Your Neighbor's Wi-Fi

I live in an apartment building, and I can access about four different Wi-Fi networks set up and used by my neighbors. Can I use them too?

(Name withheld by request)

The short answer is no. For one thing, it may be illegal--though no one is really sure, as no case has been tried in court at this writing. You don't want to be the one to unintentionally launch a test case.

Apart from the legal questions around hitching a ride on your neighbor's Wi-Fi, do you really want to rely on such a tenuous Internet connection? If your neighbors move, or if they wise up and secure their Wi-Fi link (browse to Andrew Brandt's March Wireless Tips column for more on wireless security), you'll quickly find yourself offline.

Also, using someone else's "property" without permission is just not nice. You're taking something that doesn't belong to you. If you merely download your e-mail via a nearby wireless network on occasion, your neighbor may never notice, but if you're watching videos online, your neighbor's Internet experience could suffer.

In fact, you might want to warn them that they're leaving their Internet door unlocked. You may be stealing only bandwidth, but someone else could be using that connection for more nefarious purposes.

MP3s in da House

I want to listen to my MP3s on my living-room stereo. What's an inexpensive way to do this?

Jens Haetty, Lagrangeville, New York

If you have an iPod or other portable player, or a notebook PC, the solution is downright cheap.

You need a Y-adaptor audio cable with a one-eighth-inch stereo mini plug (like the one used by your headphones or earbuds) on one end, and two standard RCA audio connectors on the other. The same type of plugs connect your CD player to your living room amplifier. Your local electronics store should have the cable for about $7.

Plug the RCA adapters into any available inputs on the back of the amplifier. These are usually color-coded red and white to help you get the right and left channel connections correct. Then plug the other end of the cable to your MP3 player, turn everything on, and enjoy the music. You many also want to tweak the volume level on your MP3 player for proper output to a stereo. Since you're using a headphone-level output instead of a line-level output, you'll likely want to use a volume level around 75 percent of what the device can put out, although your mileage may vary.

This setup works with any player. If a friend comes over and wants to play you a song, just unplug your audio player and plug the other one in.

If you don't have a portable music player, but you do have a Wi-Fi router, consider Linksys' Wireless-G Music Bridge. The software that comes with the product transmits your PC's sound over your wireless network to the Bridge, which sends it to your stereo via the RCA connectors. However, you can't pause the music without running back into your home office (or wherever you keep the computer). The Wireless-G Music Bridge costs about $85. Full-fledged streaming and control devices are expensive, but they usually provide you with more playback options.

'RW' Shouldn't Mean 'Read-Only'

Why does Windows see the files on my CD-RW disc as read-only?

Victor Wimsett, Galion, Ohio

CD-RW, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW are erasable variations on what is basically a read-only format. Windows reads that original format, and treats the discs as read-only.

What's worse, it sees the files on the discs as read-only, as well. Copy a file from a CD-RW to your hard drive, and the resulting file is read-only.

Most disc-authoring programs see RW discs as recordable discs that you can erase and reuse. It's like being able to reformat a drive, but not erase a file. If you're annoyed by the read-only attribute on files you copy from a CD or DVD, create a transition folder for them: Right-click the desktop, select New,Folder, name the folder fromcd, and press <Enter>. When you copy files from a CD or DVD to your hard drive, save them in that folder. Then open the fromcd folder, press <Ctrl>-A to select everything inside, right-click one file, and choose Properties (in Windows XP you can simply right-click the folder itself and select Properties). Uncheck the a??Read-only' option, click OK, select Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files, and click OK again. Now you can drag the files to your preferred location and edit them as well as read them.

Another solution is to use packet-writing software, such as Easy Media Creator's Drag-to-Disc or Nero Burning's InCD (InCD isn't part of Nero's default installation; you'll probably have to install it from the Nero CD). These programs work in the background, tricking Windows into thinking that the CD or DVD in the drive is another hard drive. With this software running, your rewritable optical discs won't be read-only.

Control Startup Load Order

Is there a way to control the order that programs autoload when I boot Windows?

Thomas P. Wensel, Reston, Virginia

Controlling the order isn't good enough. Windows starts all of the autoloading programs almost simultaneously. The autostart app that appears to load last is probably the one that takes the longest time.

You need something that lets you control the order and insert pauses between programs. That way, you can eliminate conflicts caused by multiple programs loading simultaneously, and you can choose which program welcomes you when you start your day. You can't do this with Windows alone. I recommend the free StartRight utility from Jackass JoeJoe's (sincere apologies for the company's silly name). StartRight lets you reorder Windows' autoloading programs and set delays for each. The utility lacks a help file, but it's not too difficult to figure out how to use it. Rather than run an installation program, you save the StartRight.exe file in a convenient location on your system, double-click the file to launch the program, and click the Install button. StartRight then takes control of your autoloading apps. Click the Edit button to bring up a dialog box where you can change the order in which the programs load, and set the pause (in nanoseconds) between program loads. (If you want to modify this order later, click the Edit button again.)

Easy E-Mail Boilerplate

Most e-mail programs let you automate entry of your snail-mail address and other common text. Simply create multiple signatures, which you can place anywhere in the message--not just at the end. To create boilerplate in Outlook, select Tools, Options, Mail Format, Signatures, New and follow the instructions. Then put the cursor where you want the text to appear in the message, select Insert, Signature, and make your choice. Or if you use Word as your Outlook editor, use that program's AutoText and AutoCorrect.

Send your questions to answer@pcworld.com. Answer Line pays $50 for published items. Click here for past Answer Line columns. You'll find Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector's humorous and other writings at www.thelinkinspector.com.