Converting Song Files; Removing TurboTax
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 converting song files, Treo 600 and removing TurboTax.
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: I have ordered an Apple iPod music player, and now need to convert my song files, which are in a format called WMA that the iPod can't play. All of these files came from CDs I own and were created with Windows Media Player. How can I convert them to a format the iPod can handle?
A: The iPod mainly uses two file types -- MP3 and AAC. As you note, it doesn't support the WMA format, which Microsoft created and promotes. You have three choices for conversion:
o If you have relatively few songs, and still have the original CDs, you can reimport the songs as MP3 or AAC files from the original CDs using Apple's iTunes software, which comes with the iPod.
o If you have relatively few songs, but not the original CDs, you could burn them to blank CDs as standard audio files using Windows Media Player. Then, you could use iTunes to reimport the files from these CDs as MP3s or AAC files.
o If you have a lot of files, or more money than time, you can buy a software program that converts WMA files to MP3s. There are many of these, but I haven't tested any. You might search at
www.download.com for "WMA converter."
Q: We recently purchased the Treo 600 smart phone from Palm, but our e-mail program seems to only retrieve e-mail when we manually press "Send and Receive." How can we get the automatic send-and-receive feature you mentioned in your review?
A: There are several different e-mail programs for the Treo, and I don't know which one you have. In most of them, there's a setting under the Options or Preferences menu that allows you to create a schedule for automatic downloading and uploading of personal e-mail. This may be more complicated if you are trying to retrieve corporate e-mail without the aid of your company's IT department.
The e-mail program for the Treo, which I recommend, is called Snapper Mail and costs $39.95. It downloads and uploads personal e-mail automatically. You can learn more, or download the program, at
www.snappermail.com.Q: How do I remove TurboTax for Windows from my computer?
A: According to the TurboTax support site, the easiest way to do it is as follows. First, click Start, choose Programs, locate the entry for TurboTax, and then choose "Uninstall." Click "Yes" at the message: "This will permanently remove this program from your computer. Are you sure that you wish to continue?" Then, click "Yes To All" in the Remove Shared File window, and then click "OK."
That works for the current version, called TurboTax for 2003. If you are trying to remove the 2002 version, however, more steps are involved, because of monitoring software included with that year's version, which has since been dropped. After uninstalling TurboTax in the manner described above, you have to run a separate program called the SafeCast Uninstaller. It's available at support.turbotax.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.
iPod如何播放WMA格式歌曲
问：我购买了一个苹果iPod音乐播放器，现在想要将一些iPod不支持的WMA格式歌曲文件转成iPod可播放的文件。这些WMA文件是用Windows Media Player生成的，存放在我的光盘里。如何才能将这些文件转成iPod能够播放的文件。
答：iPod主要播放两种格式文件－MP3和AAC格式。如你所说，iPod不支持微软的WMA格式。你有三个转文件格式的方法：
1)如果你的歌曲数量相对较少，并且还能找到这些歌曲原来的光盘，你可以使用iPod随机奉送的苹果iTunes软件将这些歌曲从原来的光盘上转成MP3或AAC格式的文件。
2）如果你的歌曲相对较少但是找不到原来的光盘，你可以使用Windows Media Player将这些歌曲录制到空白光盘上，并存成标准格式的音频文件。然后，你可以使用iTunes将文件从这些光盘上载入iPod，并转成MP3或AAC格式。
3)如果你的歌曲很多，或者为节省时间而不在乎花点钱，你可以购买一个能够将WMA文件转为MP3格式的文件。这样的软件有很多，但是我并未测试过此类软件。你可以在
www.download.com上搜索WMA converter词组。
问：我刚刚拥有了一个新的笔记本电脑，但是那些电脑端口让我一头雾水。VGA端口、IEEE1394端口和LAN端口分别连接何种设备？
答：VGA端口是链接外部显示器之用。IEEE 1394端口是连接摄像机和外部硬盘等外部设备的一个快捷连接器。一些设备使用IEEE 1394这一名称，有的设备则使用1394或iLink的名称，还有一些设备使用火线(Firewire)这一名称，这是最广为人知的一个名称。LAN端口也叫以太端口，用来链接一个有线本地电脑网络。LAN的全称是Local Area Network，意思是局域网。
问：有文章称，iPhoto在Mac机上组织和存储数码照片的性能非常卓越。苹果(Apple)是否计划推出一个Windows XP版本的iPhoto。如果没有，在Windows系统中有无类似的软件。
答：就我所知，苹果没有推出Windows版本iPhoto软件的计划。但是在Windows系统中有许多类似的软件。一些软件具有iPhoto所不具有的功能，但是经我测试的软件中没有一个能像iPhoto那样在"简单"和"功能"之间达到这么好的平衡。我最喜欢用的是Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0，但是Picasa和ACDSee等软件有一批拥护者。
