I live in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for six winter months. I would love to have a Kindle. Can I download additional books in Mexico or must I download all I think I’ll want to read before I go?

Yes, you can, but it’s a bit of a convoluted process. Amazon says that, if you are a U.S. customer temporarily outside the U.S., where the Kindle’s wireless downloading capability won’t work, you can “sideload” books over the Kindle’s USB cable — normally used for transferring audiobooks or photos — from your PC or Mac.

According to Amazon, here’s how you do this. First, order a Kindle book on the Amazon Web site from your computer and tell it to send it wirelessly to your Kindle. This will fail. But you can then go to the “Manage Your Kindle” page on the Amazon site, which lists all the Kindle books you’ve bought under the heading “Your Orders.” Select the one you want, and click on the drop-down list at the far right labeled “Download/Send to…”. Select “computer” as your destination, and the book will be downloaded to your PC or Mac as a file with the suffix “azw.” From there, you can manually drag this file into your Kindle using the USB cable.

My husband wants to buy a laptop, but I said not to get one with Vista and to wait for Windows 7. Am I right?

I agree that, if he can do so, he should wait for Windows 7. While it isn’t officially released, my experience with its pre-release version has convinced me that Windows 7 is much faster, less annoying, and more compatible with third-party hardware than Vista is. You can read my first impressions of Windows 7 at: http://bit.ly/r9xEP.

• 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.

To my mind, this is more a parenting issue than a technology one. The easiest method would be to join Facebook yourself and become one of your teens’ ”friends” on each account they have. That might not sit well with your kids, but if you’re willing to be tough, you could make that a condition of their being on Facebook. You could also insist they use the network’s extensive privacy controls to guard their detailed information and activities from strangers.

There is a paid service called YouDiligence that claims it will notify you if certain words appear on a child’s Facebook page. But it requires that you be one of your child’s Facebook friends, so it is mainly a time-saver. Also, because it focuses on words, it doesn’t flag photos or other Facebook activity.

Another paid service, called imView, automatically takes pictures of the screen of the PC your child uses, at intervals you select, and allows you to view these screen shots at your leisure, from any Internet-connected PC. Its maker touts this as a way to monitor Facebook activity. I haven’t tested either of these two services.

I want to transfer my Mini DV taped videos from my video camera to my Mac. But my new MacBook has no Firewire port, which is the only port my camera includes — only USB ports. Am I stuck?

Maybe not. One option would be to see if you can borrow a Mac or Windows PC that does have a Firewire port, convert the videos to digital files on that borrowed machine, and then transfer the resulting files to your new Mac using an external hard disk or flash drive. Obviously, you wouldn’t want to have to do this often.

Another option: A company called Pixela (pixela-1.com) claims to have a Firewire-to-USB cable meant for exactly your situation. It is for Windows only, but might well work if you installed and ran Windows on your Mac. However, a glance at the company’s Web site shows it is out of the version of the cable that works with the North American, as opposed to European, video standard. If you are in North America, you might check with the company to see if and when the correct version will be available. One important caution: I haven’t tested it, so don’t know how well it works.

My computer crashed last fall, and I lost thousands of iTunes songs. I would like to copy all the songs to my new computer from my iPod, which still contains them. However, iTunes allows only purchased songs to be returned. Is there software that would help me?

Yes. There are several utility programs designed to copy the contents of an iPod back to a Windows or Mac computer. The one I usually recommend, because I have found it works well, is called Music Rescue. It costs 10 British pounds, or about $15 at current exchange rates. It can be purchased at kennettnet.co.uk.

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 want to purchase an e-reader. Currently I use my Palm Tungsten, but the screen is rather small for reading books. I purchased the Amazon Kindle for my niece but I do not like the design of it. Are there any other e-readers on the market that have a full keyboard and can connect to the Internet?

A: There may be some obscure models that do, but the main competitor to the Kindle, Sony’s Reader, lacks a direct connection to the Internet. You have to purchase titles on a computer and then move them to the device. The Reader does have a keyboard, but it’s virtual, not physical.

I’m considering the new 13″ aluminum-body MacBook. I’m a nontech guy doing routine computing tasks. I own an iMac and I’m ready to add a laptop. The only downside to the new MacBook seems to be the absence of a FireWire port. Is that a deal killer?

I don’t believe so. At one time, FireWire (also called 1394 or iLink on some computers and peripheral devices) was much faster than USB, but now the two are about the same speed. At one time, plugging most camcorders, or many external hard disks, required FireWire. Now both types of devices typically use USB or offer both types of ports.

If you are a professional photographer, videographer or musician with a heavy investment in USB peripheral devices, then the lack of a FireWire port may make the new MacBook a non-starter. But for an average user, unless you have invested in FireWire-only peripherals, I don’t think its absence would matter at all. Besides, you still have your iMac, which includes FireWire.

• 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.

All of the major digital maps contain erroneous information about our street in Virginia, and don’t even show several new streets near our home that were built over three years ago. I infer that there is one source of cartography used by these Web services, and also by my Garmin navigation system. But I can’t find out what it is. How can an individual get something like this corrected?

There are actually two main companies that make the underlying maps that most of the navigation-device makers and digital-map sites use. One is called Tele Atlas (TLATF.PK), and one is called Navteq (NVT). Garmin (GRMN) uses Navteq. Each mapping company has a Web page where users can report errors or changes.

For Navteq’s error-reporting Web page, go to navteq.com and click on “Map Reporter.” For Tele Atlas’ similar page, go to teleatlas.com and click on “Report Map Changes.”

In reading your review of the new Gogo in-flight wireless Internet system, I wondered about two things: Does it support “virtual private networks,” and when will it be installed on Amtrak trains?

While I didn’t test this, Gogo’s maker, Aircell, says that VPNs, which are used by many big companies, do indeed work over the service.

As for Amtrak, the Gogo system wouldn’t work for trains, because its antennas point up, into the sky, and don’t cover ground locations like railroad tracks. However, if you are on an Amtrak train in an area where cellphone towers are near the tracks, and your laptop computer or cellphone can pick up cellular data signals, you can already surf the Web and do email and other online tasks on the train.

In fact, I happen to be writing this column on an Amtrak Acela train between Washington and New York, and, using a Verizon (VZ) laptop card, my laptop is able to access the Internet with only occasional lapses.

Because of problems I had with my computer, I lost my Internet Explorer favorites. How can I save them so I can easily restore them if they get wiped out again?

There are several methods. You should, of course, be backing up all your key data, including your browser favorites or bookmarks, regularly, either to a local external disk, or to an online backup service. That would create a fairly fresh backup of your favorites. You could also use one of several Web sites that specialize in hosting, and sharing, bookmarks or favorites. They allow you to add bookmarks to your online list as you surf, and also to upload and download the favorites and bookmarks you keep locally on your computer. The best known of these sites is probably del.icio.us, which is at http://del.icio.us.

The simplest method, however, is probably to just export your favorites to a file and save it in your Documents folder, on your desktop, or on a USB thumb drive. You can then use this file to restore your favorites in case of disaster. To do this in the latest version of Microsoft (MSFT) IE, click on the “Add to Favorites” button, select “Import and Export,” click “Next,” then click “Export Favorites” and walk through the steps that follow. Detailed instructions for all versions of IE are at: support.microsoft.com/kb/211089.

• 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 moved from a PC to the iMac. In the Windows environment, I felt a need to run utilities to clean out the registry and defragment the hard disk frequently. Is this also needed on the iMac? If so, what programs are recommended?

The Mac operating system, called OS X Leopard, doesn’t include a registry, which is a feature of Windows that holds information that programs need to operate properly. So there’s no need to clean or maintain any registry on a Mac.

Mac hard disks, like those on Microsoft (MSFT) Windows computers, can get fragmented — a condition in which parts of files are so scattered around on the disk that the disk runs slowly. However, the operating system has some under-the-covers features that generally obviate the need to run a defragmentation utility. In fact, Apple (AAPL), which calls defragmenting a disk “optimizing” it, flatly claims that “You probably won’t need to optimize at all if you use Mac OS X.” There are some Mac defragmentation utilities, but I don’t believe you will need them unless you have large numbers of extremely large files and almost no free disk space.

My son’s computer frequently gets infected with adware, pop-ups. Recently it was hit with a continuing pop-up ad called VirusHeat that touted itself as a solution to the computer’s problems. When I paid for VirusHeat, the problems went away. Is it legitimate?

According to numerous reports on the Web, including some from security companies, VirusHeat is a form of malicious or misleading software. It falls into a category that attempts to scare people into thinking their computers are badly infected, or exaggerates any problems you may have. This is a common tactic now used by creators of malware.

Some of these fake or misleading “security programs” may be designed merely to make you pay. Others may even be designed to install the very kinds of viruses, spyware or adware that they claim to fight.

I have updated to a new PC. My data are on a floppy disc. There is no floppy disc drive on this new computer. How can I transfer my data?

For around $25, you can buy an external floppy disk drive that plugs into a new PC using its standard USB port. If you do so, and connect it to the new PC, you should be able to copy your data to the new computer’s hard disk.

• 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.

We need a new DVD player but are completely confused about the Blu-Ray versus HD DVD war. We want to purchase something that will last us many years, but I’m afraid to splurge on it when it’s still unclear what the preferred format will be. One option looks to be buying a DVD player that can “upscale” to high definition. How much worse is this in terms of quality?

The good news is that the war appears to be winding down. Because I never saw any significant quality difference between the two high-definition formats, I never recommended one over the other. But most of the major studios have defected to Blu-Ray, so industry experts believe HD DVD is likely to recede as a movie format, though it may find a market as a data format for computers. However, the companies backing HD DVD haven’t given up, so the battle isn’t formally over.

Meanwhile, I have found that, for everyone but videophiles, “upscaling” DVD players are effective at making most regular DVDs look better on high-definition TV sets. And name-brand models can be found for as little as $45, which is less than Blu-Ray players are likely to commonly cost for quite awhile.

In your review of the new MacBook Air laptop, you said it lacked a wired Internet jack but that Apple plans to sell an adapter. Did you test this? When will it be available? And is there any way to use the MacBook Air with a cellphone network for Internet access?

Apple says the $30 wired Internet adapter will ship when the laptop does. I tested an early unit and found it worked fine. As for working on the cellphone data networks, you can use a cellphone modem from one of the network operators that connects via USB instead of a card slot. Unfortunately, I tested one of these, the Novatel USB727 from Verizon, and found that it was too wide to fit in the cramped space around the MacBook Air’s USB adapter. So you will need an extension cable, making for an ungainly attachment.

There are two other options. If you already own a cellphone data modem meant to fit a PC Card or ExpressCard slot, you can buy an adapter that allows these cards to work via a USB port. I tested such an adapter, a $40 model from a company called Siig that allowed me to use my older Novatel V640 ExpressCard modem with the MacBook Air. It worked well but is relatively large and is attached by a cable, so it is also bulky and ungainly.

The final option would be to pair the MacBook Air with a Bluetooth-equipped cellphone that is able to act as a wireless modem. No cables are required for this, but there is some setup. Ironically, one of the phones that lacks this capability is Apple’s own iPhone.

What happened to the Tablet PC version of Windows? Since Vista has come out, I can’t find a Tablet edition.

Microsoft decided to drop the separate tablet edition it produced for Windows XP and build its capabilities into Vista. Unless you have the least expensive version of Vista, called Home Basic, the full Tablet PC capability should be usable on any tablet PC running Vista. But there’s no longer a specific edition labeled that way.

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

I have a USB cell phone data card that I use with my laptop. This card offers me world-wide connectivity wherever there is GSM cellphone service available. Is there an adapter that will allow me to use this card with the iPod Touch?

I know of no such adapter, nor of the software that would be needed to make one work. However, although the iPod Touch has no cellphone capability, it does include Wi-Fi, which can give you high-speed Internet access world-wide whenever you are in range of a Wi-Fi wireless network.

What U.S. cellphone service provider should I consider when purchasing a new contract and phone that can be easily used in most western European countries and also get good coverage in the U.S.?

In the United States, the only two major carriers that use the technology compatible with European networks are AT&T and T-Mobile. As to which has better coverage in the U.S., my own anecdotal experience is that this varies greatly depending on where you are, and that neither has coverage that’s as good as Verizon’s in as many major cities. However, Verizon (like Sprint) uses a technology that isn’t compatible with European networks, though it has one or two phone models that include both technologies.

I have just switched to the Mac from Windows. Is there a tutorial somewhere on how to use the Mac user interface and operating system?

There are a couple of books on switching to the Mac, which you can find at online bookstores. Also, Apple maintains two free, illustrated online tutorials called “Mac 101″ and “Switch 101,” the latter being specifically for former Windows users. They are available at apple.com/support/mac101 and apple.com/support/switch101.

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

I am shopping for a new laptop, and noticed that some of the models in which I am interested come with Windows Vista Business edition instead of Home Premium, which I understand is the main consumer version. What would I be missing if I went with the Business version instead?

The main thing Vista Business lacks that Home Premium includes is a series of multimedia features. These include Media Center, which allows you to play songs and videos, and view photos, from across a room. In addition, Home Premium offers Windows Movie Maker software for creating movies, DVD maker, and several games the Business version lacks.

On the other hand, the Business edition has some things Home Premium doesn’t, including built-in programs for doing a complete PC backup, for faxing and scanning, and for remotely running programs on another computer. For the most part, however, Vista Business looks and works like Home Premium.

I just bought a new laptop, and want to transfer to it the Firefox bookmarks I have on my old desktop. How can I do that?

There are a number of possible methods, but here’s a simple, straightforward approach.

First, you export the bookmarks from Firefox on your old desktop PC, which creates a single file containing the bookmarks. Then, you copy that file, which Firefox names by default “bookmarks.html,” to a CD or portable USB drive or some other medium you can use to transfer files between computers. Then, you copy the file to the new laptop. Finally, you import the file into the fresh copy of Firefox on the new laptop.

To carry out this process, you use Firefox’s import and export function for bookmarks. On the first computer, from the Firefox Bookmarks menu, choose “Organize bookmarks.” Then, once the bookmark window opens, go to the File menu and choose “Export.” That will create the bookmarks file. After the file is on the second computer, launch Firefox and repeat the process, only this time choose “Import,” and then click on “From File,” and select the file you brought over.

I have Word 2003 and have just started to receive Word 2007 documents, which I cannot open. What is the best solution?

Word 2007 has a new default file format, called DOCX, that is incompatible with older versions, which rely on the long-standing DOC format. The new version can be set to always save files in the old format, but not everyone knows that or chooses to do so.

However, folks such as you with the 2003 version of Word can install a free “Compatibility Pack” from Microsoft that will allow your copy of Word to read the new format. It can be obtained from the company’s Download Center, at www.microsoft.com/downloads. You’ll find it listed there under “Popular Downloads.”

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

Apple makes beautiful hardware, and, in my experience, it runs Windows quite well. In fact, the mouse and keyboard problems you cite are easily overcome, since you can plug almost any USB keyboard and mouse made for Windows into a Mac and they will work fine, right-mouse button and all.

However, what makes a Mac a Mac is primarily Apple’s OS X operating system, and the software Apple bundles with it, the iLife suite. If you don’t intend to use that, I don’t see much point in buying an Apple computer. You won’t get the advantage of the Mac’s lack of viruses and spyware, which stem from the operating system, not the hardware. And you can buy a Windows computer for less than the least expensive Mac.

In my view, the main value of the Mac’s ability to run Windows is that it allows Apple owners to use the few Windows programs they require or prefer that lack Mac equivalents, while primarily running the Mac operating system and programs designed for it.

How can one send an email to a group of people without all of their individual email addresses showing?

The most common method is to put your own email address in the “To” field and the names of all the recipients in the “Bcc” field, which is designed to be invisible. There’s always a danger someone quickly scanning just headers will decide not to read the email, since it isn’t addressed to her, but most email veterans understand the technique.

Is there a way to regain the traditional drop-down menus and other interface items in the new, redesigned Microsoft Office 2007?

There is at least one third-party add-in program designed to do this, but I haven’t tested it. It’s called Classic Menu for Office 2007, and can be found at www.addintools.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.

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