Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners

7 Google services you have never tried

Rick — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:36:08 +0000

Google started as a college project 12 years ago, then as a startup search engine just 10 years ago. Today, Google owns more than 60% of all web search traffic and employs close to 22,000 employees worldwide. You probably interact with Google via their search engine primarily. However, you are missing out on some truly great services that Google also provides in addition to their fast and accurate search engine. Today, I will tell you about 7 of the many other services Google provides.

Google News

When you arrive at google.com, click the link that says News at the top of the page or you can directly visit news.google.com. Google News is an auto-generated news page that refreshes automatically every 5-10 minutes and displays headlines from more than 4500 news sources around the world. To me, it is the ultimate newspaper?unbiased and unfiltered. And even more helpful, starting a search at Google News instead of

Early thoughts on Windows 7

Rick — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:18:48 +0000

Although I’ve been testing, using and writing about Windows 7 since last year, it has only been on the market 2 weeks. In those two weeks, I have setup 8 or 10 new machines already. The setup is much faster than Vista, but I’m already getting that same ‘ol, same ‘ol feeling about it as I [...]

Troubleshooting Your High Speed Internet Connection

Rick — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:26:48 +0000

This tip needs to come back to the front page again. I've helped many more people the last few weeks with this issue. Please print it and hang it by your computer...and send it your friends as well.

I posted this tip many moons ago, but wanted to bring it back to the front page because we have so many new high speed Internet users. Click the Printer Friendly option at the bottom of this tip, print it out and post it next to your computer...you will be glad you did.

Routers take high speed Internet signals and then distribute the signal (route) to multiple computers. Sometimes, however, the signal gets lost and an Internet connection cannot be made. This can be due to multiple reasons, but most can be rectified the same way. Before you reach for the phone or grumble under your breath, follow this simple and highly effective procedure to get your system(s) up and running again.

Shut off all computers.
Unplug the power from the high speed modem.
Unplug the power from

I don’t miss spam

Rick — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:32:14 +0000

I just emptied 536 spam from my email spam folder. Today, I ran across some clients who had problems with email spam, and I recanted the following story. Once upon a time, my email inbox was filled to the brim with spam every single day. Then one cool autumn day in Las Vegas, Nevada at the now defunct [...]

Changing email addresses – It’s not that difficult

Rick — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:19:45 +0000

AOL made billions of dollars for years because computer users are afraid to change their email addresses. All week long, I hear, "Oh, it's too hard to change email addresses now." Or, "It will take forever to change my email address with everyone."

Come on folks...were using computers! You don't have to fill out a change of address form and march it down to the postal office. You don't have to send out a post card to every person you know. You don't have to fill out a change of address for all your bills and utilities.

Changing email addresses is actually pretty painless and can be cathartic as well. In fact, think of it as going into the digital identity protection program. Here's how to make it a smooth transition:

Should I backup?

Rick — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:14:03 +0000

Should you carry health insurance? Should you carry car insurance? Should you save for retirement? Should you eat every day? Does a bear.... Well, hopefully you get the picture. The answer is a resounding YES!!

You should backup, and depending on your computer needs and usage your backups should occur frequently (sometimes daily). Many computer users equate backing up their computers with their mother's giving them castor oil. It's no fun, but a necessary evil. What is castor oil any way?

Things you should backup on your computer include:

Rick Answers his Email Videocast -064

Rick — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:56:26 +0000

This week questions arrived from Dan, Sue, Thomas, Stan, Eric, Terri, Jackelyn, Peggy, Cody, and Barb. In order they asked about an anti-brainscan hat (honestly), .data file extensions in Gmail, upgrading to Windows 7, optimizing computer startup, Internet monitoring software, identity theft phone number, free antivirus software, 32 vs. 64 bit Windows 7, missing desktop [...]

How to create a customized Google Map – Video Tip

Rick — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:39:09 +0000

After I created an interactive, customized map showing all of the wifi hotspots in Grand Junction, CO, many folks asked my how I did it. Since it is such a visual process, I put together this short instructional video to show you how you can create your own customized Google Map. No related posts.

What Rick said, read and thought about this week 2009-11-01

Rick — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Reading How To Claim Your Facebook Fan Page Custom URL http://bit.ly/4DqlbM from @kylejudkins # Finally caught up on all the phone calls in between my appointments today. Lots of calls for help with #windows 7 # RT @kwbridge: All of your Google docs can now be backed up in a zip archive. http://bit.ly/SEjQP # Just installed [...]

Deleting Programs and Files

Rick — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:47:07 +0000

This tip conjures up some points from older tips, but needs to be reiterated. Follow these 'rules-of-thumb' to keep your system clean and more importantly running smoothly.

Use these rules when deleting individual files:

Never delete files that you did not create.
If you can't trace the origin of the file, leave it alone.
If the file sports one of the generic looking 'windows' icons (see picture), do not delete it (again unless you created it).
Do not delete files that exist in the Windows directory, unless you created it.
Instead of willy nilly deleting files, use the Disk Cleanup tool

Use these rules when deleting programs or applications: