I downloaded Internet Explorer 8, but, unlike the old version, it isn’t presenting my bank’s Web page properly. Should I uninstall it and go back to the old version?

Not necessarily. There’s a compatibility button in IE8 you can click that may help render the bank’s page properly. It appears in the top toolbar, just to the right of the address field, when the browser detects that you are on a page that requires it. The button looks like a torn piece of paper.

This button is needed because older editions of Internet Explorer used some nonstandard, proprietary techniques for rendering Web pages. Some Web sites were designed with these techniques in mind, and only worked properly in IE, as opposed to other browsers. Ironically, with the new IE8, Microsoft is moving away from these proprietary technologies. So the compatibility button makes the new version of IE work like the older ones when it encounters a page that expects this.

Do I need a regular wired home phone line to get high-speed Internet service?

No. You can buy high-speed, or broadband, service from a cable company, which supplies the service over the same wire that brings in your cable TV signal, instead of a phone line. You can also obtain broadband service from some satellite services, or from a wireless phone company.

I have a one-year-old 24″ Apple iMac. I would like to burn my movies to Blu-ray discs to play on my Blu-ray player. Do I need an external Blu-ray burner/drive?

Yes. The drive inside your iMac can burn only CDs or DVDs, not Blu-ray discs. But there are external Blu-ray drives available for Macs.

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

I am in the market for a new HDTV and the newspaper ads are using terminology that I’m unfamiliar with. Do TVs rated at “720p” provide the same quality picture as those rated at “1080p”?

Technically, the answer is no, but it may not matter. The 1080p resolution is certainly higher, but almost nobody can tell the difference between the same material shown in the two resolutions on TV screens up to around 50″ in size and at the typical distances from which people watch those screens. Not only that, but most sources of video content, with the exception of Blu-ray discs, can’t even fully utilize 1080p. Major TV networks don’t use it yet because it requires a lot of bandwidth.

If you can afford a set that can handle 1080p, you might want to buy it so that you are ready in case a lot of 1080p content one day becomes available. You might also want a 1080p set if you are a videophile; have an enormous screen or a projector that fills a large wall; or if you play a lot of Blu-ray discs and believe you can discern the difference on a typical-sized screen. Otherwise, you could save money by buying a 720p set and you might never know the difference.

In 2006, you recommended a powerline adapter for Internet access by Netgear, the XE104. Is this still a good buy or are there others by now that are better?

I haven’t tested powerline adapters, the gadgets that route computer networks over standard home electrical wiring, since that date. Netgear and its competitors — such as Linksys and Belkin — have, naturally, come out with newer, faster units since then. But I am still personally using the XE104 successfully and feel I continue to get my money’s worth from it. It is still being sold. The newer units typically have greater speed in order to do a better job of streaming video around a home, but they work in basically the same way.

I have a Windows XP system, and things work well with my cable modem in my office. But when I’m on the road using Wi-Fi, I can receive emails, but can’t reply or send out. Any idea on how to resolve this problem?

This usually happens because the Wi-Fi provider is blocking the outgoing email server (called an “SMTP” server) that you or your IT department has set up in your email program. Some providers block all such outgoing servers. There are a number of possible solutions. The simplest is to use a Web-based email service, like Gmail or Yahoo Mail, or the Web-based version of your usual service. If your email is provided by your company, you may be able to access a version of Microsoft Outlook over the Internet that will work.

Another possibility is to ask the provider at the hotel or airport what SMTP server it does allow — usually its own — and enter it into your email program’s settings, if you know how. Yet another option would be to use a data card from a cellphone carrier, which I have found can usually overcome this problem. There may be other workarounds, and I invite readers to suggest them.

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

Last week, when you wrote about the ChaCha cellphone search service, you didn’t say how they make money. Are they collecting phone numbers from customers so they can send spam text messages, or sell the numbers to others who will do so?

ChaCha allows you to ask any Web-searchable question, by speaking it or texting it over a mobile phone, and then it sends you the answer via text message. The company charges consumers nothing, but says it is hoping to make money by striking deals with cellphone carriers to incorporate the ChaCha service into their current 411 phone-number look-up services. Also, it hopes to eventually include ads in the text message answers it provides.

In addition to the message that includes the answer, ChaCha sends you a message saying it is working on your request and restating your question, so you can see if it understood you correctly. It also sends an introductory text message to first-time users and occasional tips on how to use the service. Scott Jones, ChaCha’s chief executive, asserts that “we do not spam” and “we never make phone numbers and/or email addresses available to others.” He said the company is updating its privacy policy to make that clearer.

We have DSL service. I use several Web-based applications, one of which is online backup, and my husband is concerned that they degrade his use of the Web, which includes creating Web sites. I contend that that is like saying turning on one light bulb is using too much electricity, that two people on one DSL line aren’t using up too much bandwidth. Who is right?

Every situation differs, depending on exactly which programs you are each using, how you have them set, whether you are using them simultaneously, and how fast your DSL connection is. However, in general, your husband is correct that it is possible for heavy Internet usage on one computer in a home to slow down Internet speeds on another.

This is especially true with something like online backup, because it relies on your DSL account’s upload speed, which is typically far slower than the download speed. If your online backup program is trying to push a bunch of files over a slow upload connection, while he is in another room trying to upload new versions of a Web site over the same narrow upload pipe, it could affect the speeds he gets. You might try coordinating or staggering those online activities that involve heavy uploading. Normal Web surfing or emailing shouldn’t require any such coordination.

I am thinking about purchasing a Dell (DELL) XPS One all-in-one desktop, but I have one question. Does the Dell’s built-in TV tuner require any extra attachments to watch TV right out of the box?

You can watch over-the-air stations and analog basic cable stations right out of the box, without added equipment. However, you may want to connect a small desktop antenna to improve reception, which is what I did when I tested this machine. To use the XPS One with digital or premium cable or satellite stations, you would have to connect it to a cable or satellite receiver, just as most people do with their TV sets. This requires the use of an adapter that comes with the machine.

• 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.

We are connected to Comcast (CMCSA) cable and use no antennas. Will we need one of the government-subsidized converter boxes next February?

Not if you are using a cable set-top box, like the vast majority of cable customers. If you are one of the minority of cable households whose TVs use an internal cable tuner, you may need a converter box. To be sure, contact your cable company or TV manufacturer.

In your laptop buying guide last week, you recommended buying a machine equipped for the “n” type Wi-Fi of wireless router. I was under the impression that this has not yet been standardized. Is that wrong?

The engineering committee that has been debating the standard for years has not yet completed its work, but the market has simply moved ahead on its own. This new, faster version of Wi-Fi is being built into routers, computers and other devices by nearly every major manufacturer. In my limited tests, I have found no compatibility problems, and it is backwards compatible with the older “g” and “b” standards.

Is the Mac immune to viruses? If not, do you have a recommendation of the type of antivirus software one should procure and load onto a Mac?

No personal computer or personal computer operating system of which I am aware is “immune” to viruses, spyware or other malicious software. That includes Apple’s (AAPL) Macintosh and its operating system, Mac OS X Leopard. Hackers have demonstrated the ability to invade the Mac. However, there are only a handful of viruses or other malicious programs for the Macintosh that have successfully spread beyond the lab. And these have harmed only a small number of actual users.

Of the well over 100,000 known viruses, spyware programs and other malicious software applications that are about in public, all but this handful are written to run on Microsoft (MSFT) Windows, and cannot operate on the Macintosh OS. For that reason, I don’t believe Macintosh owners need security software, unless they install and run Windows on their computers. If they do run Windows, Mac owners are well advised to purchase and install Windows security software to protect the Windows portion of the machine.

Having said that, I do not mean that Mac owners should be blind to security threats that don’t involve viruses or spyware. Just like Windows users, Mac users can succumb to what is called “social engineering” — scams and schemes that operate via email and Web sites that are often authored by crooks but made to look official. So, like Windows users, they must be on their guard.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free at the 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.

I have a new H-P (HPQ) laptop and there are several preinstalled media-playing interfaces that have been foisted on me. Do I really need all of these interfaces? Can’t I just get all of this media to run through Windows Media Player or iTunes?

Since you weren’t specific, I don’t know what media software came with your new laptop. I’m sure some of it may have been redundant “craplets” — the unwanted software PC makers load onto their machines in order to collect a fee from the programs’ publishers. And you are correct that many of the most common audio and video file types can be handled by Windows (MSFT) Media Player and iTunes.

However, the Internet is full of media file types that are best played, or can only be played, in specialized software — either separate applications on your computer or online players that are enabled via your Web browser. So, over time, most users will collect additional players, or plug-ins for their Web browsers, that will supplement their main media-playing program. One way to see if the media software on your new computer is necessary is to test what types of files it handles. If you can open and play these same files in Windows Media Player or iTunes, and you prefer to do so, then you probably don’t need the added software.

If I am running Windows Vista on my iMac desktop using Parallels, will Apple’s Time Machine backup program automatically preserve the Windows hard disk, too?

Yes. Parallels, and its competitor, VMWare Fusion, create virtual Windows hard disks inside a Macintosh. When you are running Parallels or Fusion, Windows sees these virtual hard drives as if they are distinct physical disks. However, they are in fact just very large files on your Mac’s hard disk. So Apple’s (AAPL) Time Machine backup program treats them like any other file and backs them up. Time Machine can also restore these virtual Windows hard disks, in their entirety, just as it can restore other kinds of files.

There are some caveats, however. Time Machine treats each virtual Windows hard disk as a big, unified blob of data, so it cannot peer inside them to recover individual Windows files you may have accidentally deleted while running Windows programs. Also, if your virtual Windows hard disk is large, and it changes often, then using Time Machine to back it up may suck up a lot of space on your backup drive, as numerous archived versions of the file accumulate.

I currently have a DVD player and a large stack of DVDs that I play through my analog TV set. After the 2009 digital TV conversion, will I still be able to use my existing DVD player and play my existing DVDs, even if I buy one of the government-subsidized converter boxes?

The FCC says DVD players and other add-on gear “will continue to work, even if they are only analog-capable.” But it adds that “manufacturers are producing a number of different connectors to hook equipment together and improve picture and sound quality. Check with your equipment retailer to determine the types of connectors that will work with your equipment.”

In other words, while there’s no inherent conflict, it all depends on your particular DVD player, your particular TV set, and how you have them connected. The best thing to do is consult closely with the dealer or manufacturer selling the converter box so that you understand how it can coexist with your current DVD player setup, or how you might have to alter your current setup.

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.

If I have an analog TV and get a government-subsidized converter box, will I still be able to use my VCR after the 2009 switchover to digital over-the-air broadcasts?

According to government and industry statements, a VCR will still work, but it will have to be connected to the output jack on the converter box to receive the programming it records, because its internal TV tuner will no longer work. Also, the quality of the taped program will be limited to the quality available in the older VCR, and won’t necessarily match the crisper quality of the new digital broadcasts when viewed live.

Recently, you recommended a program that tells people what programs start up when they boot up a PC. I have installed it. But how do I know which programs should be retained? There are a lot there, but I have no way to know which I can eliminate and which I should retain.

This is one of the maddening issues nontechnical folks face with PCs. Even when you know what invisible background tasks might be slowing down your computer, you lack the knowledge to decide which to kill or spare, because their names don’t necessarily tell you their functions.

One way to tell is to look them up on the Web. A Web site I have found useful for such research is called AnswersThatWork, at answersthatwork.com. Click on the icon labeled “task list,” and you will find a directory in which you can look up such programs. The site tells you what they do and recommends whether to delete or keep them.

Can you suggest a hardware box that can be attached to my TV that will keep all stations and commercials at the same level of volume? I’m going nuts having to keep my finger on the volume control of my remote.

A quick Web search turned up a couple of boxes that claim to do just that. These boxes connect between the TV set and a cable or satellite receiver.

One, a $30 device called the “TV Volume Regulator,” is sold by a Web site called Smarthome and is at: www.smarthome.com/7848T.html. The second, a $70 box called the “Automatic TV Sound Regulator,” is for sale at a Web site called firstStreet. Its Web address is: www.firststreetonline.com/product.jsp?id=55851.

There may be other, similar products out there. But I can’t recommend any of them, including the two listed here, because I haven’t tested any.

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.

On TV, they announced a $40 government-issued coupon that is available to offset some of the cost of the new digital converter boxes we will need for our older television sets. How do I go about getting some?

You can apply for a coupon at a federal government Web site designed expressly for that purpose: www.dtv2009.gov. Or, you can call 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009). Each household can receive up to two of the $40 coupons, which look like plastic gift cards, but they can’t be combined to purchase a single converter box. Each coupon must be applied to the purchase of a separate box, which the government estimates will cost between $50 and $70 at popular electronics stores. Coupons also must be used within 90 days of the date on which they are mailed to the consumer.

Note that these converter boxes won’t be needed for about a year, and aren’t necessary for TV sets containing digital tuners, also called an “ATSC” tuner. Such tuners have been included in many TV sets sold in the U.S. since 2004, even if they aren’t high definition televisions. Converter boxes also aren’t needed for older analog TV sets that receive their programs via cable or satellite services or other pay services. They are needed only for older analog TV sets that depend on free, over-the-air programming, the kind usually received via an indoor or outdoor antenna.

Is it possible to transfer data from a computer with Windows 95 to a computer which uses Windows XP?

Yes, but the trick would be to figure out a medium for the transfer. Many, if not most, Windows 95 PCs don’t have USB ports, which rules out using a USB thumb drive or external USB hard disk as the transfer mechanism. If your old PC can burn CDs, that might be a good way to transfer your data.

Another option is buying a program like LapLink’s PCMover, which explicitly supports Windows 95 and can automate the process using either a network, removable media, or parallel cables. See laplink.com for details.

I’m thinking of getting an iPod Touch to replace both my iPod shuffle and Palm Pilot Vx. Does the Touch have as good address book and to-do functions as the Palm has? Does the Touch sync to the Mac’s Address Book, Mail, and Calendar software? If so, would it also sync to a Windows box?

The iPod Touch, and its close cousin, the iPhone, do have what I consider to be a very good address book, or Contacts program, though it may not have all the same features you use on your Palm. And that address book can be easily synchronized with a computer.

On a Mac, the iPhone and Touch Contacts can be synced with the built-in Address Book, or with Entourage, Microsoft’s Outlook equivalent. On a Windows PC, it can be synced with Microsoft’s Outlook; with Outlook Express (Windows Address Book) in Windows XP; or with Windows Contacts in Windows Vista.

The calendar on the Touch and iPhone can be synchronized with the Mac’s built-in calendar, with the calendar in Entourage, and with the calendar in Outlook on a Windows PC.

However, neither the Touch nor the iPhone includes a true to-do or task function, and neither synchronizes email with a computer. They do have a good email program, but it is intended to work on its own, fetching and sending email directly, rather than copying email from 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.

In a recent column, you said Microsoft had imposed a legal prohibition on running the Home versions of Windows Vista on a Macintosh using virtualization programs like Parallels and Fusion. Does the same prohibition apply if you are installing Vista using Apple’s Boot Camp software?

No, because Boot Camp doesn’t create a virtual Windows computer — it actually carves out part of an Intel-based Macintosh’s hard disk and turns it into a full-blown physical Windows computer. To Windows, a Mac configured this way looks just like any Dell or Hewlett-Packard or other standard Windows computer. Boot Camp is free, but, such as Parallels and Fusion, it requires you to purchase a full, boxed copy of Windows to install.

The upside of the Boot Camp approach is that, when you are running Windows on the Mac, all of the computer’s hardware is devoted to Windows, because the Mac’s own operating system, OS X, isn’t running at all and a portion of the hard disk is reserved for the exclusive use of Windows. The downside is that you cannot run the two operating systems simultaneously, as you can with virtual solutions such as Parallels and Fusion. To switch between using Windows programs and Mac programs, you must restart the machine while holding down the Option key and then choose whether you want it to boot into Windows or Mac OS X. Both Parallels and Fusion can, however, use a Boot Camp Windows installation to create a virtual version of Windows that can be used simultaneously with the Mac OS.

If you install Boot Camp on a well-equipped Mac model, it can become a blazing fast Vista computer. A few days ago I bought a top-of-the-line model of Apple’s new iMac line, and installed Boot Camp and Vista. I then tested the machine using Vista’s built-in Windows Experience Index, a rating system that goes from 1 to 5.9, with scores above 3.0 generally required for full, quick performance. My iMac scored a 5.0, the best score of any consumer Vista machine I have tested. Obviously, a tricked-out high end Dell or HP box might do as well or better, and a lesser Mac might do worse. But the score was very impressive for a computer that wasn’t designed with Vista in mind.

We have a Sony PC and a 17-inch LCD monitor. Currently, we have a separate old-fashioned TV in the room, with a cable box connected to it. Is there any way to buy a larger LCD monitor and be able to watch TV via the cable box and also use the same screen when we use the computer?

A good approach would be to buy an LCD television that has both the usual connectors for your cable box and a connector, or input, for a personal computer. There are many such models, in various sizes. If you bought such a TV, you would switch between the PC and the cable box by changing inputs on your remote. Just make sure the PC input is compatible with your computer, or that an adapter is available to make it compatible. Many PCs and PC-friendly TVs use the older, common VGA connector, which is an analog input, but others use various newer digital connectors. You can also connect some computers to LCD TVs using standard connectors that aren’t specifically labeled as being for PCs. This is especially true for some Windows Media Center PCs that are designed to work with TVs.

Have you rated any of the Web businesses that assemble personal photos into a book format?

Yes. My colleague Katherine Boehret and I reviewed three contenders in that category in December, and in our judgment, at that time, MyPublisher (www.mypublisher.com) was the best of that group. You can read the column at http://solution.allthingsd.com/20061206. However, the books from Apple, Shutterfly and Blurb are also favorites of many readers.

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.

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 buying PCs without Windows Vista, TVs with digital tuners and running the Mac operating system on a Dell.

Even though the new Windows Vista is now being included on most new computers, is it still possible to buy a brand-name PC with Windows XP preinstalled instead?

Microsoft says it is still possible to buy machines preloaded with Windows XP. The company’s deal with computer makers allows them to offer the previous version of the operating system for one year after a new one succeeds it. And you aren’t likely to have the compatibility problems with some hardware and software that currently plague Vista.

However, it is hard to find a brand-name computer priced and configured for average consumers that comes pre-loaded with XP. A cursory check of the online sites for the two biggest PC makers, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, under their “home and home office” categories, shows that all of the computers offered came with various flavors of Vista.

Some models configured for business can still be ordered with XP, so if you really want a brand-name Windows computer that comes with XP, you can order a so-called business machine. But these models may lack some kinds of software and hardware features that mainstream, nontechie consumers might want, and could include some that consumers would find superfluous.

You could also forgo a brand-name model and buy a computer from a local shop that is willing to preinstall XP instead of Vista.

There are some downsides to buying an XP machine. XP lacks some new, tougher security features and the slick built-in search that are included in Vista. Also, if past experience holds, over the typical life of a new computer, more and more hardware and software products will emerge that either will only work with Vista, or will work better with Vista.

We are contemplating buying a new LCD TV. If it has a digital tuner built in do I still have to buy a converter for over-the-air antenna reception in 2009?

No. Any television that has a built-in digital tuner, for receiving digital broadcasts over the air, won’t require a converter in 2009, when all TV stations will be broadcasting only digital programming. The only TV sets that will need a converter will be older sets without built-in digital tuners.

I have read a lot about running Windows on a Mac. Would anything prevent someone from going the other way and running the Mac operating system on a Dell, for example, since Macs and Dells are both based upon Intel processors?

It is theoretically possible, and some hackers have claimed to have done it. But their methods couldn’t be easily replicated by mainstream users, and don’t enable all of the operating system’s features. So, essentially the answer is no. The reason: Apple owns the Mac operating system and doesn’t want it running on non-Apple hardware, so it has erected technical and legal obstacles to stop people from doing so.

* * *

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