Q: I followed your advice and downloaded Superantispyware, the free program that finds adware and spyware. Now I need a good free anti-virus program for my laptop. What do you recommend?
Lil Gervasi
A: One that has impressed me lately is the anti-virus protection furnished by one of the programs that comes with Microsoft's free Security Essentials. It's had good reviews and I've been impressed with how seamlessly it works. And, unlike some other anti-virus programs, it hasn't slowed down my machine at all. Another good free anti-virus can be found here: http://free.avg.com/us-en/download. The maker, AVG, also makes an excellent for-pay anti-virus program that can be found on the site. So, if it's free that you're after, make sure you are downloading the correct program.
Q: I recently suffered a computer crash after some rapid on/off power losses during a storm. I had not yet installed a UPS. Because of that I want to know how to back up my e-mail addresses so I'll have them on hand if I lose data again.
Ernie Ratterman
A: You don't say which e-mail program you are using. But most will work in basically the same manner. Look for a menu setting called "Import Export" that will allow you to either export the saved e-mails and contact information, or import all that into a different e-mail program. Just use the Export command and save the data on a DVD or an external hard disk. Then you'll be able to use the Import command to get all that back if your computer crashes.
And I hope readers take notice of the apparent cause of the crash. When power goes out or comes back on after an outage, it usually flickers on and off several times. Those big surges of power can -- as happened with Ernie -- do damage. And a surge protector usually won't protect you from that damage. But a good uninterruptible power supply will keep feeding your computer nicely filtered current. My machine doesn't even flicker during an outage. So if you don't use a UPS, now is the time to get one.
Q: I enjoy your column but I've had a bad experience with one of the products you recommended: Back in a Flash. I followed the directions and it stopped working midway through a back-up. I couldn't find the help I needed on the website. I used the web page's contact link and explained my problem and left contact information. I didn't hear anything, so canceled the credit card payment. We still haven't heard anything from the company.
Carol Rhodes
A: While my own Back in a Flash has worked flawlessly, Carol's experience seemed inexcusable to me. So I tried to contact the company myself. I had the same experience as Carol; despite three attempts to contact someone there, I never heard back. I have no idea what's going on at that company but that lack of response makes it easy for me to withdraw my recommendation for the product. All products occasionally have problems; I can live with that. But the inability to contact someone at the company is a deal killer.
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