You DO NOT have to download CA from Bresnan

Many of my customers received the email pictured below, and didn’t fully read the email. Although, poorly worded and written in an alarmist way, it does say “Your current free version…“. Insinuating that if you are currently using their free and extremely slow security product, then you do need to update. However, I do not recommend that Bresnan customers use this security software as I’ve found...

Print only what you want – Multi-tip

How many times do you curse at your printer when you print a joke from email or some web page information and get two or more extra sheets of paper with useless information? Follow this tip and experience printing bliss from email or Internet and your word processor too! On the web, Select the text (by clicking and dragging with your mouse) that you would like to print Click File and Print from the menus (don’t click...

Correcting Many Microsoft Word Problems

One of the most common problems Microsoft Word users encounter is not being able to start Word or it starts extremely slow. When you double-click the Microsoft Word icon and either nothing happens at all or it attempts to start and then presents an error screen. Or, Word may open, but very slowly and then have trouble opening or saving documents. All of these symptoms have a common cause. And although frustrating, the...

How to backup your important stuff – Video T...

Photos I’m betting that your photos top the list as your most precious data. If that is true, then you want to back that data up. First, you need to store all your photos in one easy to find (and backup) spot. My suggestion is to use the default My Pictures folder found in all versions of Windows. If you have not purposefully moved your photos to another location, then they should all reside there now. However, since we...

Save Money on Computer Repair Bills

It’s no secret that I am a computer consultant/trainer/troubleshooter. So, why would I potentially take food out of my own hand by writing this tip? Three reasons: I like to help people and share knowledge I dislike troubleshooting messes that could have prevented and I enjoy teaching people how to get the most out of their computers instead of being frustrated and constantly battling or worrying about the...

Extricating Spyware

Article updated: July 2010 In 2004, spyware/adware became the #1 threat to personal computers. For a definition of spyware, visit Webopedia. Getting rid of spyware has reached a point that it takes an expert, or a lot of persistence, to really get rid of it totally. Following is a list of steps that we frequently take to completely restore a compromised computer. Depending on the level of problems, we may omit some steps,...

How I get smart using YouTube – Video Tip

This video marks my 300th offering on my YouTube channel! I like milestones, and when I hit 1,000,000 views (thank YOU) late last year, I celebrated quietly. Now with 300 videos officially published to YouTube, I am celebrating again. And what better video to create and publish than one about YouTube. Too often folks think that YouTube is simply for kids and folks sharing wrecks, unfortunate accidents and...

How to make Gmail & other Google Apps even mo...

I highlighted a little about Google Labs enhancements of Gmail in my award winning 3 part introduction to Gmail, but I felt that the Google Labs needed a tip all its own. Google Labs lets users of their products experiment with Google’s own experiments. Their programmers and engineers work on literally hundreds of projects every day to enhance their online offering of applications. Some of these projects make it into...

7 ways to become a more efficient web user –...

This is a reintroduction and retitling of a previous video/tip because of a copyright infringement complaint fromFranklin Covey. Hopefully, the new title and verbiage will satisfy their legal staff. All week long I help computer users of all ages and experience levels. Too often, I see that many computer users (beginners and experienced alike) do not utilize or know about some basic web browsing skills that will speed their...

Become a web surfing pro!

At this month’s computer user group meeting, I used many of the articles, tips and videos I have written over the years to highlight how any computer user can start making quicker and better use of the Internet. Before I delve into specifics on this topic, watching and reading this tip title 7 ways to become a better web surfer, will yield you the greatest benefit if you read nothing else on this page. Do it! Now! First...

How to transfer photos from computer to a SD Card ...

One of my client’s today did not know how to transfer photos from her computer to a SD Card so she could utilize her digital picture frame she received at Christmas. She was amazed and relieved at how simple the steps were once I walked her through the process. This method works for transferring any type of file from your computer to an external drive like a USB flash drive, external hard drive, or a memory card like...

Optical Mice

Over the past few weeks, it seems that a large share of my clients were still using older, mechanical mice (the one’s with the ball underneath). I say older because almost all new mice are optical mice…either infrared or laser. These mice replaced the ball rolling against rollers in the mouse housing (that could quickly become dirty and cause erratic behavior of your pointer) with a light source that tracked your...

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...

Free Solitaire for Apple Macintosh users

After years of looking and trying different programs, I think I found a great, free program for new Apple users that will help ease the move from Windows. Yes, believe it or not, a huge stumbling block for many of my clients in making the move to Macintosh is Solitaire, Free Cell, and/or Spider Solitaire. Prior to today, I guided folks to the web in search of a solitaire program available from Hoyle or playing online...

How to use Picasa to backup ALL your photos to an ...

One of my long time customers called me the other day with a question about not being able to backup his photos using Picasa without errors. Upon some research, I discovered that he was simply hitting the burn button to quick. To avoid repeating his problem, wait for Picasa to finish calculating the backup job before hitting the burn button. While doing this research, I also discovered how to use Picasa to backup all your...