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.

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 downloading email to both home and work computers, the differences in Treo models and transferring files between Windows systems.

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 download all my daily emails to both my home and office computers, which are both Dells. I am told that, in order to achieve this, I have to instruct my email program to keep my email on the server. How do I do that?

With most corporate email systems, and with a type of consumer email called “IMAP,” email is synchronized among your computers. But many home users have a type of email called “POP,” which isn’t synchronized.

To get the same email messages on multiple machines, POP users have to instruct the email software on each computer not to delete messages from the remote server when they’re downloaded to one of the PCs. That way, they remain available for downloading onto your other PCs. This is generally accomplished by turning on an option in the settings for your email account, which can be a convoluted process.

In Microsoft Outlook 2003, go to the Tools menu, select Email Accounts, then pick “View or Change Existing E-mail Accounts.” Select the account you want, click Change, then, in the next window, click More Settings. In the next window, select the Advanced tab and click in the checkbox called “Leave a copy of messages on the server.” Then click OK, then Next, and Finish, in the windows that follow. Whew.

In Outlook Express 6, it’s a little easier, but not much. On the Tools menu, select Accounts, then Mail, then the account name you want. Click on Properties, then select the Advanced tab. Check the box next to “Leave a copy of messages on server.” Then click OK, OK and Close.

Both programs allow you to set a number of days for the messages to stay on the server. I recommend setting that to 1 or 2, which is long enough so they’ll be downloaded to all your PCs, but short enough so your mailbox on the server won’t exceed its limits. I also suggest clicking an option that does delete from the server any messages you actually delete on any of your PCs. You’re not likely to want to see those everywhere.

Since the Treo 600 is much cheaper than the newer Treo 650, I am considering getting a 600 instead of a 650. What will I be missing if I do so?

The two models are very similar in their look and feel and their core functionality. The key differences are that the 650 has a much better screen, a removable battery, a slightly better keyboard and a better (but still not great) built-in camera. It also has Bluetooth wireless networking, and it is built much better, because Palm is using a different contractor to assemble the 650 than the one it used for the 600, which was plagued by quality complaints.

I am about to buy a new computer running XP Pro. I want to selectively transfer some, but not all, files from my old Windows 98SE computer over a cable. What is the best program for the job?

I generally recommend IntelliMover by Detto, at www.detto.com. Note, however, that IntelliMover won’t move application programs — only files, like Microsoft Office documents, pictures, songs, etc. If you want to move programs, try Alohabob PC Relocator, at www.alohabob.com.

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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.

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