I'll bet you're not the only one confused by this. We have thumb and hard drives. We won't even talk about floppy and optical drives. The makers should publish scorecards.

Flash drives are also known as thumb, jump and USB drives, among others. They are all the same thing. These drives use a type of memory known as flash.

Flash has no moving parts. Instead, it is made of rows and columns. Each juncture of row and column has two transistors. One of these is known as the floating gate. The amount of charge passing through it determines whether it is a 1 or 0.

Flash has a number of advantages. For one, it's tiny. So flash is easy to slip into small places.

Flash drives can hold as much as 8 gigabytes of data. But you can easily put them in your pocket. They make transferring data between widely separated computers easy.

Flash also runs cool. So you can comfortably hold a flash drive in your hand.

Although the largest flash drives are expensive, smaller ones are not. These drives are following the same trajectory as hard drives. Capacity is growing rapidly as prices plummet.

Flash memory is much newer technology than hard drives. Most hard drives have platters that spin at 5,400 or 7,200 RPM. More expensive ones spin at up to 15,000 RPM.

Hard drives are descended from drives developed by IBM in the 1950s. So they've been around a long time. They have gotten new life in devices such as the iPod. However, flash memory could supplant them in some applications, such as laptops.

Hard drives have read-write heads that move very quickly above the platters. They occasionally hit the platters, an event known as a head crash. That destroys the drive. Even a speck of dust can cause a head crash. So all this movement has its downside.

However, hard drives can hold vastly more data than flash drives. Currently, the largest consumer hard drive holds 750GB. Compare that to flash drives, which top out at 8GB. The hard drive is not that much more expensive, either.

So, to answer your question, flash drives and hard drives don't have much in common. They both hold data. Neither is volatile, so they don't lose data when shut down. Both are relatively inexpensive. And both are small, considering their capacity.

1. You can go to www.news.google.com and see the current headlines from over 4500 different news sources. These stories are sorted into categories, such as International, Sports, Entertainment, National, etc. Not bad for getting an overview of what is going on around the world.

2. For more detailed news on your town, go to www.topix.net and enter your zip code at the top of the page. You will then see current headlines from your area.

3. If you want to track news about a particular person, such as a celebrity, go to www.news.google.com and type in that person's name. For example, if you are a fan of actor Tom Hanks, you might want to know whenever there is a news item that includes his name. Google News search does that.

4. You can also track news about a particular subject matter, or a company name, or anything else you can think of, just by entering that word or phrase at the Google News site. A few example searches: genealogy, Microsoft, Ground Zero construction

I received a number of messages from people who say they are stuck with 98 or ME. As the second person says, a lot of people simply can't afford to replace their computer. It's not a question of safety for them. Either they use 98 (or ME), or they don't have a computer.

If I were in this situation, I'd continue to use 98, too. Same with ME. You really can't make these machines perfectly safe. But there are things you can do.

First, I'd stop using Internet Explorer. Security problems pop up regularly for this program. In fact, there's one out there now that Microsoft cannot fix.

Instead, I'd download Firefox. This free browser has problems of its own. But it is not tied into Windows the way IE is. So the security problems are not as severe. Besides, it can be patched, even if it is running on an old Windows version.

Don't try to remove Internet Explorer from your computer. It's part of Windows, and is virtually impossible to uninstall. Just stop using it.

Next, you need a firewall. ZoneAlarm no longer supports 98 and ME. But Agnitum does. You can download Outpost Firewall Free . It will even run on Windows 95.

You need anti-spyware software, too. In fact, you need more than one program, to be safe. After you get the programs, update them regularly. Spyware is a moving target.

The best such program is Webroot's Spy Sweeper, in my opinion. (Webroot is also one of my advertisers.) Spy Sweeper supports Windows 98 Second Edition, along with ME. So if you use the early edition of Windows 98, you're out of luck.

Spy Sweeper is $30. It updates itself automatically.

Spybot-Search & Destroy is also good. And it is free. Furthermore, it runs on all Windows 98 systems. Download and install it. You have to update it manually.

Ad-Aware Personal is also free. And it works fine on Windows 98 and ME. It will not keep spyware off your computer. But it does a good job of removing it. Download and install it. Update Ad-Aware manually.

www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

Don't forget antivirus software. There's plenty available for 98 and ME. Free programs are available from AVG and avast!. You'll find links here:

http://www.grisoft.com/doc/40/lng/ww

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Install a HOSTS file. If something gets onto your computer, the HOSTS file will keep it from contacting the Internet. You can get a good HOSTS file online. Follow the instructions for installation.

Most important, use common sense. Most threats arrive via e-mail. Don't open spam. Delete it. If you do open it, do not open attachments. You will almost certainly be attacked.

There is a slim possibility that a Web site could download something dangerous to you. I emphasize the word slim. However, if you use common sense, you should be OK.

Nonetheless, Microsoft's lack of support is a problem. The bad guys could find and exploit a weakness in these old systems. There is an outside chance that a keylogger could be placed on your computer. So don't put any confidential information on them. I wouldn't do online banking or stock trading with these systems.

Windows includes a hidden Administrator account that can be used for problems with other accounts. You can access it by restarting the computer into safe mode.

First, restart the computer. As it starts, repeatedly press the F8 key (some computers instead require the Delete or Esc key). Instead of the familiar Windows screen, you'll see a text-only Advanced Options Menu. Use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode. Then press Enter.

Select the Administrator account. By default on most computers, it requires no password. Once logged in, you can change the password of the account you normally use.

To make the change, click Start>>Run. In the box, type "control userpasswords2" (without the quotes) and click OK. Select your normal account name in the list. Click the Reset Password button. You'll be prompted for a new password. You can restart the computer and use the new password on your normal account.

If you're completely locked out of your computer, you'll need software. Such services include Login Recovery, FastCrack, and NT Password and Registry Editor. Each is free. They make use of boot disks that you can download to a floppy or burn to CD. Of course, you'll have to use some other computer to do the downloading.

Once you've got access to your computer, set a new password through Windows. To do it, click Start>>Control Panel. Double-click User Accounts. Select your account and click "Change my password." You'll be prompted for a new password.

Get rid of spyware

Spyware can cause any number of unwelcome symptoms. And because it is so pervasive on the Web, spyware is a likely culprit. Scan your computer with a few anti-spyware programs. You can find good, free anti-spyware programs at:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

The included information is supposed to be helpful. The idea is that you can see who has already seen the message, and avoid sending it to them. But more often than not, all those addresses are really just clutter. Furthermore, all those e-mail addresses are shared with recipients. And messages can eventually make their way to complete strangers.

There are a couple of simple ways to keep e-mail addresses out of your forwarded messages. First, you can highlight and copy the text of the original message. But don't copy the addresses! Then paste the text into a completely new e-mail. This is the easiest solution.

You could also erase the addresses as you forward. After you select the option to forward, highlight the addresses with your mouse and delete them.

Some e-mail programs are set to forward messages as attachments. In that case, you can't copy or make changes to the message. You'll need to change your program's settings. These settings might also be listed under "composing" or "sending."

But older systems are still used in many homes and workplaces. Some people can't afford to replace them. Others see no reason to upgrade if their machines still work well. Without updates, these aging PCs might be sitting ducks on the Internet. Newly discovered flaws will not be patched. If you're running 98 or ME, your security is now completely up to you.

These systems need top-notch security to survive their golden years. That brings me to another, related problem: Software for 98 and ME is drying up. The latest version of the ZoneAlarm fireweall (6.5) does not support 98 or ME. Older versions will still work.

Other security programs may soon follow suit. If you still don't have the basics – firewall, antivirus and anti-spyware – today's the day to get your bases covered.

The following is my list of free security programs that work with older versions of Windows. Get the programs you need, install them and use them.

1. Outpost

2. Jetico Personal Firewall

1. Avast! Home Edition

2. ClamWin

3. AVG Free Edition

4. AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic

1. Spybot Search & Destroy

2. Ad-Aware Personal

3. SpywareBlaster

You could change each file name individually. But I'd rather be taking photos than renaming files. So I change the names en masse.

Windows XP makes it easy to rename batches of files. First, open Windows Explorer. Right-click Start and select Explore.

Navigate to the folder that contains your photos. Select all of your photos by clicking Ctrl + A. Their names will be highlighted.

Now, click F2. Rename the first file. When you press Enter, the first file will have that name. The rest will have the same name, followed by (1), (2), (3), etc.