Skip to content

Riding Shotgun with Rick

Solving some sound problems

I helped a client over the phone today who had a sound problem. She could hear the Windows startup and shut down sounds, but could not listen to a CD or any Internet audio/video. After confirming that the Window's sounds did work (by going to the Control Panel, then Sounds, Speeches, and Audio Devices), I had her insert a music CD. A few seconds later, Windows Media Player appeared and she said the picture was moving and the time line was also moving, but no sound. I had her double-click the little speaker by the clock and ensured that all volume levels were up and nothing was muted. 

The only culprit left was the sound adjustment in Media Player itself. Like all media players, Windows Media Player has its own volume adjustment and mute setting. Turns out that Media Player itself was muted. The moral of the story? If system sounds are working through your speakers, but CD's or other audio content does not play; check the volume and mute settings in the plaer.

Don’t confuse Updates with Scans

Many of our Castellini on Computers listeners are well versed (we hope) in the dangers of an unprotected computer. We preach constantly about the importance of keeping updated anti-virus software, anti-spyware and even firewalls on your computer. However, those not savvy to the show yet, find themselves kneed deep in computer problems often times because of one small mistake; thinking that a weekly virus scan is equivalent to computer security.

Some computer users know enough to check their anti-virus programs for a scan date (which is often very current), but overlook the date of the "last update" in their program. ALL anti-virus software must be updated via the Internet at least weekly, and preferably more often. The updates teach the software what to hunt for the next time it scans. If the software does not know what new threats exist, the subsequent scans are almost worthless.

Adam beat me to the punch

I knew I should have written my article yesterday! Actually, it was fun to read Adam's post today about Vista. We were obviously studying the big box store prices on the "new" Vista machines using the same calculator. Since he did a great job explaining the pricing, I just want to echo his final statements; DO NOT buy a Vista machine with less than 1 GB of RAM and you really should consider 2 GB of RAM (or more) for better Vista performance.

Lastly, I wanted to share this great quote from a CNET newsletter I received today: "That $200 Windows XP service pack called Vista" . WOW! Pun intended. 

7 ways to save money

  1. Do not use AOL.
  2. IF you use AOL, make sure you are paying the lowest price you can. Currently that is $9.95 for dial-up service and ZERO if you use AOL with a high speed connection. If you aren't getting these rates, call 1-888-265-8008 to get the rate. 
  3. Do not use Norton AntiVirus or McAfee products. Instead use the security software packages you can find by searching our site for "security". You will thank me later for this.
  4. Do not pay for two phone lines. It will be cheaper to get a high speed connection than pay for two phone lines and an Internet provider. For rural folks, look into Wild Blue satellite Internet or a local microwave wireless provider.
  5. Do not let your kids fix your computer…it will cost you MUCH more later.
  6. Get a second computer for the kids and keep it in plain view (like a living room or kitchen).
  7. Visit HelpMeRick.com daily to get the latest news and tips about computers that applies to the average computer user.

 

Avoid losing precious Quicken information

This quick tip coincides with a tip I wrote last year called the Magical Title Bar (click here to read it…and it is a MUST read tip) . However, since I run into many Quicken users who "lose" data, I thought it was time to give Quicken users a tip of their own to help decrease anxiety and increase productivity with this truly legendary program.

When I get the frantic call or show up and see the disgruntled facial expressions, I smile inside knowing that I will almost always be able able to pull their data from their perceived digital hell. And I don't do anything magic, I simply employ the use of the Title Bar and Quicken's "recently used document list". My first question, is "When did you last backup?", followed by "When did you notice that your data was different?"

Learn how to check your backups

I'm glad to see so many of my customers really starting to take backing up seriously. As we start storing more and more crucial or even irreplaceable data on our computers, it is absolutely imperative that you learn to backup your data properly. 

Once you start backing up, you may start to wonder, "Hmmm, does that disk really have the information that I need on it?" If you are backing up by simple using the Send To function or copying data straight to a flash drive or CD/DVD, then the easy way to check your backup is by double-clicking the drive in My Computer. This will open the drive and let you peer at its contents. If nothing shows up, then your backup method is failing, and you need to adjust. If the data is there, then pat yourself on the back and enjoy the feeling of seeing that your data is safely located on a disk other than your computer's hard drive.

Does anyone remember easy printer installs?

One trend happening in technology over the past three years or so is bloated printer software. By bloated, I mean printer installations that require nearly one gigabyte (yes almost 1000 megabytes) of hard drive space! Call me old or nostalgic, but I miss the days where printers could be installed from a floppy disk and took less than three minutes ton install. The worst offender today seems to be HP. Their popular all-in-one printers can take up to thirty minutes to install on a NEW computer and even longer on old computers. And after spending all that time, it may still not work correctly! 

Downloading programs is like buying a program package at the store

My analogies are usually pretty bad and often more confusing than the original idea that I'm trying to explain. However, I think that I have come up with an analogy for downloading and installing files that might make a few light bulbs go off above computer users' heads. Let me know if this makes sense to you:

Install from CD
Install from Internet
(download)
Buy computer program package
from retail outlet.
 Download installation file from Internet
to a known location on your computer
Insert CD from package into your
computer
 Double-click the file you downloaded
from the Internet
Follow on-screen instructions to
install your program
 Follow on-screen instructions to
install your program
Take CD out of computer and
store in case you need to reinstall.
The disk is no longer needed to use
the program.
 		Once the program installs, you can either
copy original download to a CD or delete it.
The program is now ready to use.

 

Technology isn’t agist, sexist or racist

I had a client of mine tell me that he was 'too old' to follow some of the steps in my AVG Anti-virus upgrade tip. I always smile when anyone makes this kind of statement. "I didn't grow up with a computer like kids today." That's another one that I hear often. After more than twelve years helping computer users of all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages, I have drawn the conclusion that technology takes no prisoners and has no favorites. It is true that having some aptitude towards technology is a huge advantage, but I have seen men and women of all ages, races, and backgrounds who 'get' computers. Learning and understanding has nothing to do with our age, hair color, or where we were born. I believe it has to do with attitude and fortitude…and that goes for any kind of learning.

Daylight Savings Time

Last week, a caller or emailer asked about our computers and the upcoming change in our Daylight Savings Time procedure. Traditionally, we North Americans set our clocks ahead one hour on the first Sunday of April and then set them back an hour on the last Sunday of October. Computers automatically made these changes while we slept through it or first thing the next morning when we turned on our computer.

Starting this year, that will change in the United States and Canada. We will now "Spring Up" on the second Sunday in March and "Fall Back" on the first Sunday of November. Computer updates are being rolled out as we speak to take care of this for us. You can read more about the roll out on Microsoft's site by clicking here.