We plan to buy a new computer running the XP version of Windows, not Vista. We are afraid to take the step to the Mac since we are in our 70s, and are just average on the computer. We rely on our children for help when we get into a jam, and they have no experience with a Mac. Would you recommend we venture into Mac land, fear and all?

No. While I believe Apple’s (AAPL) hardware is very good, and the Mac operating system is better than either version of Windows (MSFT), I also believe that average users whose operating system works well for them, and who can buy new hardware that runs the same system, shouldn’t feel pressure to change. That’s especially true when they have a ready source of support.

However, that course of action will become more difficult this summer, when Microsoft plans to stop licensing Windows XP to computer makers for preloading on new machines. That will make Vista the only version of Windows available to new computer buyers. Buying a new Vista PC does require users to learn new techniques and to cope with hardware and software incompatibilities.

I heard that you could still use your AOL email address without paying for the other AOL services, which are no longer used in our household. I am wondering if this is true.

Yes. AOL (TWX) has made its email free. The email service is also now available from a Web site, and no longer requires special AOL software.

I have purchased a new laptop. How do I transfer the songs from the iTunes library on the old laptop into the iTunes library on my new laptop? None of these songs are copy-protected. I created them from my own CDs.

If your setup is typical, I would recommend copying the entire iTunes folder that is found under My Music or Music on a PC, or under Music on a Mac. This folder should contain both a subfolder called “iTunes Music” (which contains the actual song files iTunes manages) and one or more files containing the words “iTunes” and “Library,” which tell the program about your playlists and other details. If your setup is atypical, you may have to copy music files from other folders and have the copy of iTunes on your new machine re-import them.

Another approach is to use an iPod, if it has all your music and playlists on it. There are small utility programs available on the Web that will copy the contents of an iPod, including playlists, into a fresh version of iTunes on another computer. One that I have used successfully is called Music Rescue and is at www.kennettnet.co.uk. It comes in both Windows and Mac versions. But there are others.

Reminder: if you are discarding or giving away the old computer, be sure to deauthorize it from your iTunes Store account before doing so. Just go to the “Store” menu in iTunes and click on “Deauthorize computer…”.

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 can’t figure out how to remove a song from my iPhone. How do I do it?

Unlike an iPod, the iPhone has no purely manual-mode option, which would allow you to drag songs on and off of it. However, there are alternative methods.

The simplest approach is to connect your iPhone to your Windows PC or Mac, and allow it to synchronize as usual. Then, select your iPhone in the list at the left edge of the iTunes window in order to bring up the iPhone-settings functions in the large window at the right in iTunes. Click on the Summary tab, and check the option called “Only sync checked items.” This will limit the songs and videos the computer places on the iPhone to those for which you have checked the little box that appears next to their names in iTunes. Next, go into your music library, or into any playlists you have selected for syncing with the phone, and uncheck any songs you no longer want on your iPhone. The next time you perform a sync, these songs will be removed from the phone.

Another method is to place all the songs you want on the iPhone into a single specially designed playlist, or several such playlists. Then, go to the Music tab in the iTunes settings screen and click on “Selected Playlists.” Next, check off only your special iPhone-bound playlists. Once this is done, you can control which songs are, or aren’t, synchronized to the iPhone by adding or removing songs from these playlists. If you remove a song from one of these playlists, it will be deleted from the iPhone the next time you perform a sync.

Neither of these methods will delete the songs from your computer or your iTunes library, or prevent them from playing on your computer.

I have tried to download some pictures recently and use them as wallpaper. I am storing them in my My Pictures folder. But, when I choose to make them my wallpaper, they appear multiple times on my desktop. How can I have a picture cover the whole background on my monitor?

Assuming you are using Windows XP, go to the Display control panel and select Desktop, then find the image in the Background list and select it. Then, under Position on the right, select Center or Stretch. Note, however, that if you have downloaded a small image from the Web, and your monitor has a relatively high resolution, the Center option won’t allow the image to fill much of the screen. The Stretch option, while filling the screen, may result in a grainy and/or distorted image.

I was wondering if you could recommend a good service for automated online backup of a PC running Vista. All the services I have found require the user to manually transfer files to the online site. In my ideal world, I could set up my machine to transfer the files during the evening.

There are two automated online backup services I’ve tested and reviewed, Mozy (mozy.com) and Carbonite (carbonite.com).

Both work on Vista, neither requires manual file transfers, and both are good, though I preferred Mozy when I last tried them in December 2006. However, Carbonite has released a new version I haven’t tried yet, and Mozy has also been updated since then. I don’t think you’d go wrong with either. You can read my review at ptech.allthingsd.com/20061214.

Mozy offers two gigabytes of backups free, and charges $4.95 a month for unlimited backup, though you can save by paying one year or two years in advance. Carbonite offers a 15-day free trial, after which you pay $50 a year for unlimited backup, though you can save if you pay upfront for two years.

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

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