Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners » Firefox

5 Simple Rules to avoid SCD (Slow Computer Disease)

Rick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:48:43 +0000

I've written about this before, but it bears repeating on occasion with new visitors to our site and long time visitors who haven't learned yet. The advice is simple: DO NOT DOWNLOAD FREE SCREENSAVERS, EMAIL PROGRAMS (Incredimail, etc), GAMES from the Internet. Unless you are WELL versed in the origin of these items, they can easily destroy your computer's ability to compute. The most common computer ailment (for Windows users) searched on the Internet is "slow computers". Sadly, "slow computer disease", SCD*, does not have to be the pandemic it is because it is 100% preventable. Here are my 5 simple rules to prevent SCD: 1. Install and keep Internet security software current. Recommendations: AVG Anti-virus, a software or hardware firewall and a good anti-spwyare program or two. Check our Links & Resources section for recommendations. 2. DO NOT DOWNLOAD FREE CRAP FROM THE INTERNET UNLESS YOU KNOW ITS ORIGIN AND SAFETY. 3. Use Mozilla Firefox or Opera as your primary Internet browser instead of Internet Explorer, MSN, or AOL. This tip alone can save your computer. 4. If you have teenagers or young adults who use your computer, forbid the downloading of free music through services like Limewire or any other shady site (refer to #2) 5. If you do suspect SCD, get it looked at immediately. Waiting for it to cure itself will only make SCD worse. BONUS TIP: If your computer suffers from SCD, Defrag will NOT help it. No matter how many times you Defrag your computer, it will NOT help SCD. © *SCD is a copyrighted term of Castellini on Computers, HelpMeRick.com and Rick Castellini. Use of the term SCD is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of Rick Castellini or administrators of HelpMeRick.com

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

Set Firefox to recognize web mail for mailto links – Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:27:25 +0000

If you use a web based email system like Gmail, HotMail, or Yahoo email or any derivative of these, you more than likely run into occasions where you want to email someone from a web site. However, when you click the link (known as a mailto link), you get presented with an email system you [...]

Email of the Week – 016

Rick — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:37:17 +0000

QUESTION Name: Cathy From: Walworth, WI. OS: Windows XP ———————- I use Firefox and lately whether I have one or twenty tabs open all of a sudden it crashes and I have to re-open and restore tabs. This happens 3-4 times a night. I have CA Security and Spy Bot. Thank you, Cathy ANSWER Thanks for writing and great question. Two ways [...]

Beware of fake security software

Rick — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:24:32 +0000

I write a similar article every few weeks not because I’m not creative, but because too many people aren’t listening yet. These past few weeks have been awful for folks getting fake security software on their computers. It often times gets on a computer as a result of other things you are trying to download [...]

Firefox reaches 1 billion downloads

Rick — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:26:37 +0000

After the great Internet Explorer (IE) vs. Netscape browser wars of the 90s, it didn’t appear that Internet Explorer would ever be challenged again…thus Microsoft’s complacency with updating IE. Then just 4+ years ago, Mozilla Firefox burst onto the scene with a small, fast, and safe browser that caught fire quickly. As spyware and other [...]

The Castellini Approach to Internet Security

Rick — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:18:44 +0000

The Castellini Approach to Internet Security

This past week I saw way too many people who aren't taking advantage of the free information we give out on the show and the web site. Their computers were suffocating from a preventable disease...viruses and spyware. Yes, preventable, almost 100%. And fighting the war on our home computer security front does not have to be costly or time consuming.

We talk about this subject quite a bit on the program and the web site because of its rapid growth worldwide. In today's tip, I am providing you with links to information that we have on this site that has been up for months to years that contain the essential information about protecting your computer.

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 released – Get it!

Rick — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:02:35 +0000

Mozilla released version 3.5 of their browser, Firefox, less than two weeks ago. I jumped on the update the day it came out and have had zero problems. You already know that I recommend everyone use an alternative to Internet Explorer for daily browsing. If you aren’t using an alternative browser yet, then now is [...]

Email of the Week – 006

Rick — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:45:48 +0000

QUESTION Name: Kathy From: Grand Junction OS: Windows XP ———————- When I go into different web sites I get this message: ERROR A runtime error has occurred? Line 30 ERROR: Object required Yes No This occurs quite frequently can you tell me why and what I can do about it? ANSWER This error is usually due to [...]

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!