The Castellini Approach to Internet Security ̵...

EDITORS NOTE:   I originally posted this article in 2007. A lot has changed in 6 years, so I’ve updated the article with new information and links. Please heed the information here to save you time, money and frustration and pass along to your friends and family! This past week I saw way too many people who are not taking advantage of the free information we give out on the show and the web site. Their computers were...

Setting up a new computer

Prevention is the best medicine when it comes to avoiding illness in ourselves. Prevention in the computer world is no different. And like a newborn baby, a newly purchased computer is subject to many terrible diseases and problems if not properly cared from the moment it is taken from its cardboard box. I follow these steps when setting up a new computer system for my clients, and recommend this methodology for all new...

Printer Installations Continue to Grow

It really shouldn’t take 15 minutes and more to install a new printer…especially on a new computer! This kind of time commitment is becoming all too frequent lately from all manufacturers, but HP seems to be the worst. If you want to save time on your printer install and prevent your computer from becoming lethargic afterwards, try these small tips the next time you install a new printer. Uninstall all previous...

Should I backup?

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...

Deleting Programs and Files

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...

Adding RAM to increase computer speed – Vide...

Since Service Pack 3 for Windows XP (security update) was released late last year, many of my XP clients started experiencing slower performance. This upgrade put an additional strain on systems with less than 512mb of RAM. Upgrading the RAM will make a big difference in speeding up the system again. RAM is the temporary memory that the computer uses to give us the feeling of programs opening and running with some pep....

Comparison of Windows 7 vs. Ubuntu 9.04 install

I had the opportunity today to install both Windows 7  RC 1 and Ubuntu 9.04 on my Toshiba laptop today. The laptop has an Intel Core2Duo processor, 4 GB of RAM and 160 GB hard drive. Here are the results: Windows 7 RC1 Ubuntu 9.04 Install time 21 minutes including 2 reboots 19 minutes no reboots Boot time 54 seconds 36 seconds Shut down time 20 seconds 8 seconds Post install  work required Approximately an hour...

Increase the speed of your computer

If your computer still performs all the functions you want it to do, there is no need to replace it. However, no matter if you’ve been using the same computer for a month or seven years, all computers need and crave RAM (Random Access Memory). RAM provides the ‘umph’ for our computers and an abundance of it helps Windows’ performance tremendously. Hard drive space (physical storage of your data) and...

Are Macintosh computers poised to make a run?

JUNE 2008 UPDATE: I wrote the article below two years ago, ran across it tonight and wanted to write an update to it. At the time I wrote it, I think the now famous Apple and PC guy commercials had just started ramping up and the ominous steps towards Windows Vista were getting closer. My words probably weren’t unique at the time, and I don’t claim to be a sage, but it is astonishing how much the market has...

Troubleshoot Hardware Problems Using the Device Ma...

Starting with Windows 95 all the way through today’s Windows Vista, Microsoft supplied computer users with a great tool listing the different hardware devices attached to and residing in our computers. This tool is called the Device Manager. Today’s tip focuses on how to use the Device Manager to troubleshoot a video card, sound card or other internal hardware problem. If you suddenly lose sound or your...

Stop the Photoshop Elements Browser Popup – ...

Adobe Photoshop Elements has a built-in program that searches for all of the photos on your computer and catalogs them. It then displays thumbnails of all of the photos it finds so that you can get to photos faster. This seems great, but Adobe did a pretty terrible job with the program. It is slow and way to difficult to use for a basic program. Picasa is free and it works much better. The worst part of the Photoshop Elements...

Troubleshooting 101

By now many of you have figured out that computers are unruly beasts. They seem to be fine one day and schizophrenic the next. As a person who troubleshoots computers for a living, I’m going to let you in on a little trade secret. When something on your computer seems to be a little left of center, stop and ask yourself three questions: Have I installed or deleted any software (computer program) in the last day or...

Magnifying Your Screen

With today's higher resolution screens, some computer users have trouble making out some items on the screen. Microsoft has a built-in screen magnifier that works OK, but isn't perfect or necessarily intuitive. Recently, I found a great application, called the Torian Screen Magnifier , that magnifies any portion of your screen by simply moving the on-screen magnifying glass over the area you want magnified. It is...

Macintosh inching more and more

I really thought the computer world was simple. Ultra-geeks used Linux, cool cats with a little attitude used Macintosh and the rest of us used Windows. None of the three major platforms worried to much about the other and software remained pretty much platform specific. Then two years ago Apple released software for the Macintosh that allows Windows to be installed on their systems, an upstart Linux version called Ubuntu...

Ubuntu on the road

I continue to experiment with the Ubuntu operating system. This past weekend, my family and I made a quick trip to the South Dakota Black Hills and I took my Ubuntu laptop along for the ride. My Ubuntu laptop is an older Compaq (almost six years old) that was destined for the trash heap by its previous owner. It no longer performed well for them and required reformatting and upgrading to run Windows XP and other software at...