Steve Alexander: Message in a digital bottle washes ashore

QI wonder when you will receive this message, dated Aug. 3.

The above sentence sounds strange, but for some unknown reason a number of the e-mails I've sent via Microsoft's Outlook Express over the past several months were suddenly delivered on July 29, and are dated as if I'd sent them on July 28 at about 9 p.m. I wasn't at my computer then, and I have no idea where they've been hiding.

The oldest message was one I had sent in February 2009, the most recent was from mid-July. Is there a logical explanation?

J.H. LAVERNE PALMER OTTAWA, ONTARIO

AYou'll be happy to know that I received your Aug. 3 e-mail the same day. I suspect your e-mail provider was to blame for the problem, although it's possible there's a flaw in your copy of Outlook Express.

Your e-mail provider probably had a mail server (a computer that relays e-mail to its destination) that wasn't working and periodically trapped your e-mails. The e-mails probably were time-stamped with a July 28 date when the mail server was fixed.

But it would be a good idea to check out possible problems with Outlook Express (see tinyurl.com/2uwcyvu) or reinstall the program to eliminate any flaws. Microsoft has replaced Outlook Express with Windows Live Mail, but you can still download it as part of the 2005-vintage Internet Explorer 6 at tinyurl.com/558l5.

CAROLYN BAILEY, NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLA.

AThere was a keyboard issue caused by a Microsoft software patch several years ago; you may have gotten it more recently as part of a cumulative Windows update. HP offers a free, downloadable software patch for Windows XP (which a 2005 PC would have) that should correct the problem. See tinyurl.com/o5sw29.

QI want to load some software for my Nikon digital camera onto my computer. But the instructions say to first turn off my anti-virus software, which is "avast! Free Antivirus." How do I turn it off?

NICK REGAN, CARLETON PLACE, ONTARIO

AI haven't used Avast software, but tech advice website eHow.com says you can turn it off this way: Right-click the "avast!" icon on the task bar at the bottom of your screen, and click the "access protection control" button. Enter your avast password and click OK. In the resulting window, click "terminate," then click OK.