3 Reasons NOT to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010 ...

Microsoft will release Office 2010 in the next few weeks. The upgrade price will likely cost around $130 for the home edition which includes Word, Excel and Powerpoint. The professional versions cost as much as $500 depending on what package you get. After almost fifteen years of using Microsoft Office and watching others use Microsoft Office, I can say without hesitation that it is a waste of hard earned money for most...

How to start page numbers from a number other than...

My daughter needed to know how to start automatic page numbering in Microsoft Word 2007 with a number other than one for a school publication. She and her classmates couldn’t figure it out, so she asked me. I put together a quick video to demonstrate the technique for her, and decided to share it with you as well. Enjoy.

How to fix a row or column in any spreadsheet R...

I don’t use spreadsheets too often, but I do help folks learn how to use them somewhat frequently. Many long-time spreadsheet users overlook this simple technique to fix a row(s) and/or column(s). Why would you want to fix a row or column? The video demonstrates the why behind this tip quite well, but by learning to fix a row or column, you can scroll through a long spreadsheet without losing track of the row or column...

Create Labels Online – Video Tip

Adam wrote about a new web service from Avery a few years ago. It’s called Create & Print labels. Avery developed this free service so that you can create quick, clean and flexible labels. The service is free and works inside your browser. Since it is a Web 2.0 application, any computer user can use it from any computer regardless of operating system. In addition to adding many customization features like personal...

The web isn’t best for everything

Visitors who stop by HelpMeRick.com with any frequency the past 4-5 years know that I’m a huge cloud computing (using applications on the web versus installing programs) junkie. Today, I was reminded of one area where desktop applications still provide a better experience than the web…card, board, and casino games. A client was frustrated with trying to play pyramid solitaire on a site that “used to...

How to transfer your iTunes library & playlis...

If you use an iPod, iTouch, or iPhone and plan on getting a new computer, you will want to read this article! OR, if you use any of these devices and want to make sure your library stays safe, you will want to read this article! Yesterday, I helped a customer setup a new Windows 7 computer and transfer email, favorites, and other data from his old Windows XP computer. Turns out that he also needed to move his iTunes library...

How to crop a photo in Microsoft Word – Vide...

A few years ago, I demonstrated how to wrap text around photos or clip art in Microsoft Word (also works for other word processors). In this week’s tip, I demonstrate how to crop a photo or image once it is in your word processor. I used Word 2007 in the demonstration, but you can use the same technique in other word processors as well. Take a look! ...

How to download, install & configure AVG Free...

AVG released version 9 of their free antivirus/antispyware product a couple of weeks ago. You may have started to see notifications from them that you need to update before December 1. Typically, they provide a deadline, but previous versions work for a number of months after the deadline. After using the new version for awhile, it appears they did make it faster and improve the scanning speeds as well. If you currently use a...

Type first. Edit last.

Most of us 40+ learned how to type letters and documents using a typewriter. Word processing reigns as then new king of document creation, and most typewriters are relegated to attics, back rooms and antique shops. However, the majority of computer users use their word processors (MS Word, Word Perfect, etc) like a typewriter. The first rule to remember when using a word processor is to forget your typewriting rules. When we...

Password Mania

We are bringing this tip out of the archives because remembering passwords and having strong passwords is more important than ever with increased identity theft and the increased amount of business we conduct over the web. I have accumulated nearly ninety user names and passwords for various email services, web sites, banking sites, etc. Without my password tracking software, I wouldn’t be able to remember them all or,...

Installing Microsoft Security Essentials – V...

Today, I downloaded, updated, configured and installed Microsoft’s new, free security product: Microsoft Security Essentials. It provides a significant upgrade in protection and usability over their previous offerings. In fact, the setup and administration is extremely straight forward. From the reviews and tests that I’ve read, it appears to protect PCs (Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7) quite well and...

Print Preview

Sometimes the most helpful computer utilities elude us and stay hidden for years. One such utility that I find very helpful (and have taken for granted) is the Print Preview function found in almost any program that allows printing. Because Windows and Macintosh made the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment available to the masses, what we see on our screens is pretty close to what we see on our print outs....

Print Your Own Manual

To save on printing, shipping and packaging costs, many software and hardware companies no longer provide printed manuals. One of the top complaints I hear from computer users is; “I wish there was a manual.” Instead of printed manuals, many manufacturers use online manuals or Adobe Acrobat files on the item CD to house their manuals. Often times these manuals contain great information, but can be hard to thumb...

How to change time of AVG scan schedule

If you install AVG and use all the default settings, you will find that the AVG wants to scan your computer every day at either 8:00am or 12:00pm (noon). Because the complete system scan can take up to an hour or more to complete (depending on the number of files on your computer), it can be extremely inconvenient to have the scan slow your computer down when you are trying to work on it. You can stop the scan if you need...

Using templates can save you time

The old adage of not reinventing the wheel applies perfectly to computing and document creation. Why spend time creating a document from scratch if someone else has taken the time to put the same type of doucment together already? A template, in computer lingo, is a pre-formatted document like a resume, flyer, labels, invoice, etc. that you can adapt for your own use. If you are short on time or don’t really have the...