Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners » Windows Tips

A quicker way to Rename folders and files in Windows

Rick — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:52:03 +0000

Windows XP, almost eighteen months old, already impacts the way our computers work and how quickly we can accomplish tasks.

One of my favorite new features involves the renaming of files. You can still use the techniques I outlined in a previous tip, but renaming files can be even faster with the right steps. If you have the need to rename a group of files (for example a group of freshly downloaded pictures from your digital camera), you can select them and rename them in groups. Here's how:

Select the files or folders you want to change to a common name by clicking on them ONE time while holding down the Ctrl key
Push F2 on your keyboard OR right click on any file and click Rename OR click on the Rename tool from the Edit menu or the tool bar to the left of the folder
Type the new name for your file or folder
Press Enter on your keyboard
Windows now assigns the same name to all the files and numbers them starting with #1

This method saves loads of time and makes organizing your files much easier. Look through our newly designed Tips Archive for even more Windows tips, including Windows XP tips.

Installing Microsoft Security Essentials – Video Tip

Rick — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:38:45 +0000

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 [...]

How to burn a CD with Windows XP

Rick — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:09:38 +0000

Floppy disks are slowly disappearing from the computer landscape. In fact, more and more companies are not including floppy drives as standard equipment. I say good riddance except for one thing...they were easy to use. Computer users felt comfortable copying and backing up information to these slow, yet convenient drives.

For quick and roomy storage today, I recommend flash memory drives (click here for a tip describing these).

Printing Error Messages*

Rick — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:27:04 +0000

NOTE: This tip is an off-shoot of our Print Screen tip that you also want to read. We all have computer mishaps and end up having to call for help. One of the first questions the helper (tech support) always asks is, ?What was the message you received?? Most of the time, in our frustration, we failed to write down the content of the message. Here is a tip that will bypass the writing altogether and allow you to answer that first question from your digital helper. When an error occurs follow these steps:

Cleaning and removing Antivirus 2009, PAV and others from your computer,

Rick — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:37:50 +0000

Preventing your computer from becoming infected is infinitely easier and less stressful than cleaning up after an infection. Search my site for tons of information on setting up your computer for security and techniques to avoid scams. However, if you are already bit by one of the most recent nasty forms of software, Antivirus 2008 or Antivirus 2009 (software I call extortionware that installs itself on your computer and then poses as legitimate software you have to pay for to get rid of the problems. Problems they caused), follow the steps at this site to get back up and running and then come back here and learn how to prevent it from happening again.

Two other links that will be helpful in cleaning this and related malware off of your computer are ComboFix and Malwarebytes.org. Some of the first actions these rougue software products accomplish when on your computer is disabling your antivirus, windows updates, and system restore. They also prevent you from visiting legitimate web sites like I have linked in this article to make it harder for you to remove the pests. You are probably best served visiting my site on a non-infected computer, download the two products, change the original file names (this is important because the rouge software will also disable known products from running at all), copy the two tools to a flash drive and then take them to the sick computer and run them. I suggest running the CombFix first and then run full scans with your antivirus software and malwarebytes.org's product as well.

I'm linking to BleepingComputer.com's article because they do a good job of giving you a safe download site and thorough instructions on how to delete Antivirus 2009 or 2008. Even if you aren't infected, it's worth visiting the site to see what kind of work is required if you do get infected. It might motivate you to read my site more often and follow the advice I give to keep you safe and productive with your computer.

Photo by Jim Grandy

HP to offer Free upgrade to Windows 7

Rick — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:29:58 +0000

Starting today through the release of Windows 7 in October, HP is offering a free upgrade to any customer who buys a new desktop or laptop through their web site. Currently, only certain systems qualify for the upgrade, so look at the product description. If you decide to take advantage of this offer, make sure you [...]

Learn To Use the Taskbar Better

Rick — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:10:14 +0000

Learn To Use the Taskbar Better -
Part I

When Microsoft released Windows 95 more than 10 years ago, one of the most talked about features was the taskbar. Ten years later, many computer users still don't know how to take advantage of the taskbar. Read on so that you can learn more about the how to fully utilize this feature of your computer.

First, remember that with any version of Windows you can run more than one program at a time. Yes, you can have your email going, an Internet browser window (or two or twelve), word processor and even Free Cell all running simultaneously. The taskbar admirably keeps track of all these programs or 'tasks for you'.

Keyboard shortcut to launch applications in Windows 7

Rick — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:20:45 +0000

I ran across this tip yesterday at Lockergnome and someone suggested that a video should be made…so here it is! The new Windows 7 taskbar, dubbed superbar, allows you to add any application you want there and then the same icon also acts as the taskbar icon as well. To quickly launch any application on [...]

Make reading the web easier than ever – Video Tip

Rick — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:33:54 +0000

Although we now have 19" and larger monitors on most new desktop computers, the text seems to shrink. Why is that? It has to do with screen resolution (how much information can be displayed). Screen resolutions on today's monitors are up to 3X that of monitors we used just 6-8 years ago. We can see a lot more information, but often the text is too small to view for some computer users. Never fear. Using this week's tip, you can easily and quickly enlarge the text of any web page using only your keyboard and mouse. This tip will work with any web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc) and any operating system (Windows, Ubuntu, Mac OS X). All you need is a mouse with a scroll wheel and your keyboard. This tip can be performed without the mouse as well, but I'll touch on that later. First, when you are reading a web site, particularly news web sites and blog type sites like mine, look for an indication of a printer friendly page. Often designated as Printer Friendly, Print this article, or simply Print, clicking this link brings up a version of the article you are reading that is much less busy and cleaner than how the article presents on the web page itself. This alone may make enough difference for readability. However, you can quickly increase the size of the text you are reading by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and spinning your mouse scroll wheel away from your body (towards the computer monitor). Amazing, no? Holding down the Ctrl key and spinning towards your body (away from the monitor) will shrink the text again. The same result can be achieved by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the "+" or "-" keys as well. I think the mouse method is a little more intuitive and elegant. Watch the short video below to see this tip in action and see the web as never before!

Microsoft Fix it Solution Center

Rick — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:54:10 +0000

Microsoft recently started a set of online wizards that can cure common problems like a lost recycle bin, problems with Outlook or Outlook Express and many Windows woes as well. If you have a specific problem with an error, it might be a worthwhile trip over to the site to see if there is a [...]