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Rick

Vista Orb

Windows OrbHa, ha! I'm still laughing and smiling at this one. I've been talking a lot recently about Vista because there is so much to say and it is the current version of Windows we have now. 

Anyway, the picture you see in this article is not only the Windows Vista logo, but it is also the default replacement of the familiar start button in Windows Vista. The reason I bring it up and have been laughing for two days is that I guess the official term for it in Vista is the "Windows Orb". If you read a tip for Windows Vista (probably not on this site), that says click on the "Windows Orb", what they are referring to is the "Start" button that no longer says start, it's just the picture of the new Orb.

512mb is not enough

512mb of RAM is not enough for Windows Vista…any flavor. Vista has been out almost three months now, and I have setup almost a dozen Vista machines. Thankfully, they are rolling out slowly. All the machines I setup, until today, came with 1 GB (1024mb) or 2GB of RAM. And although not blazing, the computer's ran at an acceptable speed.

I just finished spending nearly 2.5 hours setting up a laptop with Vista Basic and only 512mb of RAM. It was painful. Normally, I can clean all unwanted and trial software (crapware) from a new computer, install and update AVG Antivirus, optimize the startup and Internet settings, shut off unnecessary special effects, setup email and test both email and the Internet all in under 1.5 hours. This little laptop required extraordinary wait times to get anything installed or uninstalled. Very frustrating.

Is this a test?

Today I had an appointment that spanned almost every area of what I do on a daily basis. The appointment lasted roughly three hours.

In that time I…

Helped setup a new iMac. She is making the switch from Windows and wanted some of the features that she was used to in her PC. I set her computer to ask for her password whenever it was turned on or came out of sleep mode so her kids couldn't get online without her permission. I also setup a gmail account and a POP3 email program that worked like Outlook Express.

  • Consulted her on ways of getting better range from her wireless network.
  • Tuned up her kids' computer and removed lots of

Photoshop Elements 5

Adobe Photoshop Elements is the standard photo editing software for consumers and many professionals. The latest edition offers many new features, but are those features worth upgrading from previous versions of the program?

First, there is no upgrade version but since the program can easily be found online for under $70, it won't hurt too bad if you do want to upgrade.

Photoshop Elements has been a solid program since its introduction. Previous consumer photo editing programs only allowed you to make alterations in steps, any fine tuning was out of the question. Elements changed all of that by offering so many professional level tools that many professionals made the switch.

Stick with HelpMeRick’s trusted security software

Some days I seem to face recurring themes. Today's was extortionware. Extortion is when someone forces you into paying money to solve a problem that the person or institution requiring payment caused. If that doesn't make a lot of sense, ask Rick to explain how his "If you want to keep your kneecaps – go get nachos for us," program works during the show on Saturday.

We have spelled out our proven method of home computer security countless times here on HelpMeRick, but just as a reminder here it is again in brief:

1. Don't use Internet Explorer to surf the web unless you have to

Rick’s 3 Rules of Email

  1. Never Forward Email
  2. Never Forward Email
  3. IF you must forward email, ALWAYS use Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) and ALWAYS clean up the header information from previous email.

Some computer users who encounter my rules of email sometimes pass off my thoughts as being too strict. Unfortunately, I know it isn't true. Today, for the upteenth time, I worked with a customer who has had her email address for less than a year and already is inundated with more than 75 spam per day. Luckily her Internet provider has a decent spam filter, but she still has to put up with a lot of unwanted spam. The only thing she uses the email address for is correspondence with some family, friends, and two religious oriented weekly email newsletters.

Windows Vista continues to tank…

Tedd, our computer bargain guru, ran across this article today at MSNBC.com and forwarded it to me. Basically, it concretley demonstrates the ongoing failure and low adoption rate of Windows Vista. Dell, due to lackluster Vista sales and monster customer demand, will give consumers a choice between XP and Vista on many of their machines.

Choose XP.

Banking online

My family has been Internet banking since early 2000. We moved to an Internet only bank (no physical banks anywhere that we can walk in to) because we were ready to start paying bills online and get our account information online. At the time, our large overhead bank, Wells Fargo, actually charged customers $9.95 per month to have the privilege of online banking. After some research, we settled on an Internet only bank with no physical banks, just a web site, great customer service, high interest rates, and free online banking. Their site has changed only slightly over the years and we have never regretted the decision.

Secret language of the shadow government

Today's post is for everyone who listens to the radio show via direct feed from Genesis Communications Network. I received this information from a trusted source who received it in a forwarded email chain letter.

It appears that the real government uses a special language to communicate on the Internet. You will find this secret language all over the web. Only now that we have Google and Internet searches can we discover how frequently these messages are sent.

Whenever the Luminati or the Masons have sent messages and those messages have been received a special confirmation is posted. You will even find this confirmation text in the body of some older printed material in the days before the Internet.

When to use a CD for backup

Our regular listeners hear us talk about this subject often, but it bears repeating as much as we can talk about it for your data's safety and your sanity. Backing up to CD's is a multi-step process and all the steps need to be followed for it to go right.

CD's work great for archiving data that won't change. This includes pictures, music, your finished novel, etc. CD's should only be burned ONE time. CD-R's have the capability of being written to many times, but this also increases the likelihood of problems with the CD. Burn them once and store them in a safe place.