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Riding Shotgun with Rick — 17 Comments
11
Jan 09

Windows 7 – First Impressions

Windows 7 Desktop

I just finished installing the Windows 7 Beta version released by Microsoft on Friday. I installed it on my Toshiba Intel dual-core processor with 4 GB of RAM. It was running Windows Vista which took more than 4 minutes to fully boot (I consider the boot up process to be finished when the hard drive stops spinning and I don’t have to compete with a still booting computer to do what I want to do), and running any applications was like walking through molasses. I can say that my expectations were pretty low, but I am pleasantly surprised…so far.

It took exactly 21 minutes from when I inserted the install DVD until I reached a workable desktop. Very impressive! The setup was painless and required very little input. In fact, it was so easy, I think that the folks at Microsoft must have taken a page out of the Linux/Ubuntu installs. It was easily the fastest and easiest install of any version of Windows. I hope it doesn’t change much with the final version.
Bootup time is faster than Vista too. With my fresh install of Windows 7 and no security software, boot time was just under 2 minutes.
Overall, the new OS feels snappy and clean. I haven’t seen any User Account Control (UAC) pop-ups yet.
On my Toshiba laptop, like Linux, I didn’t have to install a single driver. Once the quick install finished, my wireless, Ethernet, sound, video, SD card, and web cam all worked perfectly.
Microsoft has revamped and simplified the wireless connectivity…again very Ubuntuish in my opinion.
This beta version of Windows 7 also includes the new Internet Explorer 8 which doesn’t feel much different than 8, but is supposed to be more compatible and flexible than 7. I will test it a little, but still prefer Firefox. I will probably install Google Chrome as well to see how it runs in Windows 7.
The revamped Start menu has a new feature that when you hover on a recently used program it will also present to you your most recently used documents for that program. Nice.
The taskbar has also been changed, but I need to work with it some more before deciding exactly how those features affect uability and productivity.
I plan on installing AVG or Avast antivirus and OpenOffice to test them and will report more about speed and usability.

I’m writing this article and took the two screenshots in Windows 7 using the Snipping Tool introduced with Vista. I did use picnik.com to edit the photos, however, since the updated Paint program, although it does have a new Crop and Resize feature, the resize feature doesn’t have much flexibility.

Stay tuned for more articles about Windows 7 leading up to its release later this year, or early next year. If there are questions YOU have about Windows 7, leave a comment below and I will test them out for you.

Windows 7 taskbar

Rick answers his email Videocast – 027

A great question this week about how to fill out a paper form using your computer. Many other good questions as well including my answer to a writer who downloaded an illegal copy of Photoshop. This week, the Videocast is brought to you by questions from: Terry, Fern, Marcia, Sudarshin, Richard, Gayle, Kim, Bernie, Bill, Azumah, Jack, and Mike.

Hardware Tips / Riding Shotgun with Rick — 2 Comments
5
Jan 09

Another dead hard drive

External hard drives are spacious, cheap and relatively easy to use, but…

I resisted talking about backup this early in the year, but a phone conversation I had today illustrated my philosophy about backup perfectly. The gentleman I spoke with suffered an external hard drive failure, and he used it as the sole storage of his digital photos. Once again, my heart sank with his story of woe. He didn’t want to spend the hundreds of dollars it would require from a data recovery company (he also, unfortunately, opened the drive and tried to manually spin the hard drive platters), but was hoping for some sort of magical tech pixie dust that I might be storing in my pocket.

The point of the story is to scare you into backing up your data. Backing up your data means that your important data exists in at least two different locations. By different locations, I’m referring to two different digital media. Hard drive, and external hard drive. Hard drive and CD or DVD. Hard drive and USB flash drive. Hard drive and online backup. External hard drive and CD or DVD. You get the picture.

Exceptional backup systems would include having important data copied on at least three different mediums and one of those mediums being physically off site or at least placed in a fire proof, locked box in a basement or garage. You can learn more about backup by simply searching my site. Make it a new year’s resolution (or just smart computing practice) to start and maintain a good backup system starting today!

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 17 Comments
8
Dec 08

What do you really do with your computer?

In my travels, it seems that most home computer users primarily use email. I would love to see 100-200 comments attached to this short article so you can tell me what you use your computer for from day-to-day. You don’t have to be statistically accurate or detailed, I’m just curious and this topic is too broad and detailed for a poll.

Here’s how I use my main computer:

Internet (web browsing, pay bills, web site maintenance, etc) – 60%
Email – 15%
Instructional videos – 10%
Word Processing – 8%
Desktop publishing (creating newsletters, flyers, calendars, etc) – 2%
Skype video calls – 1%
Digital Photography (including ordering, editing, and downloading photos) – 1%
Games – .33%
Other – 2.67%

YOUR TURN! Leave a comment and share what you use your primary computer for on average. Thanks!

Riding Shotgun with Rick — No Comments
3
Dec 08

Acer Aspire One Netbook

Today, I had my first opportunity to get some hands-on time with Acer’s entry into the netbook craze, the Acer Aspire One. The young lady I helped bought a blue Aspire One on Black Friday for just over $300. Sporting a 120GB hard drive, an extremely nice 8.9″ screen, 1 GB of RAM, and Windows XP, this little unit was very impressive to look at and use. After some discussion with me, she decided that she didn’t want to leave the Windows XP on it and have to maintain security updates, anti-spyware software, anti-virus software, etc. She planned on using the netbook for traveling mostly and some email, Internet, and downloading her digital photos from time to time on it.

I decided to try installing Ubuntu’s new Netbook Remix (UNR) operating system for her. After doing some research, I discovered that before doing the Ubuntu install, a BIOS update was necessary so the SD card readers (there are two of them on the Aspire One) would work once UNR was installed. That was the biggest hurdle, and I haven’t cleared it yet. After following many instructions on the Acer and other user sites to get the BIOS installed (requires a bootable USB drive), I gave up because of time restraints. Frustrated, but not beaten, we decided to go ahead with the install of UNR. At home, I downloaded and created a UNR bootable flash drive for the install (has to be done in Ubuntu). Literally within 8 minutes of inserting the USB drive and starting the netbook, we were staring at the cleanly laid out desktop of UNR and just another 30 seconds to connect to the Internet via wi-fi. Amazing! It took nearly 40 minutes to get the computer to boot up and finish installing and configuring Windows XP when we first turned the machine on out of the box. The AspireOne community documentation at Ubuntu’s site for installing and configuring UNR is nothing short of awesome.

I need to help the young woman clean up a few little rough edges with some plug-ins and get the card readers to work properly, but overall, I was impressed and she was happy with her purchase. The Aspire One comes in a few different colors and configurations. The XP seemed snappy enough on the netbook, but I know that wouldn’t last long after all the Windows updates were installed, security software was installed, etc. UNR runs extremely fast and smooth and should be virtually trouble-free for this happy new netbook owner. You can buy the Acer AspireOne with Windows XP and use the steps I did to install UNR or stay with the XP. Or you can get the Aspire One with a special version of Linux pre-installed.

Internet Tips / Riding Shotgun with Rick — 7 Comments
1
Dec 08

5 Reasons why YOU should be moving to the cloud

Over the past two or there years, I have written many articles about Web 2.0 or cloud computing. Cloud computing means that you work with programs and/or data that are not installed or saved on your computer. Instead, the programs and/or data live on an Internet connected computer (server) somewhere else in the world. These computers provide security via the password and user name that you choose. Five reason come immediately to mind on why you should start moving your data and computing power to the cloud.

1. Although more powerful than ever before, computers have become more unreliable than ever.

In particular, Windows computers require more expertise to keep them safe, updated, and problem free than at any time in the short history of home computers. Macintosh and Linux operating systems certainly require less technical expertise from the security standpoint, but still rely on desktop applications to create, save and edit data. Web based (cloud) applications provide plenty of power and flexibility for the vast majority of computer users while also presenting a simpler interface.

2. You already spend 90% of your time in the cloud already.

Non-business computer users spend the majority of their computer time emailing, surfing and researching the web and playing online games. Transitioning to web based mail and web based word processing, spreadsheets and more is easy and free with products like Zoho Office, Google Docs and ThinkFree.

3. Digital photography is easier in the cloud…and cheaper.

Too many computer users do not know how to properly resize and attach photos to email or gauge how many photos to attach to email. You spend way too much money and time on ink cartridges and paper trying to print good quality pictures. All these problems are solved in the cloud by helping you organize your photos better, share them easier, and print them in higher quality in more formats professionally. Flickr, Picasa Albums, and albums and services from Shutterfly, Snapfish, Winkflash, and others help you do all these things much easier than any desktop application. For those who like to edit their photos, these services offer some limited editing, but Pixlr, Picnik, Fotoflexer, Snipshot, Photoshop Online, and many others provide more than enough power for almost any digital photographer.

4. You either don’t know how or are too lazy to backup your important data.

I admit that I’m putting a lot of faith in Web 2.0 companies, but I know they will do a better and more regular job of backing up your data than you currently do. These companies have their reputations and big bank rolls on the line to take backing up your data lightly. If your data is truly important to you, learn to back it up. In the interim, your data will be much safer online than it is right now on your unprotected computer with no backup plan at all. If I’ve stirred you a little to think about backing up your current data, read my tips about online backup services that truly do make backing up your data easier and safer than learning to burn DVD’s, setup and configure backup programs and then maintain them.

5. Using cloud computing strategies sets you free from any computer.

Since your data and applications live on the web and are accessed through a web browser, you no longer are tied to any one computer or operating system. As long as you have an Internet connection (high speed only) and a browser, you can work and play from any computer!

I keep urging you to learn about and use these services because they are coming down the pike and becoming more mainstream every day. Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and other stalwarts of the desktop continue to make their own plans to finally come on board and offer more and more cloud computing options.

What do you think? Leave me a comment below to tell me about your cloud computing experiences and questions.

Photo by ewen and donabel

Riding Shotgun with Rick / Videocasts — 1 Comment
8
Nov 08

Rick’s Answers his email Videocast – 019

I answer questions about Palm handheld computers, custom XP & Ubuntu computers, the AVG update outage (relax, you are protected), resizing photos for email, freeing up disk space and more. This episode is brought to you by: Gail, Gene, Salma, Jason, Jean, Elizabeth, Greg, Rajesh, Laurie, J, and Joe.

Oh, and I also reveal who I voted for in Tuesday’s presidential election…but you have to watch!

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 4 Comments
7
Nov 08

How can I increase traffic to my site?

You can lead a horse to water What a week! For some reason, my scheduling went a little awry this week and made for some long days. In addition to my scheduling problems, however, I could have saved a ton of time (thus the 3 day hiatus of new posts) and my clients could have saved a lot of money if they were more diligent about backing up their data and keeping track of passwords and software.

This web site is exactly the same age as my business…almost 13 years old. In those thirteen years, I can emphatically claim that customers who read my site daily and follow the advice and tips have far less problems and trouble with their computers than those who never visit. And when regular readers of HelpMeRick.com do need an on site consultation from me, they rarely last longer than an hour and usually involve more instruction that troubleshooting. After building this site for 13 years and adding to it almost daily, I can answer at least eighty percent of the most common computer questions with articles found right here at HelpMeRick.com.

I pose the question to you, the faithful HelpMeRick.com visitor: What can I do to encourage you to recommend this site to others and to get them to become regular visitors? What types of articles do you like and which do you dislike? Are the how-to videos working well for you? Any advice and feedback I can get from you to make HelpMeRick.com a better and more reliable resource is appreciated. Leave a comment below and let me know what works and what doesn’t work here at HelpMeRick.com .

Thanks for your help.

Photo by renatotarga

Email Tips / Riding Shotgun with Rick — 3 Comments
27
Oct 08

Clean your inbox

stuffed inbox Email truly revolutionized communication. The ability to retrieve a message from anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds is mind boggling. However, judging by the size of your inboxes (a poll I posted recently showed that 60% of email users had more than 100 messages in their inbox), you could benefit from some tips on how to keep your inbox clean.

I used to keep as many as many as 50 or so email stacked up in my inbox, but I always felt that I was behind in my work and consequently much of the email went unread and unanswered. A little more than a year ago, it all changed after I read an article that struck a chord with me called Email Zen. I immediately started practicing the techniques and suggestions in the article and found myself with a cleaner inbox and a better overall outlook (no pun intended) about email and my email communication. I continue to strive for the empty inbox and find that if i get more than 10, I start to get a little jumpy.

From reading that article and my own experience over the past eighteen months, here are my suggestions for reaching harmony with email:

Employ a good spam filter. The best one available for Outlook, Outlook Express, or Thunderbird is Cloudmark Desktop, hands down. Don’t even bother telling me about another one…unless it is better than this one.
Use Gmail instead of Outlook or any other email system. The tools available in Gmail make handling email a breeze, and the built-in spam filter with Gmail is phenomenal negating step 1.
Learn to use filters to sort and manage your email.
Learn to use built-in search tools in your email program to extract information from saved email.
Unsubscribe from any online newsletters, forums, or email groups that you don’t actively read and never will. Remember NOT to unsubscribe from spam, that only brings more spam.
Ask your email buddies who forward messages and jokes to you that you would like to be removed from their list…again, if you don’t actively read them.
Respond to your incoming email as quickly as possible…preferably directly after you read it so that it is handled only one time.
If you have a phone that is capable of checking your email, use it while in the bathroom, standing in line for lunch, waiting for an appointment, etc. Responding to an email on your phone will make your response brief and to the point and save you that time later when you return to your computer.

Another good article for learning how to handle email in an efficient manner is Inbox Zero over at 43folders.com If you have some other techniques that you find work well for keeping email under control, leave a comment and share it! If you are one of the 60% plus who have 50 or more email in their inbox, give these techniques a try and let me know what you think.

Photo by PatrickO’Shaughnessey

Riding Shotgun with Rick — No Comments
17
Oct 08

What is Open Source?

Open Source software began soon after computers became main stream in offices and then homes. In a nut shell, Open Source refers to software developed under a set standard of rules that developers agree upon to make the software freely available, no penalties for copying or sharing the programs (in fact, it is encouraged to share the software), the source code (programming) must be made available to anyone, and the software must also have no restrictions on others making variations of the software. You can read an exact definition and read the licensing information at the Open Source Initiative web site here.

Open Source software seems to be gaining more and more traction in the computer world as budgets start to tighten in an uncertain financial climate. This week, OpenOffice.org released the newest version of their Open Source office suite software. I’ve been using the beta version of the software for a couple of months and find it to be quite good. OpenOffice is considered one of the bright lights in the Open Source software world and for good reason. It offers an extremely viable option to Microsoft Office and gains new users and fans every single day.

Another Open Source darling is Linux and its various forms (distros). Linux is an Open Source operating system and the poster child for it today is Ubuntu. Ubuntu, like OpenOffice, garners new fans by the thousands every single day because it offers a real alternative to Microsoft Windows for no cost.

Just yesterday, I read an article by Matt Hartley titled 10 Simple Methods for Happily Running Ubuntu. I enjoyed the article, but number 7 in his list stuck with me the most. It was titled, There is no free lunch. He described Open Source as being free from any initial monetary investment, but that Open Source refers more to freedom of use than free ride. What he refers to is that although Open Source software doesn’t cost any money, it does require an investment in time. Time to learn the software, time to research and troubleshoot answers to your questions, and time shared with others on public bulletin boards or other forums sharing any solutions to problems you found or sharing tips that you might have about a particular software. Matt’s sage description stresses the importance of the Open Source movement as being an active solution that everyone can and should contribute to versus a passive one where you take something but never return anything.

I think I’m drawn to Open Source software for a few reasons. 1) The talent and knowledge of the programmers who develop the software amaze me. 2) The thought of being self-reliant and learning to use resources (existing knowledge and collaboration with others) to solve a problem makes sense to me and is extremely self-satisfying, and 3) Paying money for something that doesn’t completely solve a problem for me doesn’t make a lot of fiscal sense.

Getting more people to adopt Open Source software is not always easy. I think this is so because consumers are so brand conscious these days. If it doesn’t have a flashy logo or name on the software or device, then it can’t possibly be worth their time…especially if it is free. I try to look at anything I buy or use from a perspective of; can it do what I need it to do, can it do it efficiently, and can I readily find help for it when I run into a problem or need to learn something new. Open Source often time does fit the bill quite nicely. Sometimes it does not. However, I think any computer user owes it to him or herself to investigate Open Source alternatives to commercially available software. You may be surprised at the quality and functionality of Open Source software while at the same time saving money and becoming a little more knowledgeable and self-sufficient when it comes to your computer use.

Photo by Antikris