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Stick with HelpMeRick’s trusted security software

Some days I seem to face recurring themes. Today's was extortionware. Extortion is when someone forces you into paying money to solve a problem that the person or institution requiring payment caused. If that doesn't make a lot of sense, ask Rick to explain how his "If you want to keep your kneecaps – go get nachos for us," program works during the show on Saturday.

We have spelled out our proven method of home computer security countless times here on HelpMeRick, but just as a reminder here it is again in brief:

1. Don't use Internet Explorer to surf the web unless you have to

Ubuntu Linux!!!

Ubuntu Desktop - click for larger view Last week I installed Windows Vista on my fine running XP machine (less than six months old) and have been tolerating it since then and learning about its quirks and features. I have actually been using Vista since September and besides the integrated search (which can be added to XP through multiple channels for free), I honestly do not understand what the heck Microsoft did for nearly six years between operating systems. Yes, it is pretty, but who cares how pretty it is…my email is slower, programs are slower, menus, options, and preferences have all been moved to different places…

Bad tech support: When in doubt, blame a virus

We talk a lot about viruses on the show and here on the site, but in reality, viruses make up a very small portion of day-to-day computer problems. In fact, many (if not most) problems that people blame on viruses are not actually viruses at all.

Many of today's computers contain at least 100,000 smaller files. These thousands of little files work together by linking and sharing jobs with each other. Viruses work by getting into that mix and confusing the files.

However, even without viruses at play, these files can get confused all on their own. In many ways a computer is like a living organism. Just as DNA, cells, the processes of life can get mixed up an mutated, the files and programs that make a computer work can also get corrupted.

Norton 360 verdict not in yet – don’t be a guinea pig

Norton has recently released a new version called Norton 360. Symantec claims that they have scrapped 80+ percent of their old code and the 360 version is a totally new program.

I have only seen it installed on one computer so far and I couldn't really see if it was any faster or slower than previous versions. Since the system I saw it on was also running Windows Vista, I couldn't tell if the sluggishness of the computer was caused by Norton or Vista.

I can say that I have Vista running on a very similar machine as the one I saw running 360 and it didn't seem any slower.

I finally did it

I purchased Windows Vista Ultimate (OEM version) and Microsoft Office 2007 in January. Yesterday, I finally installed them both on my HP computer I bought in December for the purpose of eventually installing Vista and the new Office. The installation was the easiest of any Windows I have ever installed and only took about thirty-five minutes, but the first boot took around 12 minutes. I backed up my data and used the Vista disk to format and install the new Windows.

This weekend on our show, we were accused of joining the "band wagon" of Microsoft bashers. Long time listeners of our show and visitors to our web site know the real story…just try to find a Linux or Mac tip on our site. They will be coming eventually, but up until now we have been solid Microsoft computer guys.

Getting Better Prints from Digital Photos

One of the disadvantages to digital photography (if you can call it that) is that you don't get prints as often. Photos tend to sit on disk or on your computer's hard drive and never get shared. The photo album is sadly becoming extinct.

If you would like to start printing out some of those digital photos, here are some pointers.

Install Picasa:

We talk about it a lot, but not often enough. Picasa will make selecting, organizing and printing your digital photos easy. In fact, there is little or no need for any other software for most people.

Always a love-hate relationship

Lately, I have been working with many Windows 98 and Me computers (and a few Windows 95). For basic functions, limited Internet browsing, solitaire, email, and word processing, these computers work fine especially with a high speed Internet connection. However, it is imperative that Windows 98 and Me users NOT install any software that was developed after 2003. Your hardware and software configuration may appear to meet the minimum requirements of the software, but let me assure you that the product will not work optimally and your system will slow down considerably.

This especially applies to security software. For Windows 98 and Me users: ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NEVER INSTALL NEW VERSIONS OF NORTON OR MCAFEE SECURITY PRODUCTS.

Do you really have that much time on your hands?

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I need to know. One of the most common responses I get from people who don't have a high speed Internet connection is, "I have plenty of time to wait and am in no hurry." While I admire the Zen like focus and calm nerves of these folks, I have to ask the obvious. "Really?"

Today, I worked with a customer who lives literally in the middle of the mountains…the nearest town (about 200 people) is more than 20 miles away and the phone line sounds like popcorn in a microwave and there is no cell service. She has been patiently using dial-up Internet service for more than 7 years connecting at speeds of between 12 kbps and 14.4 kbps on a good day. Yes, you read that correctly…12-14 kbps!!! That is half the speed of a poor dial-up connection…good dial-up connections range from 44 kbps to 52 kbps. An entry level DSL connection starts at 256 kbps. When I setup her new computer today, it took almost thirty minutes to download and install the flash plug-in for her browser. I ended up disabling graphics from showing in her browser and showed her how to view a graphic if she really needed to since a 54kb graphic would take nearly two minutes to load.

RAID: Something geeks often do because they can

HelpMeRick.com is not a geek website so I'm not even going to get into what RAID is other than it is something geeks do to their computers.

However, I will say that I have had a number of clients over the years who have had a friend, relative or computer salesman talk them into going with a RAID setup and it has turned out to be a giant problem.

Often RAID is installed as a "backup" system. Essentially this type of RAID setup uses two hard drives. Whatever happens on the first hard drive is automatically duplicated on the second hard drive.