Q: I'm confused about software utilities (Norton, Nuts & Bolts, etc.), virus protection and uninstallers. Do the utility programs typically include virus protection and/or uninstallers, and if so, is there any reason to buy either or both separately? How necessary or valuable are they, particularly compared with the system tools included with Windows 98?

John Rossitter, Middletown

A: Traditionally, all three of the products you mention -- disk utilities, anti-virus programs and uninstaller software -- have been developed and sold separately.

The reason was simple enough: Those various programs required different types of skills to write. So different software companies specialized in the products that they knew best.

Recently, that trend has begun to change. Some of the bigger software publishers have begun bundling these programs into a kind of software suite.

The best example is probably Symantec Corp. In September, Symantec began bundling Norton Utilities, Norton AntiVirus and Norton CrashGuard, all previously available as stand-alone products, into a package called Norton SystemWorks. The product included a bonus package of other Symantec software and sold for $99.

The product was an instant hit and by the following month, Symantec added Quarterdeck's uninstall program, Remove-It 98, to the package. Earlier this month, Symantec went still further, adding Norton CleanSweep.

At $69 for the standard version and $99 for the professional edition, it's a pretty good deal for an all-purpose collection of utilities. McAfee Office, which lists at $99, is a similar product.

Buying these programs together is a huge bargain over buying them separately. As for how useful all this stuff is, I'd have to say it is not quite essential, but definitely good to have, especially if you're a hard-core PC user. The undelete function alone could be worth the price if you happen to zap the wrong file some day.

Q: I use a 3 1/2-inch floppy on a frequent basis to back up my Quicken data and got a message the other day that the diskette was filled and to go to a another one. I did, but I'm now puzzled. Just what data is the floppy copying? Is it backing up just the new data that has accumulated since the last backup session or is it copying all the data that is in the program?

To rephrase and perhaps simplify the question, what am I really backing up when I run that command?

Jim Allen

A: You don't say which version of Quicken you're using, but the principle is the same. Quicken uses its built-in backup command to create completely fresh copies of certain essential data files that hold information on your payments, investments, etc.

As the size of those files increases over time, it can sometimes grow beyond the capacity of a single floppy disk. In such cases, Quicken uses a kind of "disk spanning" technology to save the data to multiple disks. Some people use Iomega Zip disks or other large storage media to avoid the disk-spanning issue altogether.

Last month, Digital Diary took on a question from a reader, Gail Shotsberger of Simsbury (, whose 200Mhz Pentium Gateway PC was freezing up at random intervals. I made a few suggestions about what might solve the problem, but other readers have submitted a few suggestions of their own. Here are a couple:

Dear Gail and John:

Our family had the same freeze-up computer problem for almost a year driving us totally insane. The only thing you could do was reboot every time it locked up. Ctrl-Alt-Del did not work either. Well, this should be your solution. We found it on the Internet:

Turn off the graphics acceleration of Windows 95.

This is found under Control Panel/System/Performance. Choose the Advance Settings/Graphics button. There under Advanced Graphics Settings will be Hardware Acceleration. The default setting is Full. There are three lower settings, the lowest being None, with a message "Use this setting only if your computer frequently stops responding or has other severe problems." This is the setting you want. Choose it, and then reboot.

This has stopped all our freeze-ups. It has now been enjoyable to be on the computer as much as we want.

Donna, Gary and Beau Bolinsky

Windsor Locks

While reading today's paper, I noticed your response to Gail from Simbury regarding computer freeze-up. I had the same problem on and off after acquiring my system this past spring. While mentioning it to several friends, one seemed to think that overheating and placement of the mini-tower might be a problem. Sure enough, poor air circulation and a hot room contributed to the problem.

I moved the CPU off the floor and put it on a table away from the wall to give better air circulation. On hot days, I just put a small desk fan on (aimed at me and CPU) to give a little better air flow in the room. Problem solved.

Spin Zucker

South Windsor

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