Repair or replace? Complexity of machines poses dilemma

Q: I recently took my daughter's computer to two PC stores. The PC would not boot. The first store charged $79 to look at it and $19 to clean it. I came back two days later and they told me that the PC is not worth fixing and I should buy a new PC with Vista on it. At the second shop, the guy charged $39 to tell me the problem was the motherboard and said I needed to buy a new PC. Sound like a pattern?

How often are people being mislead by PC stores that make more money selling a new PC than repairing one?

A: I understand your frustrations. Computers are — like most televisions these days — complex pieces of electronics that may not be worth repairing. That is, you might spend more money trying to track down the problem and fixing it than is smart. If you spend $500 to find the problem and fix it just so you can end up with a computer that is once again worth $600, why not just invest in a new computer that doesn't have a bunch of older parts likely to break down in the next year or so and cost more money?

I can't say I agree with the philosophy underlying the design of products these days that emphasizes replacement rather than repair, but I wouldn't jump automatically to blaming the repair shops that give you the bad news.

Q: I am no longer able to view digital pictures that are at least 1 year old. I still can view the most recent pictures that I have stored. I am running Windows XP professional with Norton Anti-virus 2006 and I have tried to view them with Microsoft Photo Editor and Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. I get a message that their file type is unknown. All the files are JPG and they range in size from 300KB to 600KB.

The most recent files look the same and they open and view just fine. I don't know what to do and I would appreciate any help you could give.

A: This is a little tough to diagnose without a hands-on look. But here's a guess.

If the application is saying the file type is unknown, my guess is that somehow the files have been saved without their file extensions. Try renaming the files with the "JPG" file extension and see if you're then able to load them.

Q: When I start up the computer, I get a box titled "Network Connection" that contains the following message: "You (or a program) have requested info from Americaonline.aol.com. Which connection do you want to use?" I click on AOL, but nothing comes up that tells me what they want. How do I get rid of this?

A: My guess is that you've got a piece of adware on your computer that keeps popping up that message when you boot.

My recommendation is to install a good anti-adware, anti-spyware program. Just search on the Internet for them and you'll find links to a number. Most offer free scanning tools that will report what they find. Try them until you find one that snags your particular problem.

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.