A: Bluetooth is a wireless protocol. For a car it means that if you have a cellphone that supports Bluetooth, you can control your phone hands-free. Once you have configured your phone to work with the car, you can press the Talk button on the steering wheel of the car and then say the name of the person you want to call. Presto! That's a lot easier and — more to the point — safer than trying to drive while you're poking at the keypad on your cellphone.

I have to confess, however, that I'd rather cellphone use in cars be banned altogether. While hands-free sets are a help, anything that distracts a driver is a danger.

Q: I have a Dell desktop purchased in 2000 running Windows ME. I have had problems in the past and have had to replace the hard drive twice. I have now purchased an external hard drive to back up files and I am trying to use the Microsoft Backup utility contained in the Windows System Tools. The problem is I cannot back up one file now and back up another at a later time because the option "append this backup to my media" is always grayed out and is not available. Since my computer doesn't have USB 2.0 I don't want to back up my entire drive at one time because it would take hours. Is there a way to back up files and add them to the external drive at different times with this utility, or do I have to purchase additional backup software?

— Richard Cox, Seattle

A: Hmmm. The only time that append option should be grayed out is if Windows doesn't detect any backup devices.

In short, any decent backup program, including the Microsoft Backup utility, should allow you to perform incremental backups to your external hard drive. I have not been able to find any reason why you're not able to do this with the configuration you reported.

You might want to check with the manufacturer of the external drive to see if it has had any problems with recognition by Microsoft Backup.

If not, I'd try another backup program. Just Google backup software and you'll find a wide range of options, from shareware to feature-laden programs that have a price tag.

Q: My computer freezes sometimes, like when I'm using Skype, watching TV or when I'm working with other programs. It seems that this is happening more frequently since I changed to Qwest/MSN Premium DSL. (I used Comcast before.) I have cleaned my computer inside and out, and I have also changed the keyboard and mouse. I have to turn off the computer to get online again.

— Bjorn Emilsson, Bellevue

A: I'm afraid there's not much help I can offer on this one. This kind of problem is one that generally needs to be solved through hands-on troubleshooting. I can tell you, however, that the problem is not likely to be your change of Internet service providers. A far more likely cause is a conflicting driver or application. Of course, that includes viruses and spyware that you may not be aware are installed.

Questions for Patrick Marshall may be sent by e-mail to pmarshall@seattletimes.com or pgmarshall@pgmarshall.net, or by mail at Q&A/Technology, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.

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