I have an iMac and two Windows-based laptops linked to my Apple Airport base station, on which I have used WEP (wired equivalent privacy) encryption to secure the connections. The only problem is that the iMac often drops the Wi-fi signal. What is wrong here? Andrew, Mid-Levels DQ: It is always good to know that people are concerned about security. Sadly, WEP is not a good choice; although I suppose it's better than nothing. WEP, according to researchers, is easy to break and has been known to cause a great many problems on the Mac. I have no proof, except that it has been superseded by the WPA (Wi-fi protected access) and WPA2 security protocols. These are much better. There may be some problems with your mixed network, depending on how old the Windows-based laptops are. If these are really old, either the Wi-fi cards in use should be replaced or you may need to invest in new notebook computers. Write down the model numbers and the configuration, including the version of the operating system. Go to a trusted shop and ask about it. You can also look up the machines' model numbers on the manufacturer's website and see what they say. I have more than 1,000 names and addresses printed on several pieces of A4 paper. How do I put all of these into my computer without scanning them all myself? Jeremy, Pokfulam DQ: There are several solutions here. Do it yourself if it is a situation that is likely to happen again. Scanners of the right quality are quite cheap these days, so that is not a problem. Getting software that is good enough is more problematic. There is free software for both Windows and Mac but the quality varies quite a bit. You will need more than 90 per cent accuracy if you want results you can use. Check out www. scanstore.com for a selection of OCR (optical character recognition) software. OCR is the electronic translation of images of hand-written, typewritten or printed text into machine-editable text. If you do not want to do the scanning, your best bet is to ask for help from graphics shops or printing output service centres. They often have the equipment and will not charge too much. If that appeals, you could also try one of the major document-processing companies. According to its website, Ricoh can do such a job in Hong Kong. But it will cost you. The job will also depend on the quality of the scans. In any case, you must be careful about checking the results. E-mail addresses are particularly tricky because they often can't be checked with a normal spell-check program. The last resort would be to hire a temporary worker to input everything for you. This may be the easiest solution of all.