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Riding Shotgun with Adam

Worst excuse for keeping Norton: I have already paid for it

If you search for the word “Norton” using the search engine in the upper right corner of our website, you will discover that our advice to dump Norton branded software is echoed by dozens of other visitors to the site.

This week I saw a computer that took 27 minutes to completely boot up. It was an older system with 256MB of RAM and a 1.6ghz processor. Even at that, 27 minutes was a long time.

I noticed that they had the latest version of Norton 360 installed. I told them that the system would at least double in speed if they uninstalled Norton. “I know you don’t like it, but we already paid for it.”

Agreed but took the system home intending to reformat it and add RAM over the weekend.

Why good computer guys get grumpy sometimes

Arrogant computer guys really bother me. I try very hard not to be a computer guy who thinks he knows everything.

The problem with this is that I am sometimes competing with computer guys who convince people that they do know everything. When I try to straighten out the situation, I get the line, “but the guy at Best Buy said that Norton is the best.” or “But my son who has worked at HP for 20 years says that Vista is much faster.”

When I try to explain using experience and logic, they don’t want to listen. Logically, wouldn’t it make more sense to listen to someone who isn’t trying to sell something. Even better, someone who deals with problems in real-life homes and businesses every day?

Where to buy a book manual for your computer

“Why didn’t my computer come with a manual?”

One of the most common complaints we hear is about how new computers don’t come with manuals. I am here to explain why this is the case.

The sad answer is that if the computer company came with a manual, it would weigh more than the computer.

“But my old computers used to come with manuals…,” Is the next comment.

Back in the old days of computers there weren’t many uses. You would use computers for word processing, finances, Internet and email. In each case there were only a handful of options.

Cloudmark, Zonbu, Hostgator OH MY!!

You may have noticed that HelpMeRick.com has something new. We have added ads, but not just any ads.

The ads you see on HelpMeRick.com are only for companies that we recommend strongly.

So far, we have ads for Hostgator – our favorite web hosting service.

Zonbu, an excellent laptop for those who want a laptop in a standard size package but alternative operating system. If you can’t afford Mac and the Eee PC is too big, take a serious look at the Zonbu.

Home is where the Wii is

Tonight we had our weekly family night and as the activity part of the evening we made the kids guess what we were doing.

We gave clues like “We (wii) think you will have a lot of fun tonight,” or “We (wii) bet you can’t guess what we are doing,” and “We have already given you the answer in the clues.” They went crazy trying to guess until my daughter said sarcastically, “Oh, I bet we are playing wii.”

They were shocked when we took out the wii.

It was fun to see even our youngest going nuts playing the game. I will join Vinny in posting a review of the wii in the coming days. So far it is a huge success with the kids.

You may wonder why I don’t capitalize wii. Simple, it’s one of those words that just doesn’t look right capitalized.

Password Tips

Creating a Better Password:

Mix it up – use number and letters in both upper and lower case

Spell words that you are familiar with such as p455w0rD (see how it kind of spells “password”)

Never use the word “password” as your password.

Creating that Secret Question:

Many services ask you to create a secret question incase you forget your password. This allows them to ask you for the answer to verify that you are who you say you are.

Choose a secret question that is true now and will be true five years from now – not, “what is your favorite movie?” or “what is your pet’s name?”

Choose a question that is very specific – not “Where did you meet your spouse?”

Have an old computer? Check your RAM

I saw two clients today with slow computer problems. Actually the problems weren’t slow, the computers were and that was the problem. But, I digress.

Both computers were Dells of the same age. As it turns out each machine only had 256MB of RAM – too little for XP to run at its full potential.

I added 512MB to each machine and suddenly the systems came alive and ran faster than most brand new machines I setup.

Don’t know how to check your RAM?

Here’s what to do:

1. Right-click on My Computer
2. Click on Properties in the menu that comes up
3. Look for the amount of RAM that’s installed

If it is less than 512MB for an XP machine or 2000MB for a Vista machine, you should add more.

Dude! Where’s my icons? What to do when all your desktop icons disappear

All your icons are gone off of your desktop and you can’t bring them back.

It’s an easy fix:

1. Right-click on your desktop
2. Click Arrange Icons By (or something similar depending on your version of Windows)
3. Click Show Desktop Icons

Wait a few seconds and all of your icons will come back. If they don’t you should get a Mac or Ubuntu computer.

Photoshop Restoration in Elements

Tips and tricks for restoring old photos and removing blemishes digitally

Meeting notes from 02-26-08

Tools needed:

A good scanner

For prints, almost any scanner will do pretty well, but if you are doing small photos, slides or negatives, you will probably want to go with a nicer Epson scanner such as the  Epson Perfection 4490. These scanners offer transparancy scanning for slides and negatives as well as very high 4800 dpi resolution for well under $200.