Deciphering Scam Security Programs
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 scam security programs, importing song files to iTunes and transferring Microsoft Works spreadsheets to Microsoft Excel.
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: A new security program suddenly appeared on my desktop and reported that I had over 17,000 problems that needed to be fixed. It also requested money in order to fix these problems. Is this a genuine problem I need to fix and can I only fix it with this program?
A: I strongly doubt it. If a "security program" you don't know sends you a scary message like this, it is usually a scam and should be ignored. Some malicious software -- spyware and adware -- plants itself on hard disks without notice or permission and poses as security software. In some cases, these programs actually spread more malicious software instead of cleaning it up.
A good rule is to ignore any security software you didn't consciously install or that wasn't preinstalled on your computer. In fact, you should treat such software as an infection. You should run an antispyware program to try to remove it. Naturally, you should believe and take seriously any warning or alert from a genuine security program that came with your PC or which you installed deliberately.
Q: Because of a virus, I had to reformat my hard disk. Luckily, I had backed up all my song files to an external hard disk, and was able to recover them. But the recovered files were placed in Windows' My Documents folder and don't show up in iTunes, where I want to play them. How do I import the music from the My Documents folder back into iTunes?
A: You can restore them to your iTunes library by going to the iTunes File Menu, and selecting "Add Folder to Library." Then, just select the My Documents folder, and iTunes will fill its library with all the songs in that folder.
You can either allow iTunes to use the song files where they are, or you can instruct the program to copy them to the iTunes Music folder, which is several levels down in My Documents. To choose between these options, go to the iTunes Preferences window, click on the Advanced button, and check or uncheck the option that says "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library." Make this choice before you use the "Add Folder to Library" command.
If you do decide to allow iTunes to copy the files to its own folder, you can then delete them from the main My Documents folder, so you don't have two copies of each. Just check first to make sure all the files have been properly copied.
Q: I have some important financial spreadsheets I created in Microsoft Works. I have been unable to find a way to way to transfer these documents to Microsoft Excel on my new computer. Is there some way for me to do this?
A: If you still have the Works software, and it's a fairly recent version, you can open these files in Works and use the Save As command to save them in Microsoft Excel format. Then, you can just open the files in Excel.
If that isn't possible, or doesn't work, and the old spreadsheets are really important, you might download and use a $60 program made in Germany that converts Works spreadsheet files to Excel format. It's available at:
www.rl-software.com. Although I haven't tested this program, the company says that it doesn't require Works to be installed, that it integrates with Excel, and that it comes with a utility that can convert multiple Works spreadsheets in a batch.
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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.
揭露伪装的安全软件
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伪装的安全软件、向iTunes中导入歌曲以及将Works文件转换成Excel格式等问题。
问：我的电脑桌面上突然出现了一个安全程序，它提醒我说电脑上有超过17,000个问题需要修复，并向我索要修复这些问题的费用。我的电脑真的有问题吗？我是否只能用这个程序进行修复呢？
答：这个程序十分可疑。如果一个陌生的“安全程序”给你发送这种吓人的信息，通常都是骗人的，你不要相信。有些恶意软件、如间谍软件和广告软件会偷偷地潜入你的电脑硬盘，然后装成是安全软件的样子。在某些情况下，这些程序会散播更多的恶意软件，而不是将恶意软件清除。
对付它们的一条原则就是：如果出现的安全软件不是你自己安装上去的、或者不是电脑预装的，你就不要去理它。实际上，你应该将此类软件视为病毒，用反间谍软件把它移除。当然，与此同时你还是应该相信、并认真对待真正的安全程序发出的警告。
问：由于感染了病毒，我不得不重新格式化我的硬盘。好在我把所有的歌曲文件都复制到了一个外部硬盘上，因此得以将它们重新恢复。不过，恢复后的文件被存到了Windows的“我的文件”中，而不是我希望它们去的iTunes里。怎样将这些音乐文件从“我的文件”导入到iTunes中呢？
答：要想把歌曲恢复到iTunes中，你可以到iTunes File Menu中，选择“添加文件夹到Library”，然后再选择“我的文件”文件夹，iTunes将把这个文件夹中的所有歌曲添加到它的数据库中。
你可以让iTunes直接从原来的文件夹中读取歌曲文件，也可以让iTunes将歌曲复制到iTunes Music文件夹中，这个文件夹在“我的文件”中。如果要选择其中一种做法，你可以到iTunes Preferences界面，点击“高级”按钮，然后根据需要在“加入数据库时将文件复制到iTunes Music中”选项前进行选择。你需要在使用“将文件夹添加到数据库中”命令前进行这项设置。
在你让iTunes将文件复制到它自己的文件夹中后，你就可以将“我的文件”中的歌曲文件删除，否则的话这些文件就重复了。当然，之前一定要确认所有文件都已复制成功。
问：我有一些用Microsoft Works生成的重要财务表格，我没法将他们转入我新电脑的Excel中，你能告诉我怎么办吗？
答：如果你现在还有较新版的Works软件，你可以将这些文件用Works打开，然后选择“另存新档”命令，将它们存成Excel格式，这样你就可以用Excel打开它们了。
如果这样做不行，而这些表格又特别重要，你还可以下载一个售价60美元、德国公司开发的程序，它可以将Works表格文件转成Excel格式。
www.rl-software.com上有售。尽管我没有测试过这款软件，但这家公司称，用户无需安装Works软件，它是和Excel结合在一起的。这款软件还能同时转换多个Works表格。
