What kind of computer do 3 teenagers use?

An extremely slow and sick computer! Today, again, I ran across a family who has multiple teenagers (3 in this case) who use a computer that has become polluted with spy and adware. I see this situation again and again, week after week. This computer was less than 2 months old! Give the typical teenager a Windows based computer (doesn’t matter if it is XP or Vista) and within weeks (sometimes hours) the computer is...

Rick’s Answers his email Videocast – 0...

This week I answer some questions about faxing in Vista, email problems, security software, removing spyware and much more…brought to you by the questions from Guido, Shirley, Tina, Cindy, Ticia, James, Jo, Mariane, Margie, Sandra, Jackie, Nellie, DJ and John. ...

AVG stumbles again

Admittedly, Grisoft has not had a great summer with the roll out of their newest product, AVG 8. They tried to force the upgrade on users a little too quickly with quick deadlines. However, almost five months after the release of the new version, I still find users who haven’t upgraded yet, but Grisoft is still updating the older version. The installation of the new version included some new features that are designed...

More Linux success stories

I want to keep singing the praises of an operating system that I used to make fun of on our show; Linux. In partial defense of myself, Linux traditionally has been known as the geeks operating system, and a user needed to be permanently attached to a forum for help and have an affinity for the command prompt or as its known in Linux, the terminal. That started to change about 10 years ago or so with the advent of Graphical...

Great digital photography debate topics

Technology is no different than politics in that there are a variety of topics that people have opinions on. While you may not know much about these topics now, what you know about them can have a great impact on knowing who to listen to when it comes to learning more about digital photography and related topics. PC vs. Mac: The Mac people will tell you that Macs are better for graphics, easier to use more stable. PC...

Warning: Your computer may be infected with viruse...

Extortionware? What is extortionware. I have seen at least 10 computers in the past two weeks that have recently been infected with extortionware – viruses and spyware that infect your system by pretending to be an antivirus or other security program. With names like Windows Antivirus, WinAntivirus, XP Antivirus 20008, etc. these programs appear to look and feel official. However, they are some of the worst virus or...

Eee PC 900

The new ASUS Eee PC 900 is finally available in the United States. Like its release earlier this year in Asia, the 900 version is selling like hot cakes in the U.S. too. I have been using the 4G version of the  original ASUS Eee PC since November 2007 and wrote a few articles about it that can be found here. I originally bought it to try it out and see what all the fuss was about, but quickly became attached to its ultra...

Think twice before your blame your computer’...

“What brand of computer do you recommend?” is one of the most common questions I get asked. My answer is usually, “It really doesn’t matter as long as it is a name brand and has the specs that you need.” I often hear comments like, “Our first computer was a Dell and we constantly had problems with viruses and spam,” or “I’m never going to get another HP, this one just...

AVG Antivirus 8.0 Upgrade Advice

The past few days calls and emails started filtering in about the new AVG 8.0 version folks have seen appear on their free versions of AVG Antivirus. The common query is, “Should I upgrade?” No, home users of AVG Antvirus do not need to upgrade at all. The current free version of AVG will continue to be updated and as it has been for years. The new 8.0 version is the newest commercial product from AVG...

Your hard drive is meant to hold stuff

Every week I’m out making my rounds, I hear this expression; “My computer is really slow it must have too much stuff in it and needs to be cleaned out.” Your computer can never have have too much “stuff.” Your hard drive is designed to hold tens of thousands of documents, pictures, music and more. The number of files you store on your computer has next to nothing to do with your perceived speed...

Slow computer? Viruses? Malware? I can help!

After almost 13 years of battling security problems on Windows machines, I’m finally seeing the light of day and recommending Mac’s and Linux for many computer users. It will be a long journey convincing people that there is life beyond Microsoft. For those who bang away with Microsoft Windows computers,and have problems with Slow Computer Disease (SCD), pop-ups, viruses and other problems, I present the following...

Zonbu – Part II

In a post last week, I announced that the first Zonbu computer (that I know of) was coming to Grand Junction. It has indeed arrived, and I am enormously impressed with the machine. Like all Linux computers, the Zonbu requires a high speed wired or wireless connection to operate. Dial-up users need not apply. The reason for requiring a high speed connection is that Zonbu provides automatic backup of files, automatic...

Zonbu is coming to Grand Junction!!

Today, I helped a new customer order a Zonbu computer. I first wrote about this interesting computer about two months ago. I offered to setup these machines up for free for the first three people in our area that buy one. After much deliberation and research, the customer (KC) and I decided that this computer was really the right decision for her needs. She bought the laptop Zonbu, and I can’t think of anything...

What we teach actually works!!

Today I saw a client I have not seen in a long time. They are a great family with four teenagers at home. One year I had to reformat their computer three times because of their knack for picking up spyware. While I enjoyed the money, I did not enjoy doing all those reformats. Reformatting a computer is my least favorite project. Gradually I would break them of their habits and have them using Firefox, AVG and a variety of...

What everyone ought to know about downloading secu...

Already this week, I ran into five different customers who were bitten by security software impostors. Since security problems are rampant on Windows’ computers, many degenerate computer programmers and sheisters have come up with spyware and virus spreading software disguised as security software. And the worst part is that unsuspecting computer users know the name of good, legitimate software and these impostors...