Adaware. Spybot. Maybe VLC if it doesn't come with a good DVD player. Picasa if she likes pictures.

It came with an adblocker and spyware software. Big name commercial stuff, so I'm not that familiar.

Her Norton, for instance, expires in 60 days. If I had more time, I'd just uninstall it, and put AVG on, but I don't think I'll have a chance.

I've become so spoiled with broadband and informed choice that I can't think of the simple stuff.

Anyone know anything about this software: [link] I need to somehow figure out how to get my music from my iPod back into iTunes. Not only did I lose almost $200 worth of purchased music, but also many cds that I don't know where/when I copied them. Blech. This is a pain in the arse.

vw, there's a free way you can try first--I just did it.

On a PC, connect the iPod. Make sure your folder settings allow you to see hidden files. Windows Explorer should have a drive now that's the iPod. Drill down the folder structure (dammit, I forget the highest one, but there are only a few) and copy the Music folder onto your PC.

Start iTunes, and import the Music folder back in. Make sure your Preferences are set to copy the music files.

That's a little vague, so if someone with iTunes around could give more details, that'd be great. But it was what I was doing at midnight last night.

One thing: Not sure how that works with your iTunes store music. Best thing to do is make sure you're logged into the store with your original ID before you do the copying. Not sure if you have to do more.

It should work fine with the purchased iTunes music. When you try to play the copied file, you'll need to log in. That's it.

Be careful with the "copy to music library" setting, though. You'll end up with two copies of ALL of your music - the folder you originally copied over from your iPod, and the (newly copied) stuff in your library. Thus, if you have a 20 GB iPod that's nearly full, you'll be spending 40 GB of disk space on it. That's fine if you remember to delete the original copied-from-iPod folder. Still, you're probably better off just copying the folder into "My Documents/iTunes/iTunes Music" (or whatever the iTunes folder is on Windows) in the first place, and just letting iTunes organize the music rather than copy it all. Saves time.

ETA: If you're willing to wait awhile, I could help you do this in a more step-by-step manner using AIM or some such later this evening. I won't be home until about 8 Eastern time, though. Be very careful not to let your new, unfilled iTunes syc with your iPod, though, whatever you do. That's the biggest danger at this point.

Just by coincedence, I ran across this article:

Rebuild a lost iTunes library from an iPod?

eta: from the above link, a tutorial: How to get songs off your iPod w/ iTunes

That's fine if you remember to delete the original copied-from-iPod folder.

That's why I put it on my desktop, so it stares balefully at me.

Help! I have a new computer. It won't connect to my DSL account. I spent about an hour on the phone with two different guys on Earthlink. After trying millions of things, they finally decided that the problem is that the "LAN or High Speed Internet" icons are missing from "Network Connections" and that that was a Dell problem. Microsoft said that only Dell answers questions about Windows XP in Dell machines. Dell is living up to its reputation for uselessness. (Okay, I knew about the support problems, but it was a great deal. And I normally rarely need support. Ha!) I have done a repair reinstall of Windows. I have fruitlessly googled. I have randomly clicked everything related to network connections. Any ideas about what I should do next?

After trying millions of things, they finally decided that the problem is that the "LAN or High Speed Internet" icons are missing from "Network Connections" and that that was a Dell problem.

That seems very odd to me. Are you going through the Control Pannel to look for "Network Connections"?

Anyway, this is XP Home, right? (Networking in XP Home is different from XP Pro, which is what I'm using at the moment (at work)).

Yes, I'm going through the Control Panel. It's XP Home. I'm beginning to suspect evil forces.