Upgrade or repair?

If I had a dime for every time this question comes up…. I actually had this happen with two of my cutomers today. My answer, the last couple of years, is a definite ‘it depends’. Wishy, washy, I know, but it really does have to be thought out. First, the proper diagnosis has to be made. What is the estimate of the repair parts and labor and how does the user use the computer factor in together. Next, a...

Velcro – reuseable duck tape

I discovered a new tool this week – the Velcro strap. I have seen them around for a few years, but I just began using them this week. Personally, I think that cable mess is cool. I think it is a geek status symbol. However, I know that there are a lot of people out there who prefer to keep their cables tidy. The reuseable Velcro cable strap. You can get them in the computer department of almost any office supply or...

Typical Day Kickoff!!

Today was one of the best examples ever of a typical day. In fact, today was so typical that it was atypically typical. I began my day by giving the office manager at a local doctor’s office a lesson in Microsoft PowerPoint. Immediately after that I headed to Sam’s Club to purchase a video card for my next client. I barely had enough time to buy the card before I had to be at their house to install it. I have had...

Nothing more important in computing than backup...

Destiny played its hand today in choosing my topic for my first installment of "Riding Shotgun". Riding Shotgun is the brain-child of Adam and I. We wanted to create a daily snippet of the things we see, learn, fix, and experience in our daily travels from office-to-office and home-to-home fixing computers and helping people learn about the computers. Backup, or the lack of a backup, played a big part in my day...

Open Office – The FREE Office Alternative

Microsoft Office has dominated the office space (spreadsheet, word processor, presentation creation, etc). Over the recent few years, Open Office has made huge strides. Backed by Sun Microsystems and now Google as well among others, this suite of office products is poised to take off. Open Office includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, database program, and graphics program. The download is huge and...

How to Format Your Hard Drive and Reinstall Window...

WARNING:  I have done my best to outline the steps in this somewhat arduous task, but undertake this procedure at your own risk. Because of the vast differences in hardware and software, I cannot possibly cover every nuance. Please use this Tip as a guide and not the end all. AND BE SURE TO BACKUP ANYTHING YOU DON"T WANT TO LOSE PRIOR TO UNDERTAKING THE TASK! Since many of the sites that I used to refer...

Quick Tweaks to Make Windows Snap

When I make a house or office call during the week to work on a computer, I almost always run through a few quick tweaks to make Windows perform just a little bit better. No matter how new a computer may be, it can’t be too fast. Try these tweaks on your computer to see if you can eek out a little more performance. Disable Visual Effects Starting with Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft added visual effects to menus...

Unique Digital Photo Holiday Gifts

You’ve take a bazillion digital photos so far this year or have a shoe box of great old photos. This holiday season, put those photos to fun use by creating unique gifts with them. Using tools you already have, you can create photo t-shirts, aprons, and carry bags. All you need is the perfect photo, an ink jet printer, an iron, and special iron-on paper. Ink jet iron on paper can be found at any office supply or large...

Recycling Your Old Computer

If you received or bought yourself a new computer during the holidays (or any time), many options are available for the use of your old computer. In addition to passing on a still useful machine, remember that in many cities throwing out old computers or monitors is illegal. First and foremost BEFORE giving away your computer, make sure you purge it of any of your personal information. If your computer came with restore...

Keep Your Computer Clean

I am often asked what is the best way to clean a computer. Here’s how to do it safely: In past tips, we discussed the importance of good air circulation around your CPU (Central Processing Unit)…the big box where you put CD’s and disks. One spot to start your cleaning is looking at the back end of the CPU and make sure that the vents do not contain too much lent and dust. If so, use a can of compressed air...

Disable or Change Clippy

Who is ‘Clippy’? He’s the little paper clip guy that pops up in Microsoft Word, Excel or any other Microsoft Office program in their 97 and 2000 versions. In the computer world, he appears to be like the Dallas Cowboys…people either love him or hate him. If you are on the dislike side of the fence, follow this procedure to disable him once and for all: 1. RIGHT Click on Clippy 2. Click on Options...

Customize Office Toolbars

Starting with Microsoft Office 2000 and the XP version afterward, software engineers in Redmond decided that showing an entire menu in Word, Excel or any of the Office programs would confuse software users. Instead of showing the entire menu when clicking on File, Edit, Format, etc, from the menus, we are presented with an abbreviated menu showing only two or three options. In order to view the entire menu, we can either wait...

Create a Watermark in Microsoft Word

Believe it or not, the post office is capable of mailing a real letter! Letter writing in this era of email is slowly becoming a lost art. However, if you had some nice stationery to write on, you might be more willing to write letters. Even if you want to ‘write’ your letter on your computer, learning how to do so with some nice self-designed stationery would be nice. Watermarks are the very lightly printed...

Become an (Word) Artist

Microsoft programmers provided users of their products a fun little tool called WordArt. WordArt transforms your text into…well, works of art. If you use Microsoft Publisher, Word, PowerPoint, or even Excel and need to spruce up a document, learn to use WordArt. The headline on today’s tip is an example of WordArt. WordArt can be used as headlines in newsletters or headings for a chart in Excel and of course in...

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...