Q&A STEVE ALEXANDER

Q I take lots of pictures with my Nikon D80 digital camera. But every time I change memory cards, the picture numbering starts over with "DCN_0001" As a result, when I try to transfer pictures to my Windows Vista PC, I have conflicts caused by duplicate picture file names.

I know I can manually rename the picture files, but with so many photos it takes a long time. Windows will rename groups of files, but it gives them all the same name, followed by 1, 2, 3 and so on. I'd like to be able to give the pictures names that include the date I took them. Any ideas?

LANCE CHRISTIE, NEW BRIGHTON

A You've identified a common problem with digital cameras. There are two ways to solve it: Rename individual picture files, or store photos with identical file names in separate folders on your PC.

Assuming you want to store all your photos in a single PC folder (which you would do if you wanted to create a slide show of all your photos), you can use one of several utility programs that automate the process of renaming individual picture files. You can find some that are free, or free to try, at www.download.com. In the search field at the top of the page, type in "rename picture files."

Another solution is to transfer your photos to different file folders, which circumvents the problem of identical file names. Because each folder has a different address on the hard disk, two photos with the same file name can coexist if they're in different folders. I create a PC file folder for each month (you could do it by the week if you take that many photos) and copy the picture files from my camera's SD flash memory card to the appropriate PC folder.

Q I bought a new Sony Vaio VGN-NR498E notebook for my daughter when she went to college in August. Everything was fine until the IT department had her load the software drivers for the Cisco wireless router that her dormitory uses. The laptop crashed, and I had to restore it from the backup DVD disks I had made. But the next time she loaded the Cisco drivers the same thing happened.

What should I do? Would upgrading to Vista 64 help?

STEVE MURTO, LAKEVILLE

A Ask the IT department at your daughter's college about potential software conflicts between the Cisco software, which creates secure network connections for laptops, and your daughter's PC. The solution might be as simple as deleting some third-party software on the laptop. Note that if your daughter's laptop was upgraded to Vista from Windows XP, it won't work with the Cisco software. A "clean install" of Vista is required.

Don't upgrade to the 64-bit version of Vista because that OS is incompatible with some types of Cisco software. See the "Cisco VPN Client FAQ" at www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps2308/products_qanda_item09186a00801c2dbe.shtml.

E-mail your technology questions to steve.j. alexander@gmail.com or write Tech Q&A, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488-0002. Include full name, city and telephone number.