档进行复制了。如果你想使这一过程自动化，你可以购买价格适中的文档同步软件。
问：我有一款新的带有Snapper Mail电子邮件软件的Treo 600手机。您曾说过，这样的组合是可以打开微软办公系统的电子邮件的附件的。但是我却打不开，这是怎么回事？ 答：在像Treo这样基于Palm系统的装置里，你还得安装一个能处理办公文件的软件。一旦安装完成后，Snapper将自动把文件附件发送到这个新添的软件上，后者将显示那些附件。目前有两种配合Snapper的此类软件，一个是来自Mobility Electronics(
www.mobl.com/software/)的Quickoffice，另一个是来自DataViz(
www.dataviz.com)的Documents to Go。
