digi-quest

I have bought an iPod Touch, which arrived with the usual bundle of applications. Existing users can download applications but only from the iTunes store, which is not available in Hong Kong. How might I be able to get them?

Brian Paterson, Tong Fuk, Lantau

DQ: I contacted Apple's office in Hong Kong and was told, 'Not all services are available in every country and we do not have an immediate solution for Hong Kong.'

There are ways to get round this. Many people in Hong Kong buy music from the iTunes store using credit cards issued in places Apple approves of, including the United States and Britain. This may not be a satisfactory solution but it does work. I believe the only other thing you can do is complain to Apple Hong Kong or write directly to Apple in California. Apple made a big fuss about its worldwide warranties many years ago, now it is time for the company to honour them.

I recently bought a computer installed with Symantec's Norton anti-virus program. I wanted to uninstall Norton to load free software, but to no avail. I was told that Norton is so embedded in new machines that I would need to replace my hard drive in order to install the program. Is it that hard to ditch Norton?

Name and address supplied

DQ: It would be unusual for a company today to sell a product that could not be uninstalled. The idea of replacing the hard disk is most bizarre. According to the Symantec website, if you have Microsoft's Vista OS (automatically installed on most new machines), you can uninstall Norton by doing the following: click the Start button then Control Panel. Under Programs, click Uninstall Program. Highlight the Norton product you want to remove then click Uninstall. Click Continue in the User Account Control window. Click Remove All. Click Next and follow the instructions. To uninstall other Norton products, repeat steps three to six. Restart the computer.

Make sure you are not connected to the internet when you perform these steps then load your freeware immediately.