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...

Save as you edit and create

I regularly talk about backup on this site and on the radio show.  One part of backup that you might have overlooked is the process of saving the work that is currently on your screen. Whether it be an email, a word processing document, a movie, a photo or any other file you are editing, saving as you work always pays off. The process is simple, the habit takes perseverance. Save and name your project as soon as you begin...

Use keyboard shortcuts to save time editing text &...

Save some time when editing any type of text document (email, word processing document, blog, etc) by learning these keyboard shortcuts: Press Home to get to the beginning of a line Press End to move to the end of a line Press Ctrl + Home to get to the top of a document Press Ctrl + End to get to the end of a document Press Ctrl + Up Arrow to get to the beginning of a paragraph Press Ctrl + Down Arrow to get to the end of a...

Email of the Week – 001

Starting today, I will be posting a minimum of one email from your submissions here on the web site in addition to my regular weekly feature Rick Answers His Email Videocast. I will title them all the same way and they will have their own category you can access from the Category list on the right of every page here at HelpMeRick.com. I will also include the original email (via submissions from the Ask a question form listed...

How to upgrade to AVG 8.5 Free – Video Tip

AVG released the new version of their security software about two weeks ago. Many of you have asked, should you upgrade and if so, how. Follow these steps and watch this video on how to get through process quickly and correctly. It is imperative that you both read these instructions and watch the video. Visit my site and scroll down to my Links & Resources section on any web page here at HelpMeRick.com Click AVG...

Stop the Microsoft Office Agreement (EULA) from po...

If you are using Microsoft Office 2003 and Windows Vista, you might run into a situation where the End User License Agreement pops up every time you start Outlook, Word, Excel or other Office programs. No matter how many times you click “I agree”, the license keeps appearing. To stop the EULA from appearing, follow these steps: Close ALL Microsoft Office related programs (Outlook, Publisher, Powerpoint, Excel,...

What to do with an AVG found virus sreen

If you use AVG Antivirus, you will be presented with the above screen at some time or another. Don’t immediately push the Move to Vault button or the Heal button. Instead, check the box labeled Remove as Power User, then click the Heal button. Checking that box first yanks the legs out from the virus and disposes of it immediately. ...

Microsoft Word’s AutoComplete and AutoCorrec...

If you use Microsoft Word, you may notice that at the end of a letter, if you start typing ‘Sin’, a little yellow box flashes up with ‘Sincerely’ in it. Likewise, if you start a letter with ‘To whom’, the box flashes at you with ‘To whom it may concern’. These little yellow boxes are part of Word’s Auto-Complete and Auto Format functions. Microsoft Word tries to guess...

Change your Bullets – Video Tip

Bullets, in Microsoft Word and other word processors, allow users to bring attention to a list of items as seen here: Bullets are fun Bullets are customizable Bullets make documents easier to read Unlike my boring ‘dot’ bullets above, you can use this week’s tip to customize your Microsoft Word bullets to suit your style and document’s purpose. First, to create a bulleted list follow these...

AVG Update Error – Video Tip

AVG has been experiencing incredible growth over the past two years, and unfortunately that has translated into some occasional problems with getting updates from their servers. When you receive an update error, however, that does NOT mean you are unprotected. It simply means that you can’t get an update at that particular moment. Watch the video below to hear and see my explanation of this issue, what it means to you,...