Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners » email

Email of the Week – 022

Rick — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:42:42 +0000

QUESTION Name: Bill From: Wisconsin OS: Windows Vista ———————- I’ve been using Apple Safari browser for some time now because I don’t get any of the menacing ads that seem to plague IE and Firefox. How do you rate this browser since I never hear anything about it? ANSWER You are correct, I don’t [...]

Rick Answers his Email Videocast – 066

Rick — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:20:16 +0000

Tons of questions today from Dan, Charline, Jader, Chinmoy, Raymond, Quen, Shirley, Lorraine, Deb, Janat, Walter, Gloria, Bsil, Jim, Kim, Phil, Debbie, Sue, Dave, Harold, and Terry. They asked about virus removal, router settings, changing the desktop, setting up email in Thunderbird, new tech advice, lost Gmail password, learning how to use a Mac, Adobe [...]

Holiday Computer Madness

Rick — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:23:36 +0000

Every year for the last 6-7 years, I bring up a version of this tip to help save you time and money during the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years visiting season. Please follow the advice. I can guarantee that it will save you and your computer lots of grief.

With all the traveling done during the holidays, your computer is bound to be taken hostage by friends and family wanting to check their email or play a game or two. Unlike the TV, a computer can be victimized, unintentionally, by all this attention. When everyone returns home, you may not recognize your computer or have problems with the way it runs.

Rick Answers his Email Videocast – 065

Rick — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:25:06 +0000

Great questions this week from Robin, Eileen, Sue, Jewel, Dennis, Gwen, Jack, Monica, Raymond, Jerry, Chris, Len, Barb, Dave, Amin, Sandra, BJ, and Sandra from Phoenix. In order, they asked about an AVG install problem related to a Microsoft download, repeating emails in Outlook, attaching photos to email, upgrading to AVG 9, problem with a [...]

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

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 [...]

Email of the Week – 021

Rick — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:10:15 +0000

QUESTION Name: Barb From: Grand Junction,CO OS: Windows Vista ———————- If I install Windows 7 and I find I do not like it, can I re-install Vista on my HP Laptop by using the recovery Disk, then I would have to set it all up again? Is it necessary to have Winows 7 professionaly installed, or is it [...]