Got computer questions? Ask Leo

Most of us have personal computer questions and it's not too hard to get answers. What is hard though, is getting an answer from someone qualified, thoughtful and reasoned. And a constant stream of good answers, for free, is too much to hope for.

Unless you know about Leo.

At his ask-leo.com web site, Leo Notenboom answers computer questions from anyone. Each week he answers a handful of questions, and, if you subscribe to his free newsletter, you get a weekly email with the current weeks questions. He can't answer every one, but he tries his best.

To illustrate, here are some recently asked and answered questions:

• I'm being notified of an intrusion attempt, what should I do?
• Where can I download Windows XP?
• Why can't I connect with a 169.254.x.x IP address?
• How do I translate a URL to an IP address?
• What is thumbs.db, and can I delete it?
• How do I change the icon of a desktop shortcut?
• Why can't I access the Documents and Settings or Local Settings folders in Windows Vista?

Computer nerds don't really have an equivalent of the board certification that doctors do. Still, Mr. Notenboom previously worked for Microsoft, which should count for something. And as they say, it takes one to know one, so trust me, Leo is more than qualified to answer your tech questions. Maybe he already has.

[tenc21]

Credentials

Working for Microsoft may count for something but it shouldn't be much...

[b1zwje73]

I like to learn anything I can about computers that I can because I'm still a little new at computers

[yaakovhillel]

A FRIEND WITH A RELATIVELY NEW LAPTOP STARTED HER COMPUTER AND SOME HOW HER PASSWORD CHANGED. THERE IS A PASSWORD ON HER ADMINISTATOR AND WHEN i PUT IN A CD THE COMPUTER ASKED FOR A PASWORD AS WELL. bESIDES FORMATTING IS THERE ANYWAY i CAN START HER COMPUTER FOR HER? tHANKS IN ADVANCE YAAKOV

[usmc2thou2]

My question is, can you transfer programs that you install from one laptop to another? If possible, how can you do that?

[beckett12]

dear sirs, i know very little about computers, i would like to learn as much as possible. i have some questions for you. for what purpose would you use boolean operators when you search the internet.
what statement best describe a privacy stament regarding the internet, is it a statement attached to
software stating the designers copyright claim.
what do you have to do before you can participate in an e-mail list.is
is an isp the best tool for accessing web pages and connecting to the internet.
what does page cannot be displayed.
is AOL.com a domain name of a URL. please help thanks you very much.

[peterbc4x4x4x4]

Leo,
My brother gets an error on his PC that says."start up and repair" your PC will now restart. Then every 15 minutes it restarts. His msgs after every restart seems to be related to Norton antivirus. Any thoughts?