I have an iMac and two Windows-based laptops linked to my Apple Airport base station, on which I have used WEP (wired equivalent privacy) encryption to secure the connections. The only problem is that the iMac often drops the Wi-fi signal. What is wrong here?
Andrew, Mid-Levels
DQ: It is always good to know that people are concerned about security. Sadly, WEP is not a good choice; although I suppose it's better than nothing. WEP, according to researchers, is easy to break and has been known to cause a great many problems on the Mac. I have no proof, except that it has been superseded by the WPA (Wi-fi protected access) and WPA2 security protocols. These are much better. There may be some problems with your mixed network, depending on how old the Windows-based laptops are. If these are really old, either the Wi-fi cards in use should be replaced or you may need to invest in new notebook computers. Write down the model numbers and the configuration, including the version of the operating system. Go to a trusted shop and ask about it. You can also look up the machines' model numbers on the manufacturer's website and see what they say.
I have more than 1,000 names and addresses printed on several pieces of A4 paper. How do I put all of these into my computer without scanning them all myself?
Jeremy, Pokfulam
DQ: There are several solutions here. Do it yourself if it is a situation that is likely to happen again. Scanners of the right quality are quite cheap these days, so that is not a problem. Getting software that is good enough is more problematic. There is free software for both Windows and Mac but the quality varies quite a bit. You will need more than 90 per cent accuracy if you want results you can use. Check out www. scanstore.com for a selection of OCR (optical character recognition) software. OCR is the electronic translation of images of hand-written, typewritten or printed text into machine-editable text.