Transferring Your Web '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 transferring "Favorites" from your laptop to your desktop and converting copy-protected WMA files to play on an iPod.
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.
Q: Can you tell me how to transfer the Internet Explorer "Favorite" Web site addresses from my laptop computer to my desktop computer? Both computers are Windows XP.
A: Just go to the "Import and Export" command in the File menu of Internet Explorer on the laptop -- the machine with the Favorites you want to copy. Select "Export Favorites," and follow the prompts to save your Favorites as a file. You can name it anything you like, and I suggest you save it to your desktop or some other place where you can find it quickly.
Next, copy this file to the desktop computer -- the one you want to populate with your Favorites. In Internet Explorer on this second computer, again click on "Import and Export" in the File menu, only this time, select "Import Favorites." Specify the file you copied over from the first computer, and all the Favorites it contains should now be on the second machine.
Q: In your recent review of the new Apple iMac that uses Intel chips, you briefly said it couldn't run the Windows operating system out of the box. Can you elaborate on why that is, and whether Windows will be able to run on this computer eventually?
A: Apple is now using the same chips in this Macintosh that are used in Windows computers, and it says it won't do anything to stop people from running Windows on these machines. But you can't just go to the store, buy a copy of Windows XP, and install it on these new Macs.
That's because Apple is using some advanced hardware, besides the Intel chips, that differs from what's typical on Windows machines. This hardware, which helps the computer to start up, is called EFI and is approved by Intel. But it isn't recognized by Windows XP. Microsoft says the forthcoming new version of Windows, called Vista, will recognize the new EFI start-up hardware when it comes out later this year. But nobody is guaranteeing that Vista will run out of the box on the Intel-based Macs, as there may be other peculiarities of the new Macs that it can't handle.
In addition, Microsoft's Virtual PC product, which allowed Windows to run -- slowly -- on the old Macs by mimicking an Intel chip, doesn't work on the new machines. It would seem that such a program shouldn't be necessary on the Intel-based Macs, or at least should be simple to create. But Microsoft says revising it for the new machines would be a big, time-consuming job.
However, I wouldn't be surprised to see some other company come up with an add-on product that would allow the new Intel-based Macs to run Windows, or Windows programs, at fast speeds, long before the arrival of Vista or any new version of Virtual PC.
With such a product, you might be able to choose to start up an Intel-based Mac in either Windows or the Mac operating system; or run Windows in a window inside the Mac operating system; or run Windows programs in the Mac operating system, without running Windows itself.
Q: I have purchased a substantial amount of music online through services such as MSN and Yahoo that sell files in the protected WMA format. Is there any way to convert this music so it plays on an iPod?
A: There is a way, but it's time-consuming and tedious. You'd have to burn all your copy-protected WMA files (the ones you bought from MSN and Yahoo) to audio CDs -- the kind that play in standard CD players -- and then re-import them into Apple's iTunes software as MP3s or nonprotected AAC files, manually filling in the tag information.
The iPod can play MP3 files fine, as well as a number of other formats, like nonprotected AAC files. And iTunes can convert nonprotected WMA files to MP3s for use in the iPod. But iTunes can't convert copy-protected WMAs, and the iPod can't play them.
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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.
传输“我的最爱”
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如何在电脑间传输“我的最爱”、iMac能否运行Windows以及把WMA文件转换成iPod兼容的格式等问题。
问：你能告诉我如何将Internet Explorer“我的最爱”里的网站地址从我的笔记本电脑上传送到我的台式电脑上吗？两台电脑的操作系统都是Windows XP。
答：如果你想复制笔记本电脑上的“我的最爱”，就先找到笔记本电脑上Internet Explorer的“文件”菜单，点击“输入和输出”命令。选择“输出我的最爱”，然后根据提示，将“我的最爱”保存为一个文件。你可以给它起任何你喜欢的名字，但我建议你把它保存在桌面上或者你能够很快找到的其他地方。
下一步，把这个文件复制到台式电脑－－也就是你想输入“我的最爱”的机器上。打开这台电脑的Internet Explorer，再次点击“文件”菜单下的“输入和输出”，只是这一次要选择“输入我的最爱”，选择你从第一台电脑上复制过来的文件，这样包含所有网站的“我的最爱”就应该出现在第二台电脑上了。
问：你在最近对苹果新款英特尔芯片的iMac电脑测评中，曾提到它不能直接运行Windows操作系统。你可以详细说明一下为什么会这样，Windows最终是否能够在iMac电脑上运行呢？
答：苹果新款Macintosh电脑使用的芯片与Windows电脑完全相同，而且苹果称不会做任何调整来阻止人们在Macintosh上运行Windows。但是，你也没法把从商店买来的Windows XP软件直接安装到新款Mac电脑上。
这是因为除了英特尔芯片以外，苹果使用了一些先进的硬件，与Windows电脑上常见的硬件不同。这种帮助电脑启动的硬件被称为EFI，已得到英特尔的认可。但它尚未被Windows XP认可。微软表示，即将于今年晚些时候推出的新版Windows－－即Vista－－将认可苹果新的EFI启动硬件。但是没人能保证Vista直接就可以在基于英特尔的Mac电脑上运行，因为新款Mac机可能还存在其他功能让Vista无法应付。
此外，微软的Virtual PC产品通过模拟英特尔的芯片，本可使Windows在老式Mac机上缓慢运行。不过，它无法使Windows在新款Mac机上运行。看起来这样一个程序不应是基于英特尔芯片的Mac电脑所必需的，或者至少应是很容易创建的。但微软表示，针对新款Mac机修改Virtual PC程序将是一项耗时的大工程。
不过，如果在Vista或任何新版Virtual PC面市之前，就有一些公司早早推出能使新款Mac机更快运行Windows、或Windows程序的附加产品，我不会感到惊讶。
有了这样一个产品，你或许就能够选择以Windows或Mac操作系统启动新款Mac机；或者在Mac操作系统下的一个窗口内运行Windows；或者在Mac操作系统下直接运行Windows程序，而不运行Windows本身。
问：我通过诸如MSN、雅虎等销售受保护WMA格式文件的服务供应商那里购买了大量音乐。有什么办法可以把这种音乐文件转换成可以在iPod上播放的格式吗？
答：有一种办法，但是既费时又费力。你必须把所有受版权保护的WMA文件（也就是你从MSN和雅虎那里购买的文件）刻录到音乐CD上－－即可在标准CD播放器里播放的那种，然后再把它们重新输入到苹果的iTunes软件，转换成MP3或不受保护的AAC文件，还要手工录入音乐名称。
iPod播放MP3和许多其他格式的音乐－－如不受保护的AAC文件－－都没有问题。而且iTunes可以将不受保护的WMA文件转换成可在iPod上播放的MP3格式。但iTunes不能转换受版权保护的WMA，iPod也不能播放此类文件。
