A: Windows programs cannot be “converted” to run directly in the Mac operating system, which is called Snow Leopard. But, if you use virtualization software like Parallels or VMware fusion, and install Windows, then a Windows program like Microsoft Outlook can run simultaneously with your Mac programs. Technically, you are running it in Windows, but the two operating systems are active at the same time. With both of these virtualization products, you can even hide the entire Windows desktop, so that the Windows program you are running simply occupies a window on your Mac like any Mac program does. You don’t even notice that Windows is running.

In the case of files you created in Windows, the situation is even simpler. Most of the common types of files consumers use—including Microsoft Office documents, MP3 music files, MP4 video files, JPG picture files, text files, Adobe PDF files, and others—can be run in native Macintosh programs without conversion and without the need to run Windows programs. So you can just copy them to the Mac side and use them in Mac programs like iPhoto, iTunes, or the native Mac version of Microsoft Office, which uses the same file formats as the Windows version.

If you have an unusual or proprietary Windows file for which there isn’t an equivalent program on the Mac, you would run it in a Windows program, as described above.

If I am planning to upgrade a Windows XP machine to Windows 7, can I buy the upgrade copy of 7 or must I buy the full version?

A: According to Microsoft’s Web site, XP is one of the older versions of Windows upon which you can indeed indeed use the less expensive upgrade versions of Windows 7. The company’s online store says: “All editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista qualify you to upgrade. So, if you’re running either on your PC today, buy a package labeled ‘Upgrade’.”

I’ve been holding out (for what feels like forever) on purchasing a Netbook because I read that Apple was coming out with one. Can you tell me anything about when they might really begin selling them?

A: Apple executives have said repeatedly and emphatically that they don’t plan to offer a netbook, which is essentially a cheap, small laptop. Instead, Apple is widely believed to be working on a small slate or tablet device that would be controlled via a fingertip touch screen. This would be sort of like a larger iPhone or iPod Touch. The company hasn’t confirmed that such a product is in the works, but many analysts and Apple bloggers predict it will debut early next year.

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 haven’t tested campusbackup.org, whose Student Backup service copies an unlimited quantity of word-processing, spreadsheet, presentation and PDF files, once nightly, to a remote server for $50 a year. But there are other, more versatile options I have tested that, unlike Student Backup, copy photos and music and other types of files. These include MozyHome ($4.95 a month for unlimited storage, at mozy.com) and Carbonite ($55 a year for unlimited storage at carbonite.com). All three work with either Windows or Mac computers.

I read that importing the newly remastered Beatles CDs into iTunes and listening to them on a computer or portable player is like buying a masterpiece and staring at a photocopy of it. Any truth to this? Does importing really lose that much quality?

It depends on how sensitive an ear you have. In most cases, when you import a CD into iTunes or any other software jukebox program, you are converting the songs into a compressed file, such as an MP3 or AAC file. This saves a ton of space on your hard disk, but at least subtly diminishes quality. To an audiophile, that can make a big, negative difference, especially when you add the insult of listening to the music through iPod headphones or small computer speakers. To most of the rest of us, though—especially with rock, pop, urban or country music—it’s no big deal.

However, there is a compromise. If you don’t care about the songs taking up lots more space on your hard disk, iTunes will allow you to import them in a much less compressed format called Apple Lossless or an uncompressed format called WAV. You can choose which format to use in the iTunes Preferences settings. In the latest version of iTunes, called iTunes 9, this particular option is found under the General tab in Preferences, by clicking on the button called “Import Settings.”

Previously I had a Dell and Windows and used Family Tree Maker for genealogy records. Now that I’m an Apple owner, I find that Family Tree Maker does not work on an Apple, only Windows. What can I do about this?

It seems to me that you have three obvious options. If you still have your old Dell, you could crank it up again just for the purpose of running Family Tree Maker. Or, you could buy a boxed copy of Windows and install it on your Mac, which is fully capable of running Windows and Windows programs (assuming it’s an Intel-based Mac). Finally, you could switch to one of the native Mac-based genealogy programs and import your data from Family Tree Maker via the standard GEDCOM file format used in genealogy. One such program, called Reunion, includes specific instructions on importing data from Family Tree Maker on its “Top 10 Questions” page, at leisterpro.com.

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.

I switched from PC to Mac a year ago, but now I am thinking of adding a Windows laptop. If I do, what kind of compatibility problem would I have? I would be using the laptop mostly to write, to send/receive email and to Web browse.

In the old days, there were compatibility problems, but most of those have gone away. Based on your simple predicted usage, I’d say that you should be fine. For instance, both Macs and PCs can interchangeably open and edit all of the major file types — JPG pictures, MP3 music, Microsoft Office documents, Adobe PDF files, etc. Email and instant messages can, of course, be exchanged between the two platforms, even if you are using different programs. And Macs understand Windows file extensions. Also, you can use both platforms simultaneously on the same home network to access the Internet.

In some cases, you might need different programs to open the same files on the two platforms. But even that obstacle has greatly diminished. For instance, programs like the Firefox and Safari Web browsers, Adobe Reader, iTunes, Microsoft Office, Google Earth, Picasa, Photoshop and many others come in native versions for both platforms that can handle the same files. And, of course, Web-based programs like Gmail and Yahoo Mail work on both. Sometimes, the same programs have different features and user interfaces on Windows and Macs, but I haven’t found these differences hard to master.

The biggest problems for average users are Quicken, whose Mac version is inferior and incompatible; Internet Explorer, which is no longer made for the Mac; and Microsoft Outlook, which is replaced on the Mac by a program called Entourage that is similar but uses a different file format. And networking can be tricky. In general, the Mac does a better job of seeing Windows PCs on a network than Windows does of seeing Macs.

I use Outlook Express for my email, and I store a lot of mail in local folders. Is there a simple way to back these up? If I buy a new computer, can they be transferred?

Yes. There are two methods. One is a manual method, which Microsoft explains in a detailed document at this Web site: support.microsoft.com/kb/270670.

The other, quicker, method is to obtain one of several utility programs that can back up your Outlook Express data and, in some cases, allow you to transfer it to another PC. I haven’t tested these in years, and thus can’t recommend one over another. But one example is a free program called Outlook Express Backup, which can be found at genie-soft.com/products/oeb. Another is a $40 program called Outlook Express Backup Wizard, which can be found at: outlook-express-backup.com.

Do you know of an iPhone GPS application that speaks directions? It would make the iPhone similar to a TomTom or Garvin GPS unit.

A: No, but Apple recently announced that, under its new 3.0 operating system for the iPhone, such programs will be possible. Several companies are believed to be working on them, and I expect them to be available later in the year. The reason none exist yet is partly legal, having to do with the licensing of the underlying maps.

• 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.

Has anyone come up with a method that allows people to take pictures with a regular digital camera and then download them wirelessly to a computer, and/or perhaps to the Internet?

There have been a few digital cameras with built-in Wi-Fi wireless capability, but the best and simplest method I know is a $100 product called Eye-Fi. This tiny gadget looks and works like a regular, garden-variety SD memory card, but it packs a Wi-Fi transmitter inside. It fits into a standard SD memory-card slot and is compatible with a wide range of camera models from Canon (CAJ), Kodak (EK), Nikon (NINOF.PK) and others.

Coupled with clever software, and a clever Web site, the Eye-Fi card automatically zips your pictures wirelessly to your PC or Mac, and/or to your choice of over 20 online photo-sharing services.

For more information, see www.eye.fi. For a list of compatible cameras, see support.eye.fi/compatibility/. For a full review of the product, see: solution.allthingsd.com/20071121/.

You mentioned last week that SugarSync might be a good solution for backups, so if one computer dies your files still exist on another system. But what if the doomed computer doesn’t actually die but its files are corrupted by malicious software? Do those newly corrupted files overwrite the good copies on your SugarSync network?

They could do so, depending on which folders you had chosen to replicate on your other computers. Automatic-synchronization services like SugarSync have a tough time telling whether changes to a file are deliberate, accidental or the result of some sort of corruption. Though the last is rare, it could look to SugarSync like you had changed the file on purpose.

One way to guard against that is for a service to offer “versioning” — the practice of maintaining multiple past copies of a file. That way, if a change isn’t intentional, you can go back to the prior, pristine version. Sharpcast, the company that makes SugarSync, says it is planning to add versioning to the service, but offers no specific date. In the meantime, one way to back up a file without fear of its being overwritten by a corrupted version is to upload it to SugarSync’s special “Web Archive” folder, whose contents are never automatically updated.

Have you ever reviewed and suggested a media player for connecting to a home theater to play all songs, videos and photos that exist on your home computers?

Yes, I have reviewed several over the years. The one I find simplest and best designed is Apple TV, which, despite its name, can work fine in a household with no other Apple (AAPL) hardware. It costs $229 and is a small, thin, unobtrusive box that fetches music, photos and videos from your home network using either a wired or a wireless connection. It can connect to your TV set or home theater via a variety of analog and digital ports, including component-video, HDMI, and optical and analog audio. It supports high-definition video and works with any computer, Windows or Mac, that has Apple’s free iTunes software installed and running.

Apple TV handles many standard photo, music and video formats, but it is limited to music and video files that iTunes can handle. That excludes copy-protected files in Microsoft’s formats, and certain open Microsoft formats, but includes common files like MP3s. Apple TV also allows you to access YouTube and to purchase music and TV shows from Apple, and rent movies from Apple, without the use of a computer.

• 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.

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.

Last week you discussed how to uninstall Windows Vista and go back to Windows XP. But I own a Macintosh, and after upgrading to the new Leopard operating system from Tiger, I find I dislike Leopard. How can I uninstall Leopard and go back to Tiger?

To restore the older Tiger operating system after upgrading to Leopard, you should first find the Tiger DVD that came with your Mac. Insert it and reboot your Mac while holding down the “C” key. This will boot the computer from the DVD rather than your hard disk.

On the screen that shows available hard drives for installation, click on the Options button and select the “Archive & Install” option. Also, select the choice called “Preserve Users & Network Settings.” If you have enough free disk space (roughly six gigabytes), Tiger will be reinstalled and your home directory and applications should be preserved.

However, just as with Windows, performing such an operating system “downgrade” on a Mac can be tricky for a nontechnical user. You might want to hire an expert to do it. If you do decide to try it yourself, I strongly urge you to first read an Apple document that contains more details, including some potential pitfalls and limitations of the “Archive and Install” procedure. It’s at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120.

Occasionally, I try to download a song or artist that would be in the “Easy Listening” category, but neither iTunes nor Amazon lists that genre. How can I find them?

In the iTunes store, there is indeed a genre called “Easy Listening” that contains thousands of tracks. The problem is that it’s not listed on the front page of the store. To find “Easy Listening” and the songs it contains, select “Browse” from the box labeled “Quick Links” at the upper right on the store’s front page. Then click “Music” in the far left column and “Easy Listening” in the column labeled “Genre.”

In Amazon’s MP3 download service, I couldn’t find a listing for the “Easy Listening” genre. But some of the songs and artists you’re looking for could be listed under other categories. Try directly searching for an artist’s name or a song title in the search box at the top of the MP3 Downloads page.

Why isn’t a FireWire port included on either of the two new slim laptops you recently reviewed, the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 and the Apple MacBook Air?

Both laptops are so small that they can only include a limited number of ports, though the Lenovo has many more than the Apple. And standard FireWire, also known as “1394″ or “iLink” on some machines, is becoming redundant in mainstream consumer computers, since the USB 2.0 ports offer roughly the same speed and are compatible with many more devices. There is a faster version of FireWire, which Apple uses on most of its desktop models. But there is also a faster version of USB in the works.

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.

Corrections and Amplifications

Due to incorrect information provided by the manufacturer, this column erroneously says that Macintosh users performing a “downgrade” from Apple’s new Leopard operating system to the older Tiger system should select an option called “Preserve Users & Network Settings.” In fact, that option isn’t available when installing an older version of the operating system over a newer one. Users must instead manually relocate their data files and settings after performing the downgrade, a process that is explained at this Web page: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107297.

I listen to opera and other music in languages other than English. Much of this music comes with lyrics and English translations. I like listening on my MP3 player, but I don’t like having to carry around the CD notes to read while I listen. Is there a portable player that would allow me to read the lyrics while I listen?

Yes. The Apple iPods are capable of displaying lyrics while you listen. This capability has been on the standard iPods and on iPod Nanos for a while, and has just been added to the new iPod Touch and to the iPhone. It requires the lyrics to be entered into the song file, either manually or by cutting and pasting.

You enter lyrics using Apple’s companion iTunes software, on either a Windows or a Macintosh computer. To do so, you select the song, then, from the File menu, click on “Get Info.” You then select the tab called “Lyrics,” which brings up an empty window. You can type in the lyrics or first copy them from a Web site (or other source) and then paste them into this window. You then click OK, and, when you synchronize the song with your iPod, the lyrics come with it.

On the standard iPod itself, to view the lyrics while listening, you press the large center button multiple times until the lyrics appear. On the iPod Touch and iPhone, you tap on the image of the album cover while a song is playing. If the song file contains lyrics, they appear.

Does Kodak’s photo software allow one to add titles to the photo — for instance, names of people in group shots?

Yes, as with most photo software, you can add captions or titles to pictures organized inside the Kodak EasyShare software that runs on your computer. You can also add captions to pictures you upload to Kodak’s online photo organizer, which is called Kodak Gallery.

I want to give our five-year-old Dell with Windows XP to a charitable organization. How do I assure myself that all my personal files are safely removed?

One option is to reformat the hard disk, which would leave the computer unusable unless you or the charity bought and installed a copy of Windows, or obtained and installed a free copy of the Linux operating system.

The other option is to leave the operating system and programs intact but “wipe,” or permanently delete, all the personal files that concern you, using a “file wiper” program that overwrites the contents of the file with nonsense data. There are a variety of such programs, including some that are free. To find these, go to download.com and search for “file wipe” or “file wiper.” If you’re willing to spend $30, you might want to use a program I have tested and can recommend called Window Washer, available at webroot.com. It has a “bleaching” function that wipes files, and also has the ability to erase any tracks left by your Web browser.

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.

My IT department will not turn on the feature in our servers that would allow me to receive corporate email on my iPhone. This has forced me to revert back to my BlackBerry Pearl. Can I transfer my iTunes music to my Pearl?

It depends on what you mean by “iTunes music.” If you mean music you bought from the iTunes store in protected format — which describes most of the store’s catalog — the Pearl can’t play it, unless you go through a laborious multistep process to convert it to unprotected files. If you mean unprotected music that is managed by the iTunes program on your PC, the Pearl can handle it as long as it is in open formats supported by the Pearl, including the MP3 or open AAC formats.

To get these files into your Pearl, simply use the music-transfer software that came with the Pearl to copy the songs from your computer’s hard disk to either the Pearl’s internal memory or to a flash memory card you may have in your Pearl.

I recently purchased a new iMac with the Leopard operating system, and have installed Windows Vista on it as well, using Leopard’s Boot Camp feature, so the Mac can boot into either OS. I would like both of those operating systems to share an external hard drive so I can back up my files. Is it possible to do that?

Yes, provided you follow one of two scenarios. The first would be to format the external drive as a Windows drive, but be careful to use the Windows format called “FAT32,” not the one called NTFS. Out of the box, Macs can see all Windows drives and can read from them all. But they can only save files to Windows drives that use the FAT32 system for organizing files. The downside of this is that the FAT32 system only allows files of up to 4 gigabytes each.

The other scenario would be to use a Mac-formatted external drive, which doesn’t have that limitation. Of course the Mac operating system can handle such drives perfectly, but Windows can’t even see them. However, in your Vista setup, you can install a third-party Windows program called MacDrive 7, which allows Windows to both read from, and write to, Mac-formatted drives. I have tested it successfully with Vista under Boot Camp on an iMac. The $50 program can be downloaded from mediafour.com.

The hard disk on my new Sony VAIO laptop is filling up fast. It is trying to get me to watch a lot of movie trailers. Is all that video stored in my machine somewhere and if so can I dump some of it out?

If your Sony laptop is like mine, not only are the unwanted movie trailers pre-loaded on your hard disk, but so are the entire movies, which Sony actually charges you to watch. In my case, these files took up over 4 gigabytes of precious disk space. This is a particularly outrageous example of what I call “craplets,” unwanted trial software that litters new Windows desktops. You can delete these files and reclaim all that disk space without any harm to your computer.

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 printing wirelessly from a digital camera, Intel processors, and playing iTunes songs on a Treo.

Is there a way to print wirelessly from a digital camera to a printer?

Yes. A number of digital cameras include Bluetooth, and a few even have Wi-Fi. These wireless technologies allow you to send your pictures to a wireless-equipped printer, over varying distances. In some cases, you can also use this wireless capability to transfer the pictures in the camera to a computer, without the use of cables or the need to remove the memory card.

I am a high-school student and am buying a Dell laptop for use during a semester in Israel. I plan to use the computer only for word processing, watching videos, listening to music, viewing pictures and using the Internet (no gaming whatsoever). Does it matter whether I get Intel’s Core Duo, or Core 2 Duo processors? Also, would you recommend purchasing 1 or 2 gigabytes of memory?

Assuming you are on a budget, I would suggest the Core Duo, since the extra speed and power of the Core 2 Duo won’t make any significant difference in the kinds of tasks you will be performing. However, I would advise spending extra for 2 gigabytes of memory if the computer comes equipped with the new Windows Vista operating system. If you opt for the older Windows XP operating system (assuming it’s available on the model you choose) you will be giving up some degree of security, but you can also get away with just 1 gigabyte of memory.

Is there a way to “authorize” the copy-protected songs I bought from iTunes so they play on a Treo 700wx? Are there any cellphones that can play these songs?

No, you can’t directly play copy-protected songs you have purchased from iTunes on a Treo, because Apple hasn’t licensed the decoding software to Palm, which makes the Treo. The only way to make them playable on your Treo is via a laborious work-around, in which you burn the songs to CDs on your computer, then reimport them as nonprotected MP3 music files and manually input the artist and title data. After that, you could move them to the Treo and play them.

There are only a few cellphones that can directly play copy-protected music purchased from iTunes. One is the new iPhone, which comes out tomorrow from Apple itself, and contains a full-blown iPod that can hold more than 1,000 songs. The others are a handful of Motorola models, which contain a version of iTunes that can hold and play back up to 100 copy-protected songs.

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 how to use the Palm Treo 650 as an MP3 player, firewalls for Windows 98, and the new version of iTunes.

I use a Palm Treo 650 with a one-gigabyte memory card. No one can explain to me how to use this phone as an MP3 player. Can you?

Yes. You have to get a Treo-compatible software program that plays MP3s, install it on your Treo and then copy your MP3 song files onto your memory card. The music software will find the files on the card and allow you to play them.

There are two Treo music programs I have used successfully on the 650 model. One is called Pocket Tunes; the other is RealPlayer for Palm. You should check the CD that came with your Treo. One of these programs may be included. It may even be on your Treo already. If not, Pocket Tunes, which costs $15, is at: www.pocket-tunes.com. RealPlayer for Palm is at: www.real.com/palm. It’s free, but it may require you to set up an account with Real’s music service.

Q: My computer’s operating system is Windows 98. Since my current firewall program no longer supports Windows 98, what firewall can I install?

There may be several possibilities, but here’s one. The 2005 edition of Norton Personal Firewall supports Windows 98. If you buy the boxed $50 version of the newer 2006 edition (which doesn’t support Windows 98), the 2005 edition is included. Or you can download the 2005 edition by itself from www.symantecstore.com for $30, though it’s hard to find on the site.

You gave the new version of iTunes a very positive review, but why didn’t you mention that they eliminated two very good features — the equalizer and the “browse” mode that let you sort songs by genre?

Because these two features haven’t been removed, just relocated. The equalizer can be summoned by clicking on the View menu and selecting “Show Equalizer.” The Browse mode is invoked by clicking on the icon shaped like an eye at the lower right corner of the screen.

* * *

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

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 watching Major League Baseball’s streaming Webcasts of games, the capacity of digital music players and the security of Wi-Fi.

I just bought a new Mac and I love it, but I am a die-hard Yankees fan and I find that, with the Mac, I can’t watch Major League Baseball’s streaming Webcasts of games. Is there a way around this?

Since I am a huge Red Sox fan, I hesitate to help you … but I will.

It doesn’t work, because MLB.com this year switched to a Microsoft video format that the Mac version of Windows Media Player can’t handle and it doesn’t support the Safari Web browser that Apple includes on every Mac. There is a workaround: download and use Firefox, instead of Safari; and download and install Flip4Mac, a free program that allows QuickTime to handle the newest Windows Media video format. You can get it at: http://flip4mac.com/.

But even this solution is seriously flawed. The problem — and the Flip4Mac people are working on it — is that it plays only for a few batters or so, and then you have to restart it by relaunching the TV feed in the Web site. This is a pain, but it does work, sort of.

A better solution is to simply run Windows on your Mac, and then play the MLB videos on that. I do this using a product called Parallels desktop, which runs Windows inside a window on your Mac. It’s available at: www.parallels.com.

I am not clear about capacity on digital music players. As far as I can determine, most music CDs run to about 600-700 MB, so a mere 10 CDs would fill most of a 10-gigabyte iPod, correct? On the other hand, I recently read that all of Mozart’s works would fit on a 10-GB iPod. So what’s wrong with my calculations?

When companies calculate the capacity of digital music players in terms of songs or CDs, they base their calculations on the use of music files that have been drastically shrunk from their original size on a CD. This is done by converting the songs to compressed file formats, including the MP3, WMA, or AAC formats. This is what happens when you import, or “rip,” a CD into iTunes or Windows Media Player on your computer in preparation for loading the songs onto a portable player.

A typical MP3 file compresses CD music by a factor of 10 or more. So, a 650-megabyte CD might take up just 60-65 megabytes on a computer or a portable player. There is a price to this compression: The quality of the music file is degraded. However, most people find the quality acceptable, especially with common types of music — pop, rock, country and hip-hop.

Many audiophiles and classical-music fans choose to compress their CDs less drastically, seeking a balance between space-saving and quality. This can be achieved by changing the settings in your music software. Others opt for no compression at all, though, as you noted, that severely limits how much music you can squeeze onto a portable player.

I would like to link up the computers in my home wirelessly but am apprehensive about the security aspects. Is it safe to use Wi-Fi?

Yes, in almost all cases. Wi-Fi networks come with an optional security feature that requires anyone using them to know your password. So, you can turn that on. Even if you don’t, your files would be at risk only if you had a neighbor close enough to access the network who is both skilled enough and nasty enough to want to poke around in your files. In most neighborhoods, that combination is pretty rare, as is the likelihood that hackers will drive down your street in a van with a laptop and steal your secrets.

However, I would also maintain a software firewall and turn off all file-sharing features of your operating system and other software.

There are exceptions. If you live in a large apartment building, the number of potential snoopers who are strangers goes way up, since many more people will be close enough to access your network than they would be in a suburban neighborhood of single-family homes. Also, no security system is perfect. Determined hackers could theoretically break into any wireless network.

But, in most scenarios, I believe Wi-Fi is safe.

* * *

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.

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