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Here is a little video we filmed after this week’s show. This is all of the email we read during the program.

Quad Core Processors

I setup my first Quad Core processor computer today. It wasn’t for me, unfortunately, but I was impressed with the machine. My client ordered a Dell XPS Intel Quad Core machine with 4 GB of RAM and Windows XP. It was easily the fastest computer I have seen to date. With all that RAM, a 256mb video card, and the new Intel Quad Core processor everthing literally flew on this machine. One example is Adobe Photoshop Elements version 5. On most computers with 512 to 1 GB of Ram, Elements takes between 30-60 seconds to fully load. On this mahine today, it loaded in less than 10 seconds. I was floored.

AOL is so easy (to cancel)

I helped a broadband user cancel (yet keep) his AOL account today. Over a year ago, AOL stopped charging users who wanted to use their service over broadband. However, they did not tell their members about this change and continued charging them.

My client was still paying $23.95 per month for AOL. The conversation went kind of like this:

ME: Are you still paying for AOL?

HIM: Yes.

ME: How much?

HIM: $24 per month.

ME: You know that AOL is free now for broadband users.

HIM: Really? How is the free service different?

ME: It’s not. It’s exactly the same service, they just don’t charge you for it.

HIM: Why are they still charging me $24 per month?

ME: Because you haven’t asked them not to.

Ubuntu Take 2

I’m helping another client with an Ubuntu setup. This time it is an Xubuntu setup on an almost 10 year old Gateway computer that has just a 350mhz processor (less than a fifth of the speed of modern processors). Xubuntu was designed for just such machines…it is leaner and requires less resources than the other flavors of Ubuntu Linux.

The install worked pretty well and the Internet works fine on a wired Ethernet connection, but the customer needs the wireless card to work instead. Unfortunately, wireless is a weakness in the current releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives. And because Xubuntu is slightly different than Ubuntu, I’m pretty much starting over with figuring out a solution.

Make your computer easier to read – Video Tip

Setting up a new flat panel monitor can be a mixed blessing. While the new screens are small, sharp and beautiful, they are also high resolution. This means that everything that used to fit in one inch on your screen now fits in a fraction of an inch as more dots are crammed closer together. This makes the image sharper, but the text size and all other objects on the screen much smaller.

Here are a few tips that can help make  the fonts, icons and text much larger and easier to read.

Delete your email twice

No, I’m not so obsessive-compulsive that I do things twice. What I’m referring to in the title of today’s Shotgun/Email Tip is that almost all email programs require you to delete your email twice. Whether you use Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Thunderbird, AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, or any of the myriad of other email services, when you delete your email, the email isn’t gone. Deleted email ends up in the “Deleted Items” folder or “Trash” folder of your email.

To get rid of your email for good, go to your deleted items folder and use its “empty all” option or delete the individual emails you want to get rid of permanently.

Also, don’t forget that your Sent mail folder also needs cleaned from time-to-time.

It’s the basics baby…5 of them

A customer of mine commented earlier in the week that he was “amazed” at my knowledge of computers. I thanked him then replied that all of my knowledge could fit in the head of a thimble. And it’s true. Many days I stew over how much more I would like to know and learn about computers, technology, programming (which I know butkus about), web design, and web marketing.

One reason I have been successful in supporting people and their computers is that I stick to the basics. Similar to cars, unless you REALLY know what you are doing and you don’t mind spending HOURS and HOURS troubleshooting a glitch, computers shouldn’t be expected to handle anything you dish out. Here are my five simple rules to living in harmony with your computer or any technology gadget.

Reconsidering extended warranties

I think that electronics aren’t as well made as they used to be. Correction: I know that electronics aren’t as well made as they used to be.

Not only are products more fragile and flimsy but repair costs are rising. Both of these facts have caused me to reconsider my opinion of extended warranties.

Not all extended warranties are a good deal, but I used to feel that they were almost always a waste of money. Lately though I have had to help people with products that were just barely out of their one year warranty.

Adding an additional year onto most products costs less than $100. A dead hard drive, motherboard, processor or video card in a computer’s second year of life can easily cost more than $100.

Introduction to Ubuntu Linux – September 2007

I have written much about Ubuntu over the past six months, but today was my first public presentation of this fantastic operating system. Because it is different, many computer users tend to look upon it with eyes of confusion, but after discussing the possibilities and the opportunities with Ubuntu, those confused eyes turn to eyes of intrigue.

Getting people to think about an alternative to Windows and computing as we know it today were My only goals for today’s user group presentation. If you missed it, or you attended, here are some links to Ubuntu articles here at HelpMeRick.com and elsewhere:

Why would I pay 99 cents for a song?

That is a direct quote from a Freshman in college that I helped with her computer today. She purchased it just three days ago and already has Lime Wire installed. For those not familiar with Lime Wire, it is a service that many people use (especially college aged kids) to download free music, movies and more. In addition to be legally questionable (or downright illegal by some accounts), downloading free music is the single best way to completely screw-up a normally functioning computer.

Over the years, when we got calls from listeners with “slow computers”, our first question was “do you have any teenagers in the house?”. The reason we asked was that most unrestrained teenagers with Internet access will eventually install programs like Lime Wire and start downloading the free stuff.