Open Sesame — for your CD-ROM tray!

If your computer is in a precarious or tight position, opening the CD tray can be cumbersome. Use this tip to have your computer open the CD tray for you. First, you need to create a shortcut on your desktop. Here’s how it is done: 1. Double-click on My Computer 2. Drag your CD-ROM icon to your desktop 3. Click on the Yes button from the resulting message box Now, any time you need to open your CD-ROM tray,...

Laptop vs. Desktop Computer II

Starting this week and for the next month, millions of students will be returning to school. Some of these students go to college, some to high school and some are adults going back to school part-time or nights. All these students can benefit from a computer. For the mobile lifestyle of students, I recommend getting a laptop. Laptops can not only be toted to class, the library or your home, more and more they can be...

Flash Memory Drives

A flash memory drive (a.k.a. thumb drive or USB drive) consists of a chip of memory (flash) mounted in a plastic case with a USB interface on one end (see the illustration for some examples). With Windows Me, 2000, XP and Macintosh computers, flash memory drives automatically get recognized as another storage drive on your computer. No installation CD’s, no formatting, just fast, safe removable storage. In addition to...

About Rick, Adam & the Show

The Castellini on Computers radio talk show hit the air in April 1999. Our idea was to create a talk show where anyone would feel comfortable asking questions about technology. While there are a number of computer and technology related talk shows on the radio, Castellini on Computers is the only show that centers around callers’ questions. We strive to keep the show focused on the everyday questions, concerns and...