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What's to Become of Windows 98 and Me?

I never upgraded from Windows 98. Last month Microsoft discontinued Windows 98 support, including security patches. Can I safely continue using the old OS?

Beth Vollbach, Romeo, Michigan

Microsoft stopped patching Windows 98 and Me as of June 30, 2006. Other security companies, such as Symantec and Trend Micro, will continue to support these versions of Windows for the foreseeable future, so you won't be left completely out in the cold.

While some security experts, such as Trend Micro's David Perry, argue that "We've still got enormous vulnerabilities in 98," I have to go along with ShieldsUp guru Steve Gibson, who argues that "An old, well-tested, and stable platform is arguably more secure than any newer system that is continually changing." Gibson points out, and Perry agrees, that today's hackers aren't bothering to target older versions of Windows. "The Sony rootkit fiasco didn't touch Windows 98/Me," says Gibson.

The LCD Burn-In Question

I disagree with your February answer "Screen Salvation?" (scroll down for the tip). LCD monitors do suffer from burn-in. I've seen it myself.

Jon Forsythe, St. Paul

Mea culpa--with qualifications. After receiving your letter, I talked at length with two LCD experts--Ken Werner of Insight Media and Chris Connery of DisplaySearch.

Generally called "image retention," LCD burn-in is rare in computer monitors and TVs, but more common in large commercial displays, like those found in airports. It's also almost always reversible if the pixels involved are sufficiently exercised.

If your LCD suffers from image retention, treat it to a few hours with a screen saver; preferably one that writes to every pixel of the screen with white or gray. According to Werner, Windows' Starfield is a good choice: Right-click the desktop, choose Properties,Screen Saver, and select Starfield from the drop-down menu under 'Screen saver'.

Turn Off Mail Notification

Is there a way to turn off the XP log-on screen's e-mail notification? I don't want to see how many unread e-mail messages I, or other users, have.

Daddo Oreskovich, Chicago

You can use a Registry trick to prevent this display from updating. Since the screen shows this information only when unread messages are present, be sure to read all of your messages before making this change.

Once you've read them all, click Start,All Programs,Accessories,System Tools,System Restore,Create a new restore point, and step through the wizard.

With your restore point in place, select Start,Run, type regedit, and press <Enter>. In the left pane, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UnreadMail. Right-click the UnreadMail key in the left pane and select Permissions. Choose your log-on name and check the Deny option across from 'Full Control'. Click OK,Yes, and close the Registry Editor.

Remove Duplicate Files

My hard drive contains hundreds of duplicate music, picture, and video files. How can I get rid of all but one of each duplicate?

Razit Zulfiquer, Dhanmondi, Bangladesh

Plenty of programs will find and delete duplicate files. My favorite is Big Bang Enterprises' DoubleKiller. It's free, easy to use, and versatile. But the biggest reason I like it is that it doesn't require installation: You simply decompress the .zip file you download, and then run the .exe file.

DoubleKiller can search for files with identical names, sizes, dates, CRC32-checksums, or any combination of those four options; and it lets you exclude files with certain attributes, names, and extensions. The program displays file matches against alternating white and gray backgrounds that highlight the groupings. You can check the files that you want to move or delete, either one at a time or in groups (including all but the first or last item in each group of dupes). DoubleKiller even lets you launch the file, open the folder it's stored in (the program uses the old term, "Directory"), and export all or part of the list to a tab-delimited text file. The more powerful DoubleKiller Pro costs $20, but the free version works just fine for me.