Windows | Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners

Posts Tagged: Windows

System Engineer fed up with Windows vulnerabilities

Interesting article from a ZDNet author, Christopher Dawson, who also works full-time as a school district computer engineer. Despite locking down Windows computers with security software, tweaking firewalls, and making sure all Windows updates are up to snuff, threats still sneak into their computers. I understand the frustration he exhibits in the article regarding the time and effort spent fighting these threats…especially knowing how much more trouble free a Linux computer or Apple computer can be. Worth the read:

Give me one good reason not to just move them all to Linux | Education IT | ZDNet.com.

Application Tips — No Comments
23
Aug 09

How to use CCleaner – Advanced Video Tip

I produced a video last week demonstrating how to use the basic functions of CCleaner. This week, I wanted to show some of the lesser known features of the CCleaner program. Like any add-on utility program, you must be very careful when using some of its advanced or custom functions. The same is true in this case.

WARNING: Use some of the advanced functions of this program at your own risk. Without proper caution and use of some of these features, you can render your computer useless. Again, proceed at your own risk.

With my disclaimer clearly spelled out, here is Continue reading →

Riding Shotgun with Rick / Windows Tips — 4 Comments
20
Aug 09

Cleaning and removing Antivirus 2009, PAV and others from your computer,

Photo by Jim Grandy

Preventing your computer from becoming infected is infinitely easier and less stressful than cleaning up after an infection.

Search my site for tons of information on setting up your computer for security and techniques to avoid scams. However, if you are already bit by one of the most recent nasty forms of software, Antivirus 2008, Antivirus 2009, Personal Antivirus, Internet Security 2009 among others (software I call extortionware that installs itself on your computer and then poses as Continue reading →

Application Tips — No Comments
10
Aug 09

How to use CCleaner – Beginners Edition Video Tip

For many years, I have recommended using the CCleaner disk cleanup utility for Windows. It does a more thorough job and is faster than the Windows cleanup utility built-in to all versions of Windows. In this short video, I demonstate how to get started with CCleaner. I may delve deeper into the product in a future video.

Riding Shotgun with Rick / Videocasts — No Comments
9
Aug 09

Rick Answers his Email Videocast – 053

The summer has kept me busy and I let a few too many question stack up (remember that you can make a small donation when asking your question to get priority). I answered all the questions you asked the last 2 weeks in these two videos.

The first video contains questions from Doris, Henry, Andrew, Jean, John, Rae Ann, Craig, Janet, Maurice, Leo, Ryan, Shirley, Jason, Donna, Jeannie, Dave, and Scott. They asked questions about CCleaner, Picasa, recovering photos from a corrupt flash disk, netbook shopping, recovering the Mac desktop hard drive icon, shutting down the Windows magnifier and more.

The second video (YouTube only allows 10 minute videos for free accounts) has questions from Dot, Tiffany, Kitty, Anne, Barbara, Peter, Len, Anne and Romero. Their questions ranged from Continue reading →

Email of the week — No Comments
2
Aug 09

Email of the Week – 013

photo credit: Tal Bright

QUESTION

Name: Beth

From: Missouri

OS: Windows Vista

———————-
Dear Rick,

I have a new laptop using Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

Advice on how to set it up?
email, browser, virus/ad/spy programs, etc? I am sure there are many people out there who want to know how to set up a new computer.

Usage – I will be setting up a network with my desktop (windows XP). I homeschool, so will do grading, lesson plans, research, etc. I email, do a little photo editing, sell/buy on eBay, multi-task with more than one program running and/or page open, etc. I am not a gamer. I also use it a lot for recipes, and knitting and sewing tips/patterns, and I am looking into getting a pattern drafting program.

Is it worth updating to Windows 7?

Also, I used firefox on the other computer. It took longer to load than IE, and used a lot of CPU in the process. Why?

ANSWER

Thanks for writing and congrats on your new computer. As to setting it up, click here to read my article describing how-to setup a new computer. It will cover all the things I do for my clients (and myself) when setting up a new system.

As for updating to Windows 7, yes, I Continue reading →

Computer User Group / Internet Tips — 7 Comments
7
Jul 09

The Castellini Approach to Internet Security

photo credit: The Joy Of The Mundane

This past week I saw way too many people who are not taking advantage of the free information we give out on the show and the web site. Their computers were suffocating from a preventable disease…viruses and spyware. Yes, preventable, almost 100%. And fighting the war on our home computer security front does not have to be costly or time consuming.

We talk about this subject quite a bit on the program and the web site because of its rapid growth worldwide. In today’s tip, I am providing you with links to information that we have on this site that have been up for months to years that contain the essential information about protecting your computer.

Continue reading →

Hardware Tips / Riding Shotgun with Rick — 3 Comments
25
Jun 09

Adding RAM to increase computer speed – Video Tip

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 Pedro De La Rosa

photo credit: lucam

Since Service Pack 3 for Windows XP (security update) was released late last year, many of my XP clients started experiencing slower performance. This upgrade put an additional strain on systems with less than 512mb of RAM. Upgrading the RAM will make a big difference in speeding up the system again.

RAM is the temporary memory that the computer uses to give us the feeling of programs opening and running with some pep. It’s like giving your computer a larger desk to work from so it can spread out and find things more efficiently. RAM also allows us to open multiple computer programs at the same time with less impact on the speed of the computer.

256 megabytes used to be a lot of RAM. Today, I’m recommending users have at least 512 megabytes for Windows XP machines and consider a full gigabyte. If buying a new PC with Vista 2 gigabytes (2048 megabytes) is absolutely the minimum and 3 GB or more is even better.

Instead of spending a $500 and up for a new computer, adding extra RAM can breath new life into any computer. Continue reading →

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 125 Comments
19
Jun 09

Senior uses Ubuntu system 14 months trouble free

photo credit: Nico Kaiser

Computers started making their way into homes, en masse, 15 years ago. After 15 years, computer users should not be afraid of using their computer.

This case study tells the story about a customer of mine, Wanda, who happens to be in her 70s. Like most computer users she used a Windows based computer. In her case, it was a system put together by her grandson in 2002 or 2003 and has a 1.8ghz processor, 256mb of RAM and the XP Home version of Windows.

When I first met Wanda a few years ago, she had typical Windows user problems; slow computer, slow Internet, couldn’t open some attachments, virus and spyware problems. She used dialup Juno for Internet and Norton Antivirus on her system. I couldn’t talk her into getting a DSL or cable connection, but I did change her security from Norton to Continue reading →

General Computer Tips / Riding Shotgun with Rick — 2 Comments
15
Jun 09

It’s OK to shut computer off with the power button

We have discussed this topic many times, but I continue to hear from people who forget this simple troubleshooting step. When a problem arises that seems insurmountable or you can’t move your mouse or type on your keyboard, shut the computer off at the switch.

There are two ways to shut your computer off when a problem occurs…actually three ways.

Push and hold the on/off button for at least fifteen seconds or until you hear the computer shut off (don’t just push it once and let go…nothing will happen).
Flip the switch on your surge protector. Yes, we should all use surge protectors…good ones.
Reach around the back of the computer and pull out the power cable.

Once you shut your computer off this way, let it sit in the off position for a few minutes before turning it on again. With any computer, this isn’t the preferred method of shutting off the computer, but in a pinch it usually gets you out of a jam.