Windows Vista Integrated Search – Video Tip

As you know, I am not thrilled will Windows Vista. However, one feature I did find helpful since Day 1 is the integrated search. Vista constantly indexes your hard drive…probably one reason it feels slower than XP. Indexing means that Windows looks through all user generated files like word processing documents, email, spreadsheets and other user files. It then analyzes the file names and the content of these documents...

How to use System Restore

I don't know how we missed posting this tip, but somehow we did so now I'm rectifying the situation. One of the best features of Windows XP (and now Vista) is the ability to undo many problems that we may cause ourself or the system causes through updates or other unknown situations. It is called System Restore and it allows you to roll back your system to a previous time when all was blissful without losing any...

Internet Explorer 7 Zoom

For many computer users, viewing some web sites can be frustrating because text tends to be too small. Since many of you might be using Internet Explorer 7, take advantage of the improved zoom functuon in it. To access the zoom function: 1. Click Page from the menu in the upper right of the screen 2. Click Zoom from the menu 3. Choose a Zoom value from the options (I recommend trying the 125% first and then move up from...

Woo Hoo…new feature in Microsoft Office 2007...

I ran into a strange problem today with a client using Windows XP and Outlook Express. They had to install a new copy of Office 2007 because they lost their certificate of authenticity for their old copy (don't lose those folks). Subsequently, their spell checker in Outlook Express now only uses the French dictionary. Thanks Microsoft!! Once again, fabulous upgrade to the "new" Office 2007. After some...

Use copy and paste to enter long passwords

One technique I use to enter long, complex passwords (which we should all be using) is to open Notepad from the Accessories menu and type the password there. Since we only see the asterisks (*) when we enter passwords, it can be extremely difficult to accurately type in some passwords with mixed case, numbers and other characters. The problem doubles when we have to enter a password two times in a row. Here's how I use...

Quickly sort your start menu items – VIDEO T...

Finding the right program in your Start menu can be difficult if the items are all out of order. Here's how to sort them alphabetically. 1. Click Start -> (All) Programs 2. Right-click on any item in the Programs area 3. Click Sort By Name If you need any more help with it, just watch this quick little video tip. ...

Mozilla Firefox Revisited

By Rick Castellini 2002. Revised by Adam Cochran 2007 Earlier this summer, my co-host, Adam, decided to do an 'on air' review of a product. The product he chose is Mozilla Firefox, an alternative web browser. Being on the radio and downloading, installing and reviewing software was a new experience for us, but the impression was instant and impressive for both of us. Mozilla loads most web pages much faster...

Backup – What, Where, When, and How – ...

It doesn?t take long to back up your files, but it does take discipline.  Just like getting the oil changed in our cars regularly to maintain its health, it is imperative that a good backup program be put in place for you computer creations. Follow these simple rules for backing up your files and you will be able to face any computer calamity: Save your files in a common folder or directory like My Document or Work Make...

Ubuntu 5 Minute VIDEO Tour

I've only been using Ubuntu Linux about a month, but I think it has real potential at saving many of you a lot of money and giving you more peace of mind. I put together this short introductory video of Ubuntu so you can see what it is all about and give you a glimpse as to what its capabilities are.   ...

512mb is not enough

512mb of RAM is not enough for Windows Vista…any flavor. Vista has been out almost three months now, and I have setup almost a dozen Vista machines. Thankfully, they are rolling out slowly. All the machines I setup, until today, came with 1 GB (1024mb) or 2GB of RAM. And although not blazing, the computer's ran at an acceptable speed. I just finished spending nearly 2.5 hours setting up a laptop with Vista Basic and...

AOL and Vista

Two of my favorite whipping horses, but today I want to provide some information to help AOL users who might be moving to Windows Vista. I discovered today that a standard AOL disk will NOT work in Windows Vista. Most disks available at your local retailers or that you may have received via US Mail were minted in 2005 or earlier. That was the last time a major revision of AOL was released. Unfortunately, this version is not...

Rick’s 3 Rules of Email

Never Forward Email Never Forward Email IF you must forward email, ALWAYS use Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) and ALWAYS clean up the header information from previous email. Some computer users who encounter my rules of email sometimes pass off my thoughts as being too strict. Unfortunately, I know it isn’t true. Today, for the upteenth time, I worked with a customer who has had her email address for less than a year and...

The powerful and easy to use msconfig – Vide...

Msconfig (a.k.a. Microsoft Configuration Utility) allows us to tweak a little extra speed from our boot ups and increase the available memory to our systems. You can find this utility by clicking on Start –> Programs –> Accessories –> System Tooks –> System Information. Once there, click Tools from the menus and then Configuration Utility. However, the fastest way to get to it is to: 1. Click on Start...

When to use a CD for backup

Our regular listeners hear us talk about this subject often, but it bears repeating as much as we can talk about it for your data's safety and your sanity. Backing up to CD's is a multi-step process and all the steps need to be followed for it to go right. CD's work great for archiving data that won't change. This includes pictures, music, your finished novel, etc. CD's should only be burned ONE time....

Using Picasa to make a CD of your favorite picture...

Lately I have had several people ask me how to make a CD from only certain pictures from several folders. Here is a short video explaining how it's done. The background music came out pretty bad, but the rest of the video should run OK. (click "read more if the video isn't already showing)   ...