Hibernation mode OK on wireless networks
By BILL HUSTED Cox News Service

Q: I have been told to use the hibernate mode when not on the computer. However, someone else said that using the hibernate setting with a wireless network is bad. They said that if the wireless network went down, your computer would be basically spinning its wheels and it finally would destroy the hard drive. When should we use hibernate function safely?

A second question: My wife does not like me to play games on her computer. She claims it will shorten its lifetime. Any truth that overusing a computer for games is bad?

- Jack Essling

A: Hi Jack. I'll take your last question first. It sounds as if your wife is a smart woman who has figured out a way to pry you away from your games.

Playing games won't shorten the life of your computer. (I can't promise the same for life spans of marriages.) While games do often take more computing and video horsepower to run, there's no special danger to your computer.

There's no problem placing your computer in hibernation (just a fancy way of describing a powered-down sleep state). And if your wireless network goes down while the computer is in hibernation, it won't damage your hard disks.

Q: I just purchased a new computer with Vista Home Premium installed. Will Grisoft's AVG and SpyBot Search & Destroy work with Vista? The computer came with a free 60-day trial of Norton, which I don't like. I want to delete the Norton and add the AVG and SpyBot Search & Destroy, which I had on my old computer and liked.

- Mel Seligman

A: Both programs are working on my home PC with Vista installed. In the case of Grisoft's excellent free anti-virus program (http://free.grisoft.com), just make sure you download the latest version. Earlier versions of the program are not compatible with Vista, but the one at the Web site I gave will work just fine.

E-mail questions to Bill Husted at bhusted@ajc.com. While he reads every e-mail, not all are answered. E-mails are selected for publication based on the likelihood that the answers will be of general interest.