Dear George: "I'm replacing the hard drive on my laptop. I want to double the storage capacity. I've heard of a kit called 'easy something or other.' It is supposed to make the transfer process really easy from one hard drive to the other. Have you heard of this kit? If not, can you give me some ideas as to where to begin looking? -- Looking

Dear Looking: I believe you may be thinking about "EZ-GIG" made by Apricorn, Inc. The EZ-GIG data transfer and upgrade kits are brand-specific. Be sure to obtain the one that's made for your particular brand of laptop. Also, you should make sure your model series is listed within that brand category on the site.

Dear George: "The systems administrator for our company informed me that I have the 'W32.Sircam.Worm' virus on my personal laptop. I am not allowed to connect it to our network at the office until I fix it. My company only pays for fixing company-owned computers. Do you have any advice? Is this something I can do myself?-- At Sea

Dear At Sea: Access Symantec.Com. Click on "Information on W32.Sircam.Worm@mm." It's located beneath the "Internet Security" section in the "Security Updates" subsection. The page that is displayed is "printer friendly." I suggest you print it. Also print the more detailed instructions for the "Removal Tool." Its hyperlink is located beneath the "Caution" paragraph. After reading these documents, if you believe you understand what would be required of you, then by all means attempt to remove the worm. However, if you are not sure you can perform the required actions, hire someone who is qualified. This is a nasty virus.

Dear George: "I purchased a MicroSolutions backpack CD-ReWriter for the PC I use at my home office. I managed to install it. I was very happy when I was able to create a CD containing several documents I had prepared for a client. Then I took the CD to my broker's office. When I inserted my CD in the drive, I received an error message. It said something about a 'UDF Reader.' What is that all about? Why won't my CD play in the computer in my broker's office?-- Miffed

Dear Miffed: The peripheral device you installed on your home office PC will function in two different modes. One is called "DirectCD." The other is "Easy CD Creator." It appears that you recorded your documents using the DirectCD mode. This is fine, as long as the computer in your broker's office also has DirectCD applications or the "reader" software. Otherwise, if you want to make a CD that can be shared with others, you need CD-R discs rather than CD-RW discs. I also recommend Easy CD Creator mode for making CD-R disks that can be shared with others.

Dear George: "I am a Realtor associated with a California real estate firm. I've been using a cell phone for mobile communications. I keep a day-timer type book for my appointments. I use Top Producer 6i for my contacts. Enough!

Now I'm hearing about Top Producer for Palm connected devices. I've been interested in several different PDAs that might allow me to combine some of the several different applications I use. My problem is that Top Producer seems to be recommending 'Palm' connected devices. Some of the most attractively priced PDAs are not the Palm brand. I've given myself a headache worrying over this. PLEASE point me in the right direction so I can make an intelligent decision.-- Worrying

Dear Worrying: As far as Personal Digital Assistants ("PDAs") are concerned, I currently prefer the Palm Operating System ("OS") to Windows CE. I believe there are more usable applications for the Palm OS. That's not to say it will remain that way. But, back to your question You seem to be satisfied with Top Producer. Why not stay with TP's recommendations, especially when you may be trying a new device?

For more articles by George Stephens, please press here.

George Stephens welcomes your tech questions by e-mail. Because of the volume of mail received, questions cannot be answered individually.

Published: August 24, 2001

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

George C. Stephens, CRB is the Broker of deRaat Stephens, Inc. dba ERA Stephens Properties and the Director of Compliance for eRealty, Inc. Stephens served as 1998 Chairman of the 13,000+ member Houston Association of REALTORS® and is the Vice Chairman of HAR’s wholly owned subsidiary, e-Har, Inc. He is the 2001 Secretary/Treasurer of the 50,000+ member Texas Association of REALTORS® and TAR’s 2002 Chairman-Elect. Stephens holds a Texas Real Estate Broker license as well as a Texas Mortgage Broker License.