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.

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.

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

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.

* * *

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