Q: I'm planning to buy a Windows 7 PC and transfer everything to it from my old Windows XP computer. I read that you recommend the Malwarebytes security program. Will it interfere with my existing Norton security software on the new PC?
A: The free version of the Malwarebytes program won't interfere with Norton's anti-virus or firewall software. But the enhanced, $25 version of Malwarebytes probably will.
Why? The Norton security programs run constantly, and any other anti-malware program that runs all the time is likely to interfere with Norton.
The free version of Malwarebytes runs only when you start it. After it completes a single scan of your PC, it turns off until the next time you use it. But the for-pay version of Malwarebytes runs continuously.
You can find the free version of Malwarebytes at www.tinyurl.com/d5jtuz (click "download now.")
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By the way, you can't transfer software from your old PC to your new one. Instead, you have to reinstall it on the new computer.
You can reinstall your Norton software by going to www.tinyurl.com/89fu5fz and following the directions. You can reinstall the free version of Malwarebytes by repeating the steps above.
Q: Several readers ask why a red letter "X" sometimes appears in place of a photograph that was contained in the body of an email.
A: The email "red X" problem has been around for years and has several possible causes, including software settings, if in Microsoft's Outlook email or its Internet Explorer Web browser; the quirks of different email systems, particularly AOL's; and interference from security software.
To fix software settings, see www.tinyurl.com/6r6jcvl or www.tinyurl.com/7gnad6f
To avoid the other barriers, send photos as attachments rather than inside the body of the email. Attachments are more uniformly handled by different email systems and are less likely to trigger your security software.
NOTE: Several readers have complained that the TinyURL Web addresses in this column don't work. They do work, but only if they're typed into the Web address box at the top of a browser. You can't search for them on Google or Bing.
Why? TinyURLs aren't websites; they're nicknames for website addresses that are too long to print. The TinyURL.com site converts these nicknames to their real Web addresses.
Steve Alexander covers technology. Email your Tech Q&A questions to him at steve.j.alexander@gmail.com Please include a full name, city and phone number.