A: The built-in backup program in your iMacs, called Time Machine, doesn’t require Apple’s Time Capsule product to work. It will work with almost any brand of directly connected external hard disk.

For instance, I back up my home iMac to a Western Digital drive that’s connected to it via a cable.

As for hard-drive life, it’s my experience that many seem to die sooner or later, especially if they are used heavily. I don’t know if the ones inside the Time Capsule are especially fragile. But, in just the past six months, I’ve had an external hard disk from G-Tech die on me; seen an internal hard disk on my home Dell die for a second time; and discovered that the hard disk on my colleague’s MacBook died.

One way to protect against the failure of a local backup drive is to consider, in addition to using an external disk, backing up your data to an online backup service like Mozy, Carbonite or SugarSync.

My Dell has Microsoft Vista but I can upgrade free to the new Windows 7. However, I was told my antivirus software won’t be compatible and my email will change—the program will no longer be “Windows Mail.” What do you recommend?

A: I regard Windows 7 as much better than Vista, but you are correct that many antivirus programs will require upgrading and Windows Mail will go away during the upgrade. You’ll have to install a new email program, such as the very similar “Windows Live Mail,” which can import your messages. So, the question really is one of trade-offs. If you’re satisfied with Vista, and would rather not perform these program replacements, you should stand pat. If you don’t like Vista, and are anxious to replace it, then the hassles you describe could be worth it.

Will Office 2003 work with the new Windows 7 operating system?

A: Microsoft, which makes both products, says the answer is yes, though I haven’t tested it.

Is it possible that the Verizon Motorola Droid, which doesn’t work in Europe, could be turned into a “world phone” that could work on European cellphone networks via an app somebody might develop?

A: An app wouldn’t be able to do that for the current Verizon Droid. It’s a hardware issue.

Verizon’s Droid, like most Verizon phones, is built to run on a type of network called CDMA that isn’t used in Europe or most other countries outside the U.S., which use a network standard called GSM.

To run on these networks, the Droid, or any other current CDMA phone, would need an entirely different radio, or two radios, one for each type of network.

Verizon offers a handful of so-called “world phones,” which have both kinds of radios inside, but the Droid isn’t one of them. Motorola may well make a new model with two radios, or even a model with one radio that would work overseas, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did so.

What could be done with an app is to allow the Droid to make so-called VOIP phone calls via the Internet.

In fact, while I haven’t checked, there may already be such an app for Android—the Droid’s operating system—that would do so. But, in many cases, making such Internet phone calls requires the user to be in range of a Wi-Fi network. Some carriers don’t allow such calls to be made over their cellular networks.

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

There are lots of reliable online sellers of laptops, and online buying is fine, provided you have somehow handled the machine and are familiar enough with it to be sure it’s the one you (or, in this case, your lucky wife) will be happy owning. In the case of Apple, a company whose products are rarely deeply discounted by third-party sellers, it often makes sense for online buyers to use the company’s own online store, at store.apple.com. I have found Apple’s online store to be easy to use, secure and reliable. And you get some minor benefits at the physical Apple stores if you buy directly from Apple.

However, other major online sellers with equally good reputations also carry Macs, and some do shave the prices. One good example I have used happily is amazon.com, which carries the latest MacBook Pros at discounts ranging from $5 to over $100, depending on model.

How can I set parental controls in Firefox?

The Firefox Web browser doesn’t have built-in parental controls. Its maker, Mozilla, notes that version 3.0 or later of the browser does support some of the parental-control features included in Windows Vista. But if you don’t have Vista, or want different controls, there are some add-ons for Firefox that provide these.

Among the ones Mozilla suggests using are Glubble for Families, and ProCon Latte. More information is at: support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Parental+controls.

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.

I need to use Microsoft Publisher documents on my MacBook. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to do this. I have tried to run it on Microsoft Word, but this didn’t work.

As far as I know, neither Microsoft nor Apple nor anyone else makes a native Mac program that can open or edit Microsoft Publisher documents, which use their own special format, rather than any common cross-platform format.

However, there may be some workarounds. If you own or can borrow a PC and a copy of Microsoft Publisher, you could export the documents as PDF files from within Publisher, and then open them on a Mac. Or you could run Publisher itself on your MacBook, since Macs can run Windows and Windows programs, if you buy and install Windows.

Your Mossberg Solution column recently recommended an add-on for Firefox called Surf Canyon that improves searches. But I am wondering if it’s safe to use, since it is labeled “beta.”

I have been using Surf Canyon in Firefox for months, without any problems. (It also works in Internet Explorer.) You are correct that it’s a beta, but that label doesn’t usually mean a product is unsafe, just that it’s incomplete or unpolished. In the old days, a “beta” product was usually pretty flaky and available only to a very small number of testers until the kinks were worked out. Now, especially with Web-related products, a “beta” is often just another word for version 1.0 of a product. It is open to all, and may not work perfectly, but is usually not dangerous to your computer.

Is there a legal way to use a smartphone as a modem for a laptop?

Yes, indeed. It depends on your carrier, and your plan, and your phone, but it can be done, perfectly legally, either using a cable or Bluetooth wireless to connect the phone to the laptop. Note that, depending on your plan, the carrier may well charge you an added monthly fee for this privilege. Also, the speed of your connection may be a bit slower than the speed you’d get from a cellular data card you insert directly into the laptop or from one that’s built in.

• 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.

Does the new Palm Pre smart phone use the traditional Palm operating system and the many programs that have been written for it?

Palm’s Pre, which is due out later this year to compete with the iPhone and the BlackBerry, doesn’t use this older software, which was once the best smart-phone operating system, but has grown stale. It uses an entirely new operating system called the Palm webOS, which will have to attract developers willing to write new programs for it. It is a clean break from Palm’s previous hardware and software.

How does the Clickfree computer backup system you covered last week compare with Apple’s Time Machine or online backup services like Mozy or Carbonite?

Clickfree simplifies the chore of backing up files to an external hard disk. However, as I noted in the review, it doesn’t back up your whole hard disk, it doesn’t work automatically in the background, and it doesn’t create a backup physically distant from your computer.

Time Machine, which is built into the Macintosh operating system, automatically backs up your entire computer in the background and includes a very easy method for recovering files. It works with external hard disks. But it doesn’t work on Windows PCs, and it doesn’t create a remote backup over the Internet.

Mozy and Carbonite are online backup solutions. Their advantages are that they work unattended and create offsite backups. But they aren’t intended to back up an entire computer, they don’t create a local backup, and they carry service fees.

Does my 13-inch MacBook come with the capability to view PowerPoint files?

No. While Macs come out of the box with the ability to view and create files in the Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF formats, they don’t come with a PowerPoint viewer. In order to view (and create) PowerPoint files on a Mac, your best bet is to buy the Macintosh version of Microsoft Office, which includes PowerPoint itself. There are other methods as well. For instance, Apple’s own lower-priced iWork suite can also open PowerPoint files and create files in the PowerPoint format. And some Web-based office programs, like Google Docs, allow you to view PowerPoint files on Macs.

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.

I want to purchase an e-reader. Currently I use my Palm Tungsten, but the screen is rather small for reading books. I purchased the Amazon Kindle for my niece but I do not like the design of it. Are there any other e-readers on the market that have a full keyboard and can connect to the Internet?

A: There may be some obscure models that do, but the main competitor to the Kindle, Sony’s Reader, lacks a direct connection to the Internet. You have to purchase titles on a computer and then move them to the device. The Reader does have a keyboard, but it’s virtual, not physical.

I’m considering the new 13″ aluminum-body MacBook. I’m a nontech guy doing routine computing tasks. I own an iMac and I’m ready to add a laptop. The only downside to the new MacBook seems to be the absence of a FireWire port. Is that a deal killer?

I don’t believe so. At one time, FireWire (also called 1394 or iLink on some computers and peripheral devices) was much faster than USB, but now the two are about the same speed. At one time, plugging most camcorders, or many external hard disks, required FireWire. Now both types of devices typically use USB or offer both types of ports.

If you are a professional photographer, videographer or musician with a heavy investment in USB peripheral devices, then the lack of a FireWire port may make the new MacBook a non-starter. But for an average user, unless you have invested in FireWire-only peripherals, I don’t think its absence would matter at all. Besides, you still have your iMac, which includes FireWire.

• 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.

Do you still recommend the Dell XPS One all-in-one computer that you favorably reviewed last December? I am not a techie at all but need to replace my 5-year-old Dell and was interested in an all-in-one.

Yes. In fact, I now own two of these Dell XPS Ones and use them as my Vista desktop computers, at home and in the office. I still believe, as I wrote in my review, that this Dell’s hardware is superior to that of the competing Apple iMac, though the Vista operating system is inferior to Apple’s. And the base XPS One now costs the same as the base iMac — $1,199 — instead of $300 more, as it did last year. So, if you want the Windows operating system, and like the look and convenience of an all-in-one desktop, I still favor the XPS One. You can find my review at tinyurl.com/2xw 6mv.

Will Apple’s new MacBooks and MacBook Pros run Windows directly without an intervening “virtual machine” program like Parallels or Fusion?

Yes. All Apple Macs running the current Leopard operating system, including the new laptops, come with the ability to directly run Windows XP or Vista. Using Apple’s built-in “Boot Camp” feature, you can start up the computer in Windows, instead of the Mac’s own operating system, which turns the Mac into a pure Windows machine, with no trace of the Mac operating system running. The upsides of this approach are maximum Windows speed, and compatibility with the most graphics-intensive Windows programs, including games. Note that, to run Windows on a Mac, you must obtain and install a fresh, boxed, full version of XP or Vista. Apple doesn’t supply Windows.

I have a Yahoo email account, and wonder if Yahoo allows receipt and storage of email directly via a computer email program, such as Outlook, or is it all Web storage? Can you do both?

Yes. Yahoo offers a “Plus” option, for $20 a year, that permits users to receive and store their Yahoo email using a locally installed, instead of Web-based, email program. This approach does work with Microsoft Office, as well as many other local email programs. And you can still use Yahoo’s Web-based email interface at the same time. The Plus option also includes other benefits, including the elimination of ads and a doubling of the size limit on individual messages, to 20 megabytes.

• 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.

I need some help sending videos to others. It seems that every video I try to send in various ways is always too large. I’ve tried to use a program that works with Outlook to compress the email attachment, but it’s always still too large. Is there a solution other than uploading them onto YouTube or something similar?

I suggest you try one of the services that specifically exist to transmit files that are too large for email. They typically work by having you upload the files to their servers, which, unlike YouTube, don’t expose them to the world. Seconds after you upload these files, your recipients receive an email that includes a specific link to the file you uploaded. The email is small because it includes only the link, not the file itself. The recipient clicks on the link, and the file is downloaded to his or her computer.

The service I use for this is called YouSendIt, and can be accessed at yousendit.com. It works in all the major Web browsers, and on both Windows and Macintosh computers. The company has a free plan that covers files of up to 100 megabytes in size, and allows each file to be downloaded up to 100 times, or up to a gigabyte of total downloads each month. For $10 a month, you get a maximum file size of two gigabytes, 500 downloads per file, and a monthly maximum limit of 40 gigabytes.

In my experience, YouSendIt works well. It can be used directly from within a browser, or via a small program called YouSendIt Express, that lives on your computer and handles large files faster than the browser version does. YouSendIt also offers an Outlook plug-in that can automatically route large downloads via the service rather than through regular email, though I haven’t tested this plug-in.

Our daughter is heading off to college this fall. She will be an art/graphic-design major, and the school recommended that she buy an Apple MacBook. I’m not sure if she should get what the college calls the “midlevel MacBook” or the “advanced MacBook.” The only differences are a slightly faster processor, a hard disk that is 40 gigabytes larger, and a “SuperDrive” for CDs and DVDs rather than a “Combo” drive. The price difference is $90. Which should we buy?

Either machine would be fine, and a lot depends on your budget, since college itself is of course very expensive. But I think, in this case, the extra $90 would be worth paying. This has nothing to do with the processor speed, which she probably wouldn’t even notice. But, if she is going to be creating a lot of graphics files, which can be large, the extra hard-disk space could be important.

The same goes for the CD/DVD drive options. The “SuperDrive” is Apple’s term for a drive that can create both DVDs and CDs, while the “Combo” drive can create only CDs. (Both drives can play both types of disks.) For someone who is producing large files, the ability to create DVDs can be handy, since DVDs have much higher capacities than CDs.

My laptop has been infected by rogue viruses, posing as antispyware programs, that I can’t get rid of. When I go on Google, I find a number of sites that claim to offer free software that will get rid of them, but I am reluctant to download anything onto my machine from a source that I am not sure of. What’s a reliable program that will do that job?

I would immediately buy a genuine, legitimate commercial antispyware program, install it and run it. The best ones I know of are Spyware Doctor by PC Tools, at pctools.com, and Spy Sweeper from Webroot, at Webroot.com. Each costs $30, but that price can save you a lot of heartache.

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

My computer takes forever to start up. I am tempted to just put it into hibernation or standby when I am done with it for the day, so that starting up will be quicker. Would I be damaging my computer by doing so?

Doing this shouldn’t cause any damage to your computer. For many users, one of these two techniques is standard procedure, in fact. Standby, or sleep, mode, gets you back to work more quickly, because the machine never completely shuts down. Its biggest downside is that, on occasion, computers fail to “awaken” properly from this mode, and you have to do a full restart. So I would advise that you carefully save any work before initiating standby.

In my experience, this kind of glitch is less likely to happen when you use hibernation, in which the computer does completely shut down, but first saves to the hard disk a record of the state of the machine.

When the computer restarts, all open programs and files are restored just as you left them. The downside here is that getting going again using hibernation takes longer than it does using standby mode. And, even though it’s more reliable than standby mode, I’d still advise saving all your work each time before using hibernation.

I am thinking about switching to a MacBook Pro laptop. I understand that it has a real good automatic Wi-Fi detection system. But if I also use a cellular modem card from Verizon or Sprint to access the Internet, won’t the two conflict?

No. The Mac operating system treats the two kinds of connections separately, each with its own user interface. It can detect and connect either one, if you have coverage of both types.

I’m interested in getting a laptop with LED display and SSD drive. Do you think the price for those components will fall drastically in three months’ time?

Displays that use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been around for a while and don’t tend to be a major deal breaker in the higher-end laptops in which they are commonly offered. But solid-state drives (SSDs), which replace hard disks with memory chips to store your data, are much rarer and newer and still can add significantly to the price of even a high-end laptop. I am no expert in price forecasting, but, while SSD prices will fall, I doubt they will drop “drastically” in as little as three months.

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.

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 PDAs, Microsoft Office 2003’s compatibility with Vista, and memory upgrades for a MacBook Pro.

My wife has requested that we get her first “PDA” and asked me for my advice on which product to buy. I am unfamiliar with the comparative features and function of BlackBerry and Treo. What would you suggest?

Well, first of all, both of these products are primarily communication devices — they make phone calls and fetch email, in addition to performing the functions of a Personal Digital Assistant. So, if she really just needs a PDA, I’d avoid both of them and get a cheaper Palm PDA that isn’t a phone or email device. The $99 Z22 would do the trick, and, unlike a phone, it requires no monthly fee. However, if she wants a phone-and-email device that is also a very good PDA, the Treo beats the BlackBerry hands down. The latter is first and foremost an email device and now has a decent phone. But its calendar, address book and other PDA functions are weak. The Treo, which evolved from the Palm PDAs, is much better at these tasks, in my opinion, especially for personal, as opposed to corporate, use.

Your columns helped me select a new laptop today that should be able to run Vista Ultimate. However, although two of your columns report that Microsoft Office 2003 should run on Vista, two salesmen at Dell said it wouldn’t. Who’s correct?

A: I am, and it’s sad and troubling that Dell personnel would give out such patently wrong information. One might even suspect they were trying to sell you the newer version of Office when you don’t need it. I have personally tested Office 2003 on a Vista computer, and it runs fine. But, just to make sure, I forwarded your question to a senior person at Microsoft and he replied that the Dell people you spoke to are: “misinformed at the least.” He confirmed that Vista supports both Office XP and Office 2003 (as long as they have been kept up to date with the latest service packs) as well as the new Office 2007. One possible explanation is that the Dell folks you spoke to misunderstood your question. Dell and other companies have ceased selling Office 2003, or will soon stop doing so. Therefore, it’s possible that they were under the impression that you were seeking to buy it, rather than merely to install and run a copy you already owned. But Office 2003 is compatible with Vista.

I own an Apple MacBook Pro laptop that came with 512 megabytes of memory. I am going to upgrade to either one gigabyte or two gigabytes. I am not a gamer. Do I really need two gigabytes for running applications or will one gigabyte suffice? The biggest application I use is Final Cut Studio.

In general, one gigabyte is all a MacBook Pro needs for doing common tasks such as email and Web browsing, word processing, music playback and simple photo and video editing with built-in programs like iPhoto and iMovie. However, Final Cut Studio is a massive video-production program meant for professionals, and it demands lots of memory. In fact, Apple’s Web site for the latest version of the product suggests between two gigabytes and four gigabytes, depending on the content you expect to edit and produce. So I would go with two gigabytes, or even more if your model of the MacBook Pro can handle it. In fact, if you are more of an amateur, I’d consider the lighter-duty Final Cut Express, which Apple says does fine with one gigabyte and can handle high-definition content with two gigabytes.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.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 whether to buy a smart phone now or wait for the iPhone, boosting the range of a wireless connection, and removing junk programs that come with a new computer.

I am in the market for a new smart phone. Should I wait for the Apple iPhone? When will it be available and when will you review it?

Apple says the iPhone is on track to go on sale in “late June,” and I expect to be able to test it and publish a review around that time. There will also be many other reviews around then that you can consult.

I stand by my earlier advice, which is that people shopping for a smart phone, who can wait until then, and who could imagine shelling out $499–the iPhone’s base price–should wait to read the reviews of Apple’s first phone and take a look at it before making a decision. However, if you need a smart phone now, or can’t imagine spending that much, then you can ignore the hype and buy a BlackBerry, or a Treo, or another competitor.

Three other key factors could also make you reasonably ignore the iPhone. It will lack a physical keyboard, relying on virtual keys that appear on the screen, so if you prefer a real keyboard, the iPhone would be a nonstarter for you. Also, it will only work on the AT&T wireless network (formerly Cingular) in the U.S. So, if you prefer another wireless carrier, forget the iPhone. Finally, it will only operate on a relatively slow network technology, called EDGE, so if you want a smart phone that operates on the fastest cellular networks, the iPhone is the wrong choice, even though it will also include Wi-Fi wireless networking.

The wireless connection to my wife’s Windows XP computer keeps going down. The computer is about 75 feet (but through three walls) from my Dell Truemobile 2300 router. Should I assume I need a better, more powerful router? And, finally, will it also connect to my MacBook Pro laptop?

A more powerful router might help, but wireless reception varies greatly depending on home construction and layout. You might look for a new router that features a technology called MIMO, which I have found in my tests can improve both speed and range. Even with a new router, you might also have to move its location. There are also various boosters and repeaters that can be used, though some of these require more technical expertise to install than most folks have.

One good method for extending the range of a wireless connection is to buy a set of so-called powerline adapters. These carry your network signal over plain old electrical lines, and some models allow you to create a wireless network by plugging a wireless router into such an adapter in a distant room. I described these adapters in more detail in a column you can find at: ptech.allthingsd.com/20060817/powerline-adapters-access.

In my own home, I have used both MIMO routers, and powerline adapters, successfully with mixtures of Windows and Apple Macintosh computers, including the MacBook Pro, and various Dell, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard laptops.

Can I remove the junk programs that came with my new computer–the ones you call “craplets”–by using the “Add or Remove Programs” control panel in Windows?

Yes, but that is a tedious manual process and may not get them all. Also, in Windows Vista, that control panel has been renamed and is now called “Programs and Features.”

Instead, I would suggest first downloading and running a free program specifically designed to eliminate craplets, the crippled trial programs and advertising come-ons that are now packed into so many new Windows PCs. This program is called “The PC Decrapifier” and can be found at pcdecrapifier.com. If this program misses a few of the junk items you want gone, you can then use the manual method.

* * *

Because of the volume of email I receive, I can’t routinely answer individual questions by email, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.

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