Microsoft tells me they don’t plan to issue a “recommended” hardware configuration for Windows 7, because the company believes there are too many varied uses to cover, and that any such statement would be too complex. The company also claims its minimum requirements have proved “generous” enough to cover most cases during the year of widespread testing of pre-release versions.

The minimum required hardware for Windows 7 is as follows: a 1 gigahertz or faster 32-bit or 64-bit processor; 1 gigabyte of memory for the 32-bit version of Windows 7 or 2 GB for the 64-bit version; and 16 GB of available hard disk space for 32-bit or 20 GB for 64-bit. In addition, Windows 7 will require a graphics card or integrated graphics chip that is compatible with at least Microsoft’s DirectX 9 graphics system and at least the 1.0 version of its graphics driver standard called WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model).

More details are at: windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements. I would suggest at least doubling the memory Microsoft recommends, not because I believe the company is lying, but to give yourself some headroom as your needs and interests grow.

I have used Mac laptops for the past 15 years, and am in the market for a new machine. When it comes to computers, I’m not “the sharpest knife in the drawer,” and I only use my laptop for very simple, basic tasks. What new laptop would you recommend? I do not desire or need exceptional file storage, graphic capability or any other esoteric spec.

You could get a cheap, small Windows laptop called a netbook, which would meet your simple needs. Acer, Asus, Lenovo and others make good ones. But I’m not sure that’s the best choice for you, given your self-description. If you’re a longtime Mac user, and you are used to the Mac, I’d suggest you consider sticking with it, because any netbook would require you to learn a new operating system and new software, even for simple tasks. Mac laptops are excellent machines, with a great operating system and built-in software. The only negative is cost, which you didn’t mention as a criterion. Apple doesn’t make bargain laptops. The cheapest Mac laptop, at $999, costs about triple what you could pay for a netbook.

I would like to change my Internet Service Provider (ISP), but fear doing so, since the task of informing all my email contacts of the new address seems grossly laborious. Are you aware of any utility available that will perform this task accurately?

The only one I ever tested is called TrueSwitch, and is available at trueswitch.com. It is a service that copies all your email, address books, calendar entries and bookmarks from the old ISP to the new one; notifies everyone in your address book of your new email address; and even forwards email from your old address to your new one for 30 days. It costs $20, but is free if you are switching to certain services, including Yahoo or Comcast.

One caveat: My test of TrueSwitch occurred five years ago, and, while it worked well then, I can’t be certain that it still does.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

I have Firefox on my home laptop, but Internet Explorer on my office laptop. Can I transfer my Firefox bookmarks on my home computer to IE on my office computer using the Foxmarks bookmark-synchronization service you recommended? And how would I go about doing it?

Yes. You start by uploading your bookmarks from Firefox at home to your Foxmarks Web account, using the Firefox version of Foxmarks. That will establish the bookmark collection on the Web site as identical to your Firefox collection. Then, you install the IE version of Foxmarks on your office computer, and, when it prompts you to sync, you can either merge the Web-based bookmarks you previously uploaded from Firefox with the ones already on IE, or choose the option to overwrite the IE bookmarks entirely with the ones online.

Does the Foxmarks service work with AOL’s browser bookmarks?

AOL’s browser is not supported. Neither are some other browsers, such as Opera or Google’s Chrome. Foxmarks currently comes in versions only for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari (Mac version only). The Firefox version also works with Flock, which is a browser heavily based on Firefox.

Do you have any idea what the realistic hardware requirements will be to run Windows 7?

Microsoft hasn’t announced these yet. But the requirements for the current beta version are likely to be similar to those for the final release. The beta hardware requirements are: a 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor; 1 GB of system memory; 16 GB of available disk space; support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory available for graphics; and a DVD-R/W Drive.

In the past, Microsoft’s minimum requirements have tended to understate what’s needed to run Windows well, even when doing typical tasks. It’s too early to say if this will be true of Windows 7. But I can say that, in my testing so far, the beta of Windows 7 runs much more quickly and smoothly than Vista on the same hardware.

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

You recently wrote that people should make sure new laptops have the new, faster “n” version of Wi-Fi built in. But how do you do that? All I see are impenetrable feature descriptions such as: “Built-in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g).” I cannot understand this language.

Computer retailers too often insist on using techno-babble or engineering lingo, even when referring to frequently used terms like “Wi-Fi.” In my view, this practice is either lazy, or arrogant, or deliberately designed to confuse.

In this case, the product description you quote in your question is indeed referring to Wi-Fi when it uses the phrases “wireless LAN” and “802.11b/g.” The phrase “LAN” means “local area network,” a means for connecting computers to each other, and to the Internet. Engineers refer to Wi-Fi as “802.11″ followed by a letter like “b” or “g” or “a” or “n.” These letters refer to various flavors of Wi-Fi that have different speeds and ranges. The laptop whose description you quote doesn’t offer the “n” type of Wi-Fi, only the older “b” and “g” types.

In your column about the new Gogo service for using Wi-Fi on airplanes, you mentioned that iPhones will work with the system. But how can one do this legally, when passengers must turn off the cellular radio on phones aboard planes, and the method for doing that on iPhones also turns off the Wi-Fi function?

The solution is to use the new iPhone (AAPL) operating system version due out July 11. This version allows you to turn off the cellphone radio, while leaving the Wi-Fi radio on. It will come on all of the new 3G iPhones, and will be a free upgrade for the original iPhone models. Of course, on flights without officially approved Wi-Fi, both types of radios must be turned off on all devices.

Your June 26 Mossberg’s Mailbox explained how to export Internet Explorer (MSFT) Favorites. Please explain how to export Firefox 3.0 Bookmarks.

You go to the Bookmarks menu and select “Organize Bookmarks.” In the window that opens, select the star icon at the top and choose either “Backup” or “Export HTML.” The first choice saves your bookmarks in a new format introduced in Firefox 3.0 that preserves tags you may have added to your bookmarks. The second choice has been in prior versions of Firefox and will save your bookmarks in the same sort of format Firefox has previously used.

The file created by the “Backup” method can be imported into another copy of Firefox 3.0 by following the same steps, but choosing “Restore” and then “Choose File.” The file created by the “Export HTML” method can be imported into any version of Firefox using the Import or “Import HTML” function.

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the new All Things Digital web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

All of the major digital maps contain erroneous information about our street in Virginia, and don’t even show several new streets near our home that were built over three years ago. I infer that there is one source of cartography used by these Web services, and also by my Garmin navigation system. But I can’t find out what it is. How can an individual get something like this corrected?

There are actually two main companies that make the underlying maps that most of the navigation-device makers and digital-map sites use. One is called Tele Atlas (TLATF.PK), and one is called Navteq (NVT). Garmin (GRMN) uses Navteq. Each mapping company has a Web page where users can report errors or changes.

For Navteq’s error-reporting Web page, go to navteq.com and click on “Map Reporter.” For Tele Atlas’ similar page, go to teleatlas.com and click on “Report Map Changes.”

In reading your review of the new Gogo in-flight wireless Internet system, I wondered about two things: Does it support “virtual private networks,” and when will it be installed on Amtrak trains?

While I didn’t test this, Gogo’s maker, Aircell, says that VPNs, which are used by many big companies, do indeed work over the service.

As for Amtrak, the Gogo system wouldn’t work for trains, because its antennas point up, into the sky, and don’t cover ground locations like railroad tracks. However, if you are on an Amtrak train in an area where cellphone towers are near the tracks, and your laptop computer or cellphone can pick up cellular data signals, you can already surf the Web and do email and other online tasks on the train.

In fact, I happen to be writing this column on an Amtrak Acela train between Washington and New York, and, using a Verizon (VZ) laptop card, my laptop is able to access the Internet with only occasional lapses.

Because of problems I had with my computer, I lost my Internet Explorer favorites. How can I save them so I can easily restore them if they get wiped out again?

There are several methods. You should, of course, be backing up all your key data, including your browser favorites or bookmarks, regularly, either to a local external disk, or to an online backup service. That would create a fairly fresh backup of your favorites. You could also use one of several Web sites that specialize in hosting, and sharing, bookmarks or favorites. They allow you to add bookmarks to your online list as you surf, and also to upload and download the favorites and bookmarks you keep locally on your computer. The best known of these sites is probably del.icio.us, which is at http://del.icio.us.

The simplest method, however, is probably to just export your favorites to a file and save it in your Documents folder, on your desktop, or on a USB thumb drive. You can then use this file to restore your favorites in case of disaster. To do this in the latest version of Microsoft (MSFT) IE, click on the “Add to Favorites” button, select “Import and Export,” click “Next,” then click “Export Favorites” and walk through the steps that follow. Detailed instructions for all versions of IE are at: support.microsoft.com/kb/211089.

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the new All Things Digital web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

I am shopping for a new laptop, and noticed that some of the models in which I am interested come with Windows Vista Business edition instead of Home Premium, which I understand is the main consumer version. What would I be missing if I went with the Business version instead?

The main thing Vista Business lacks that Home Premium includes is a series of multimedia features. These include Media Center, which allows you to play songs and videos, and view photos, from across a room. In addition, Home Premium offers Windows Movie Maker software for creating movies, DVD maker, and several games the Business version lacks.

On the other hand, the Business edition has some things Home Premium doesn’t, including built-in programs for doing a complete PC backup, for faxing and scanning, and for remotely running programs on another computer. For the most part, however, Vista Business looks and works like Home Premium.

I just bought a new laptop, and want to transfer to it the Firefox bookmarks I have on my old desktop. How can I do that?

There are a number of possible methods, but here’s a simple, straightforward approach.

First, you export the bookmarks from Firefox on your old desktop PC, which creates a single file containing the bookmarks. Then, you copy that file, which Firefox names by default “bookmarks.html,” to a CD or portable USB drive or some other medium you can use to transfer files between computers. Then, you copy the file to the new laptop. Finally, you import the file into the fresh copy of Firefox on the new laptop.

To carry out this process, you use Firefox’s import and export function for bookmarks. On the first computer, from the Firefox Bookmarks menu, choose “Organize bookmarks.” Then, once the bookmark window opens, go to the File menu and choose “Export.” That will create the bookmarks file. After the file is on the second computer, launch Firefox and repeat the process, only this time choose “Import,” and then click on “From File,” and select the file you brought over.

I have Word 2003 and have just started to receive Word 2007 documents, which I cannot open. What is the best solution?

Word 2007 has a new default file format, called DOCX, that is incompatible with older versions, which rely on the long-standing DOC format. The new version can be set to always save files in the old format, but not everyone knows that or chooses to do so.

However, folks such as you with the 2003 version of Word can install a free “Compatibility Pack” from Microsoft that will allow your copy of Word to read the new format. It can be obtained from the company’s Download Center, at www.microsoft.com/downloads. You’ll find it listed there under “Popular Downloads.”

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

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 installing Windows Media Center, opening files in Safari and transferring 8mm films to DVDs.

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.

I want to upgrade my laptop to Windows Media Center. I have an external TV tuner and I acquired the software through a friend who got it free with his computer, but would rather run regular XP. If I just install Windows Media Center and plug in the tuner, everything should work OK?

I’ve never tried this, but I doubt it will work. Media Center isn’t a software program, but a flavor of the Windows operating system itself, so you’d be upgrading or replacing your current version of Windows, which could alter many things on your machine. It might not work at all, because Microsoft only sells Media Center with new PCs.

Even if installation did somehow work, however, you’d probably get trapped in Microsoft’s “activation” process. In order to run any new copy of Windows, it must be “activated” by Microsoft, and I suspect the copy your friend gave you would be recognized as one that came with a particular new PC and activation would be denied on grounds of piracy, which would eventually cause your computer to stop functioning.

I just switched from a PC to an iMac. On Windows, I used Firefox as my Web browser, and I could right-click on any link or bookmark, and it would open in a new tab. In the iMac’s Web browser, Safari, I cannot find the same function. Have I overlooked something?

Safari offers similar functionality, including the right-clicking — if you have a two-button mouse. But it only works with links, and with individual bookmarks in the Bookmarks Bar. Bookmarks inside folders, or in the main Bookmarks menu, can’t be opened in a new tab by right-clicking on them. Also, in Safari, you have to first go into preferences and make sure tabbed browsing is turned on.

Bear in mind that you can also use Firefox on your Mac. The Mac and Windows versions are nearly identical. Oddly, on the question you raise, the Mac version of Firefox behaves like Safari, not like Firefox on Windows.

I have lots of old regular 8mm films in the closet, and I’d love to have all of these reels transferred to DVD. What’s the best method and how expensive would it be to transfer perhaps 10 hours of this film to DVD?

I suggest using a service to do this. The best one I know of is called YesVideo (www.yesvideo.com). It charges $49.99 for the first 250 feet, and 10 cents per foot thereafter. But you can’t send the film directly to YesVideo. You have to go to a retail store that partners with the company, such as a Best Buy or Ritz Camera shop. Details, including a store locator, are on the company’s Web site.

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 synchronizing bookmarks in Firefox among multiple computers, balancing performance and price when buying a computer and permanently deleting files.

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.

I was wondering if there is software or a plug-in that would allow me to synchronize my bookmarks in Firefox among multiple computers. I’ve looked but couldn’t find anything.

You can add functionality to the Firefox Web browser by installing small add-ons called extensions. Some of these are designed to synchronize bookmarks among multiple Firefox-equipped computers, over the Internet. I haven’t tested any of them, so I can’t recommend any particular one. But here’s how to find one.

In Firefox, go to the Tools menu, select Extensions, and then click on the link at the bottom of the window that says “Get More Extensions.” This will take you to a Web page filled with extensions and other add-ons of every type. In the search box, type in the word “synchronize,” and you’ll see some choices. You can also browse the category at the left of the page called “Bookmarks.”

Will a high-end computer perform concurrent multiple office tasks (i.e., Word, Quicken, Internet search) faster and more efficiently than a budget computer?

Sure, because a high-end computer, costing more than $1,500, will have more memory, a faster processor and faster internal pathways through which data can flow. Budget models, costing under $500, have slower, smaller, more bare-bones versions of these components. However, there’s a middle path. If you don’t need the very fastest switching among windows or concurrent programs, a midrange, $600-$800 computer with at least 512 megabytes of memory should do the trick. It will handle concurrent programs and switch between them with a delay so slight as to be fine for most users.

How do I delete files on a computer so that they can’t be recovered by anyone else?

When a file is deleted on a computer, the actual contents of the file aren’t immediately wiped out or overwritten. They can still be recovered by an expert, or even a mainstream user with the right software. To completely delete a file, you need a utility that overwrites the space on your hard disk formerly occupied by the files with multiple layers of nonsense data.

On a Mac, this function is built as an optional deletion method. On a Windows PC, you need to obtain an add-on program that does this. The best one I’ve tried is Window Washer from Webroot, available for $30 at webroot.com. It has multiple functions, but the one you need is the “bleaching” function, which permanently erases files.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com