Checking Your Connection
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 testing the speed of Internet connections and making Windows Media files compatible with 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.
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: In your column, you have said you test the speed of Internet connections at special testing Web sites. What are they?
A: There are probably others, but the two that I use are: Toast.net (
http://performance.toast.net/) and Broadband Reports (
www.broadbandreports.com/tools). These sites offer other content and services, but each has a good section for testing Web connections.
Q: I have hundreds of songs I copied from my CDs using Windows Media Player. I want an iPod, but I understand the iPod can't play songs like mine in the Windows Media format. Is there any way around that?
A: Yes. When you first run iTunes, the iPod's companion software, it will search your hard drive for compatible music files, such as MP3 files. It can also look for Windows Media files, also called WMA files, and automatically convert them to the MP3 format.
Note that this conversion works only with open, non-copy-protected WMA files like the kind typically created when you copy music from your own CDs. It won't work if you try it on WMA files that include copy protection, such as the files sold by most online music stores other than Apple's.
Q: Is there any reason why I can't synchronize the addresses in Outlook on my Windows computer with the Apple Address Book on my Macintosh, by using my Treo 600 smart phone as a go-between?
A: I haven't tried this, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. You would have to set Palm's desktop software on the Windows computer to synchronize with Outlook instead of the Palm address book. You may already have things set up this way, but if not, it may require digging out and using your Treo installation CD.
Next you would need to set up your Mac to synchronize the Treo with Apple's address-book application. This is easily done by installing the Mac version of the Palm Desktop from the Treo CD, and running Apple's built-in iSync synchronization utility, which can mate the Treo to the Address Book.
Then, every day, you could sync the Treo with Outlook on the Windows machine, and subsequently with the address-book program on the Mac. To avoid the complexity of resolving conflicting information on the three devices, you might want to simplify things by limiting your addition or editing of entries to only one or two of them.
Q: Is there a Web site where I can find your past columns?
A: You can find all my columns from the past 90 days in a free, nonsearchable archive at
http://ptech.wsj.com. An eight-year, searchable archive is available, with a paid subscription, at
http://wsj.com. I cannot e-mail columns to readers.
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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.
测试网络连接速度
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测试网络连接速度
问：你曾在这个专栏中说，你在特殊的测试网站上测试网络连接速度，这个网站是什么？
答：可能还有一些其他的网站也能进行这样的测试，但我用的是以下两个网站：Toast.net（
http://performance.toast.net/）和Broadband Reports（
www.broadbandreports.com/tools）。这些网站还提供其他的内容和服务，但都有很好的测试网络连接速度的功能。
问：我用Windows Media Player从CD上复制了几百首的歌曲。我现在想买一个iPod播放器，但我知道iPod不能播放Windows Media格式的歌曲，有什么办法能处理这个问题吗？
答：有办法。当你第一次运行iPod的配套软件iTunes时，它会搜索你硬盘上兼容的音乐文件，比如MP3文件，它同时还会搜索Windows Media文件（也称为WMA文件），并自动将其转换成MP3格式。
请注意，这种转换只对开放的、没有受到复制保护的WMA文件起作用，当你从自己的CD上复制音乐时生成的文件就属于此类文件。对于那些受到复制保护的WMA文件，这种自动转换功能是不起作用的，除苹果电脑以外其他多数网络音乐商店出售的音乐文件就属此类文件。
问：我为什么不能利用我的Treo 600智能电话作为中介，让Windows电脑中Outlook的通讯录和Macintosh电脑中的Apple Address Book通讯录实现同步？
答：我从来没有试过这样做，但我觉得这种办法没有理由不成功。为了与Outlook实现同步，你可能应该在Windows电脑上安装Palm的桌面软件而不是Palm的通讯录。你可能已经这样做了，如果你还没做的话，你可能需要好好琢磨一下，用上Treo的安装盘。
接下来，你还需要在Mac上安装一些东西，以让Treo和苹果电脑的通讯录做到同步。这一步很简单，你只需用Treo的安装盘在Mac电脑上安装Mac版Palm桌面，并运行苹果内置的iSync同步程序即可，这个程序能让Treo与Address Book做到同步。
然后，你每天就可以先将Treo与Windows电脑的Outlook通讯录同步，然后再与Mac的通讯录同步即可。为了避免三种设备之间信息冲突造成的麻烦，你可以只对其中一个设备的通讯录进行增减和编辑。
问：是否有一个网站能让我查到你过去写作的专栏文章？
答：你可以在
http://ptech.wsj.com上找到我过去90天内写作的所有专栏文章，这是一个免费网站，但没有搜索功能。在
http://wsj.com上也可以搜索到我8年内写的专栏文章，但只限于付费的注册用户使用。我不能将专栏文章通过电子邮件发给读者。
