为电脑操作系统“降级”
Q: I am looking for information about how I can export my Favorites and Address Book from my AOL account to another browser and any other email service.
A: There may be multiple methods for doing this, but one simple approach is to use a service called TrueSwitch, which is specifically designed for this purpose. It can be found at www.trueswitch.com.
Q: Is there an application that will uninstall all the 'craplets' and their preferences from a Windows machine?
A: Yes. It's called 'PC Decrapifier,' and can be downloaded at pcdecrapifier.com. It is designed to remove from a new Windows PC all of the unneeded trial programs, add-on programs and advertising come-ons that PC makers typically cram onto the computer that are collectively known as 'craplets.' These items can slow down a new machine and occupy disk space better used for programs and files you actually want.
Q: I've recently purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium as the operating system. Is there a way to remove the Vista operating system and use Windows XP?
A: Yes, such an operating system 'downgrade' is possible, but it isn't for the faint-hearted or the average, nontechnical user. There are many obstacles, but let me list just the major ones. For one thing, the process involves wiping out everything on your hard disk. That means you will need to carefully copy all of your personal data files to a backup disk so you can restore them after the downgrade. In fact, you should clone your entire hard disk if possible so you can revert to Vista if the downgrade fails. You will also need a legal copy of Windows XP, or -- better yet -- a legal Windows XP recovery disk from your PC's maker that is customized for your machine's hardware and factory-installed software.
If you can't find an XP recovery disk tailored for your particular PC, you will need to assemble a collection of 'drivers' -- the software programs that make your computer's hardware features work -- that are compatible with Windows XP. This can be difficult, or even impossible, as a Vista machine may contain new hardware components for which XP drivers are hard to find or may not even exist.
If you aren't a techie, and you desperately want to downgrade to XP, I strongly suggest hiring an expert to take on the task. But the best solution for XP fans is to buy a machine with XP preinstalled in the first place.
专栏作家莫博士就有关电脑和其他电子设备的常见技术问题答读者问。
问：我想把AOL帐户中的“我的最爱”(Favorites)和“地址簿”(Address Book)内容转移到另一个浏览器和其他任何一个电子邮件服务中，有什么办法吗？
答：或许有很多方法，但是最简单的就是使用专门满足这种需求的TrueSwitch服务，你可以从www.trueswitch.com找到它。
问：有没有一款应用软件可以卸载Windows电脑中的所有垃圾软件及其设置呢？
答：有。有款名为PC Decrapifier的软件，可以从pcdecrapifier.com上下载。它的设计初衷就是为了删除新Windows电脑中所有不必要的测试软件、加载程序以及广告软件等。而这些被个人电脑生产商塞入电脑的软件统称垃圾软件，它们会使新电脑的运行速度变慢，占据本应用于用户想要的程序及文件的存储空间。
问：最近我购买了一台预装Vista家庭高级版(Vista Home Premium)操作系统的笔记本电脑。有没有什么办法可以卸载Vista操作系统，安装Windows XP？
答：有啊，这样的操作系统“降级”是可行的，不过它不太适合不具备专业技术知识的普通用户操作。这个过程有很多障碍，下面我来列举几个主要问题。首先，这个操作会把硬盘中的所有东西都删除掉。也就是说，你必须小心翼翼地把所有的个人数据文件复制到备份盘上，以便在更换操作系统后再次恢复。事实上，如果可能的话，你应该“克隆”整个硬盘，这样一来，如果“降级”失败，你仍可以恢复到Vista状态。另外，你还需要一个正版Windows XP安装盘，或是个人电脑厂商随机附赠的Windows XP恢复盘，它是根据你所用电脑的硬件和预装软件量身定制的。
如果你无法找到适合你电脑的XP恢复盘，你将需要汇集一系列驱动程序，它们要和Windows XP兼容并能够使电脑硬件的各个功能运转起来。这也是很难办到的，甚至有可能无法实现，因为Vista机型或许有很多新硬件，你很难找到与之相应的XP驱动程序，或者根本就没有这样的驱动程序。
如果你不是个科技高手，你又特别想安装XP的话，我强烈建议你请一位专业人员来完成这项工作。对于那些XP的粉丝来说，一开始就购买预装XP的机型才是最好的解决方法。