Q–Why are only Windows operating systems affected by these computer viruses, like the “ILOVEYOU” virus? A computer hacker interviewed on TV claimed Windows was extremely easy to tamper with. Does this mean that the Mac system is more difficult to tamper with? Is this why Macs never seem to be bothered by these viruses? And if the Macs are harder to mess with, then why use Windows?
Sherry Underhill, Newark, Ill.
A–There are plenty of virus programs afflicting Mac owners but, Ms. U., there are features built into the Microsoft Windows system that make it particularly easy even for hackers still wet behind the ears to create chaos.
For what it’s worth, ILOVEYOU should be called a Windows worm rather than a virus because it requires the user to open an e-mail attachment and run it in order to do its stuff. Proper virus programs automatically move into the operating system when the computer boots up.
ILOVEYOU works by way of a Microsoft Office feature called Visual Basic Scripting that allows users–and company techies–to create subprograms with the extension .vbs that can be run to issue commands to do things like erase files or send itself in e-mails to everybody in one’s address book, thus propagating virus-style.
It is possible to do the same thing with Microsoft Office for Macintosh, but it would require a different script than the ILOVEYOU for Windows.
One of the blessings Mac owners get from the fact that Macintosh accounts for well under 10 percent of the world’s installed base is that any Mac-directed attack would cause far less damage.
Your logic holds up quite nicely in that since Mac is a smaller target, one will be spared a lot of headline-grabbing worms and virus attacks, but it’s not because the operating system from Apple is any less vulnerable.
Q–Help, Mr. Wizard! I am having no luck with getting the USB (universal serial bus) feature on my IBM laptop to work with my Iomega ZIP drive. I have Windows 98 Second Edition installed, which is required for USB devices, but when I first installed the ZIP I got a screen saying my computer wasn’t USB ready.
I have uninstalled the Iomega software and reinstalled. I have tried several suggestions from Iomega tech support, all with no success. I even got a replacement drive from Iomega, and the problem still occurs. Apparently, something has changed in my ThinkPad. Can you point me in the right direction?
Irv Korey @attglobal.net
A–I am no wizard, Mr. K., just a battle-weary veteran of too many computer breakdowns and a zest for learning from past mistakes. My own bad luck with ThinkPads tells me that you probably are the victim of one of the most annoying features of the otherwise generally superb IBM ThinkPad line, a control panel called MyThinkPad that lets a user activate and deactivate any or all of the input-output ports on these laptops.
The settings were designed to prevent software/hardware conflicts and to take advantage of various settings that one can create for devices like printers and infrared devices. Click on Start and then Programs and then MyThinkPad to call up the panel, where you can fiddle with changing settings one at a time to find the ones your laptop needs to talk to that Iomega drive.
Q–I’m asking for advice about e-mail and using a digital camera. I’ll be traveling later this year with my 23-year-old son for a few months in Europe–on motorcycles. I plan to stop at Internet cafes and will be using an ultralight laptop to write my journals and compose e-mail.
Is there a simple way to transfer e-mail from laptops onto the computers at an Internet cafe without having to type it in while online? A related question is about cameras. I love digital cameras and I’m ready to get a new one but am unsure if I’d want to take it with me. I’d have to worry about recharging batteries, extra memory for storage of photos, downloading them when the storage devices get full, etc. But it would be cool to send digital postcards back home or post them to a Web storage area for later retrieval.
Allan Stern, Chicago
A–Your answers are the humble floppy disk and a not-so-humble FlashPath, a device that is bundled with most Olympus digital cameras and widely available in camera stores for about $80.
Your ultralight laptop probably comes with a stand-alone floppy drive that you can plug in anytime. You simply write your e-mail on the laptop, save it to a floppy and take the floppy to the Internet cafe, where you can attach files it holds to e-mail.
FlashPath is a metal device exactly the size of a floppy disk. It has a notch in the side where you insert the SmartMedia memory card from your digital camera. FlashPath software makes the computer read the metal floppy with memory card inserted as though it were a regular disk, so you can move your images onto the laptop’s hard drive.
Finally, you can put a regular floppy disk in the drive and copy image files onto it so you can send photos along with e-mail from those Internet cafes you expect to use on what sounds like the trip of a lifetime, Mr. S.
Q–Originally, the Start button and icons were at the bottom of the monitor screen. All of a sudden I realized they had shifted to the right-hand edge of the screen, and I cannot find the key to return them to the screen bottom.
Jim Chand @hiwaay.net
A–It ain’t a key, Mr. C.; it’s the mouse that moves the task bar in Windows from the bottom to either side or the top.
To move the bar, you put the cursor in a spot on the bar without icons and, while holding down the left mouse button, use a sweeping motion to move the whole thing to a different edge of the desktop. It’s easier to do than to read about it.
Q–Even though I am a Mac user, I really enjoy your column. I am an estate planning lawyer, and I use the following software: Microsoft Word 5.0, Microsoft Works 4.0 (spreadsheet and database), QuickBooks Pro 4.0 and Quicken 7. I have thought about switching to a PC because of the greater software availability, but I have been reluctant to do so because of the thousands of files I have created on the Mac.
If I were to go with a PC, is there a relatively easy way to convert the files I created on the Mac to files that can be read and edited on the PC?
Phillip J. Nielsen,
San Jose, Calif.
A–I must warn you that it can be a bit dicey to move the QuickBooks Pro and Quicken data across platforms. The other stuff, however, can easily be shifted by using the superb $70 Conversions Plus (www.dataviz.com), which makes quick work of converting dozens of types of files. Sadly, Quicken is not among them.
Both Quicken and QuickBooks have a Save As option that lets users export data into a format called QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) designed to move stuff across platforms. But my own experience has been that this process can get pretty complex. To get a picture of how daunting the conversion process for Quicken gets, check out this Web page: www
.intuit.com/support/quicken/faqs /win/1657.html.
For my money I’d stick with Mac in light of the renaissance the platform is enjoying, with ever more software coming out and with prices and power at respective all-time lows and highs.
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Contact Jim Coates via e-mail at jcoates@tribune.com or via snail mail at the Chicago Tribune, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. If you think you’ve got a better answer to any of these questions add your point of view at chicagotribune.com/go/askjim.
