Beginners | Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners

Posts Tagged: beginners

10 Skills EVERY computer user should have (or learn)

I originally posted this list in January 2007. However, through my keen observation skills, I discovered that all computer users have not yet read and digested this information. For this reason, I’m posting it again because I won’t stop working to educate computer users until every computer user knows these 10 skills.

Computers have become almost a main stream household appliance. Whether you have been using a computer for fifteen years or one, these skills should be second nature:

Cut, Copy, Paste
Print just what you want (word processing, email, web)
Backup your address book
Select (highlight) text or files
Properly uninstall unwanted programs
Burn a CD
Download files from the Internet
Use MSCONFIG ; Another MSCONFIG tip
Search the Internet
Attach Files to an email

If you already know how to do these skills, please pass this article along to someone who doesn’t…help me help other computer users.

Computer User Group / Email Tips / Internet Tips — 5 Comments
8
Apr 09

Gmail guide for beginners – 3 Videos – Video Tip

This week’s video tip is a HelpMeRick.com first…it involves 3 videos to cover the topic of Gmail. Directly above each video below, I give a short synopsis of the videos contents. The more I use it, the more impressed I am with Gmail. If you currently use Gmail, don’t be afraid to watch these videos as you might pick up a tip or two yourself.

Google offers a good Help section covering their email system, and you can find it by clicking here. My short video series here are meant to just get you started quickly and give you the highlights of this email system. Continue reading →

Internet Tips — 2 Comments
22
Oct 08

7 ways to become a more efficient web user – Video Tip

This is a reintroduction and retitling of a previous video/tip because of a copyright infringement complaint from Franklin 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 work and give them less problems when using the Internet.

In this week’s tip, I will highlight the inefficient habits computer users use and replace them with tips that will make YOU a quicker and more profecient web user.

1. Using an old browser

No matter how old your computer is or what operating system you are using, DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER 6 (IE 6). IE 6 is late 20th century technology and is not compatible with much of the web today and it also poses the greatest security risks.

Instead, use Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or if you must use Internet Explorer, use version 7.

2. Using a search engine instead of the address bar

If you know a web address you are trying to visit, do NOT use a search engine to type that address, type it directly into the address bar and press Enter on your keyboard.

3. Closing the web browser or clicking the Home icon before going to another web site.

When changing channels on a television, you don’t always go back to channel 1, then go to the channel you wanted do you? Likewise, with the web, you can simply click a bookmark or type web address in the address bar to move on to a new web site. You don’t need to close the window or click Home first.

4. Keeping the default browser home page

Your Internet provider often installs their web site as your “home page” (the first page you see when you launch your browser). However, if you never use that page, change it to something you will use.

5. Overuse of the back button

With older browsers (see Habit 1 above), we had little choice but to click on links, then the back button to reach our previous page. True, some people learned to use multiple browser windows, but even that is a dated technique now.

Modern browsers give us the efficiency and elegance of opening multiple pages in what are known as tabs. Tabbed browsing will drastically cut your use of the back button and change your web browsing life forever…for the better.

6. Wasting paper, time, and money by printing more information than necessary

The Internet definitely gave paper companies a new lease on life because we print more today than ever before. However, too often, Internet users want a certain amount of information from a web site and end up getting 6-8 or more extra pages of information they don’t need.

Instead, take advantage of this easy to follow tip that lets YOU select exactly what you want to print and print only that.

7. Search from a search engine site

Searching the Internet is by the greatest, in my opinion, function available for our computers. However, with modern browsers, again see Habit 1, there is no need to visit the search engine site to start your searches. Instead, use the built-in search bar in your browser. You can find it in the upper right corner of IE 7, Firefox, Safari, and Opera.

Watch the short video below to see all these tips in action and also use the links in this article for more details. Master all of these tips and you will be a web surfer with 7 highly effective habits!

Riding Shotgun with Rick — No Comments
16
Oct 08

My first year with Gmail

Mailbox I closed Outlook and started using Gmail exclusively one year ago. At first, I thought it would be a good experiment to see what Gmail was really all about, but I was also fed up with Outlook and its limitations. It took me two or three weeks to wean myself of thinking of my email in the same way that I used to with Outlook. For the experiment to work, Gmail had to satisfactorily accomplish 3 key functions of email that I handled pretty well with Outlook:

Spam filtering (I used Cloudmark Desktop with Outlook for years and am convinced that for Outlook/Outlook Express or Thunderbird users there is no equal).
Aggregate all of my email addresses (5) in one system.
Organize my email with categories (folders) and automated filtering for shifting email to their appropriate category/folder.

If Gmail could equal or exceed what I could do with Outlook, then I would consider it a success. Gmail’s spam filtering quickly impressed me. In fact, one year later, I can say confidently that Gmail’s spam filtering is superior to that of the Cloudmark system that kept me sane for years with Outlook. Feature #1, check!

I learned to use the Accounts feature in Gmail to successfully and seamlessly pull all my email addresses (and sort them) into my Gmail account. Beautiful; Feature #2, check!

Organizing my email, without the use of folders, proved to be the biggest learning curve. One year later, however, I am happy to report that the learning curve was worth it. Gmail’s Label system for organizing email becomes an astonishingly superior method of organizing email compared to folders once you get the hang of it. Combining the use of Gmail Labels and Gmail Filters makes organizing and managing email almost painless. Feature #3 check.

Since Gmail handled all my key elements of email use with aplomb, I stayed with Gmail and for the time being have no interest in changing. I’m always on the look out for a quicker, easier, and more intuitive to accomplish any technology task, but when it comes to email, every other service, in my opinion, has much to learn from Gmail. In addition to accomplishing all the things I need email to do, I find that the two other features that keep me tied to Gmail are the superior and quick searching ability and the fact that I have access to my email from any computer or phone in the world. Using Gmail made me start to enjoy email again and I know that I’m much more organized and responsive to my email than I was just one year ago.

To learn more about email, read my tip and watch my 3 how-to Gmail videos by clicking here. Do you have a Gmail story to share? If so, please post it below…good or bad.

Story photo by Tim Norris

General Computer Tips / Windows Tips — No Comments
16
Sep 08

The Magical Title Bar – Video Tip

The title bar is the long (usually blue) bar at the top of each program. The title bar contains three familiar buttons on the right; the minimize button (little bar), the maximize or resize button (middle button) and the often used "X" button to close a program.

On the left side of the title bar is a small icon in the far left corner that matches that of the program. The name of the current file (or web page on the web), and the name of the program also reside on the left side of the title bar. And even though one half to two-thirds of the bar is blank, it also has its functions.

Clicking on the little icon in the far left (once) will produce a menu that allows you to minimize, move, resize, maximize or close the window. This comes in handy when a window is shoved to one side and the right hand buttons are not visible. Double-clicking on the little icon closes the window/program.

Use the blank part of the title bar to move and position the window. This only works if the window is in the less than maximum position. Just click and drag the title bar and the whole window follows. This technique is helpful if you need to position two windows for dragging and dropping files. Also, double-clicking your title bar will automatically maximize the window.

Remember to use the minimize button to ’shrink’ the window to an icon on your desktop so that you can access your desktop or a window/program behind the current window. This keeps the program running and to restore it back to the original position, simple click on it one time from the task bar.

The middle button on the right side of a title bar changes between the maximize button (one square) and the restore button (two overlapping squares). The maximize button will fill the entire screen with the program window. The restore button makes the program windows less than maximum.

You many not necessarily use all these techniques every day, but keep them in mind and they will come in handy from time-to-time.

Watch the short 3 minute video below for a good visual tour of how these functions work.

Macintosh — No Comments
22
May 08

3 Basic Tips for new Macintosh Users – Video Tip

This week’s tip focuses on skills that new Macintosh users will need to know in order to feel comfortable with their new Apple Computer.

In this video tip, I give new Mac users some important information about how to use the Macintosh HD (hard drive)icon, the Dock (which launches programs and documents), and a primmer on how application and folder windows differ from those in the Windows environment.

As with any operating system, there are multiple ways to accomplish the same task, none of which are wrong. Enjoy the tip if you are a new Mac user or pass it along to a new Mac user!

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 9 Comments
31
Oct 07

Brand New Computer for $199

I am getting really excited!!

Ubuntu Linux, Splashtop motherboards, fast Internet connections, and Web 2.0 are all starting to bring us to the next generation of Microsoft-free, cheap computing. At least 80% of the computer users I help in their homes or offices do not really need or utilize the power of a full blown Windows (or Mac) computer. You’ve heard this soap box from me before; computer users who only use word processors, basic games, light digital photography, email and Internet can get by without any problems with a much more basic computer.

Today, I read an article about WalMart’s foray into selling a basic Linux computer…for $199! The only thing it doesn’t include is a monitor, but that can be found for around $100 right next to the computers. I don’t want to insinuate that Linux is an inferior operating system to Microsoft Windows. It has all the potential of Windows, just in a different package and simpler to use…especially for beginners. WalMart joins Dell who started selling Ubuntu machines in May of this year.

Also, today, Adam found and sent me this article about a $299 laptop recently announced that starts in 5-10 seconds. Based on the company selling it and the description, I’m assuming it is a Splashtop machine or derivative.

All extremely interesting and ground breaking news in the computer industry.

Riding Shotgun with Rick / Ubuntu Tips — No Comments
22
Jun 07

Basic Ubuntu Navigation – Video Tip

Ubuntu Navigation

One more day left in our first annual "Ubuntu Week", and I have another great tip for all of us Ubuntu beginners. In Ubuntu, there is no "Start" button like Windows. Instead, I think the Ubuntu creators came up with a more elegant and intuitive format for accessing programs we use, navigating our saved files, networks and operating system options and preferences.

Watch the video below for a video and audio tour of Ubuntu's navigation options.

Riding Shotgun with Rick / Ubuntu Tips — 12 Comments
4
May 07

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.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 9 Comments
23
Mar 07

New radio show format

Two weeks ago, with little fan fare, I announced a dramatic change in format for our weekly radio show. Although I never discussed it with my co-host, friend and producer, Adam, he whole heartedly bought in on the concept and we are proceeding.

When I started the Castellini on Computers Radio Show in 1999, my intention was to provide a forum for beginners to learn about computers, technology and the Internet in a non-threatening yet entertaining forum. For better or worse, my desire to help people got in the way of my original goal of being as "non-geeky" as possible. We answered questions from all callers even if the question was applicable for only that one person. Despite our best efforts of trying to explain our answers and the caller's questions in layman's terms, we turned off many listeners. Our most common feedback about the show has always been, "I love your show, but I don't understand anything your talking about on the show."

It took us almost nine years to realize our mistake and you have stuck with us, but from now on, we will focus on the every day computer problems and resolutions. We want listeners to hear the questions and either say "I know the answer to that question" OR "I have that same problem". If we don't feel that our listeners can respond to a question with one of those statements, then the caller will be dropped and we'll move on to the next question or email.

I'm excited about our new direction and format and hope you are too. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the "NEW and IMPROVED" Castellini on Computers Radio Program and be sure to participate by calling in or emailing your basic computer questions. We think you will find the show to be much more helpful than ever before and easier and more entertaining than in the past.

Give me your thoughts about our new direction by leaving a comment to this story using the form under this article.