Skip to content

answers

Rick’s Answers his email Videocast – 016

This week’s episode features answers to questions about Windows XP Service Pack 3, YouTube, a super utility that will fix everything and much more. Questions are brought to you by: Kerryn, CJ, Dick, Jim, Dave, G. Falt, John, Erik, Robert, Burce, John, and Mac. Enjoy!

What is Open Source?

Jazz BandOpen Source software began soon after computers became main stream in offices and then homes. In a nut shell, Open Source refers to software developed under a set standard of rules that developers agree upon to make the software freely available, no penalties for copying or sharing the programs (in fact, it is encouraged to share the software), the source code (programming) must be made available to anyone, and the software must also have no restrictions on others making variations of the software. You can read an exact definition and read the licensing information at the Open Source Initiative web site here.

Open Source software seems to be gaining more and more traction in the computer world as budgets start to tighten in an uncertain financial climate. This week, OpenOffice.org released the newest version of their Open Source office suite software. I’ve been using the beta version of the software for a couple of months and find it to be quite good. OpenOffice is considered one of the bright lights in the Open Source software world and for good reason. It offers an extremely

Rick’s Answers his email Videocast – 015

This week’s questions are brought to you by John, Lynni, Chris, Nyla, Anne, Carla, Sandy, Leo, Ray, Raymond, GW, Mike, Papa, and Greg. Email questions, AVG questions, dirty mice, FavIcons and more make the cut this week. Take a look!

You can do what I do

Smart RabbitI love learning. My goal is to learn something new every single day I open my eyes. Luckily, I learn multiple new ideas, techniques, or facts every single day. When it comes to my job troubleshooting computers, I believe anyone can do it if they follow the formula I use.

  1. You need to be able to be able to learn and learn quickly. Computers, software, peripherals and the infinite combinations of them change at a rapid pace. Learning to be flexible and adaptable is a must.
  2. Remember and/or document solutions that you discover so you can use them again. 
  3. Work with as many different computers and situations as possible. Every computer is different than the next because of the way they are configured, what software is installed, whether the software has been updated, what security packages are installed, and more make every computer a unique challenge. The more of them you work with, the better your foundation becomes for the next one.
  4. Read as many online troubleshooting blogs, tech newsletters, support pages, and magazines as you can possibly digest. And again, document and/or remember the information that you deem the most helpful or applicable to everyday computer users.
  5. Hone your Internet searching skills (I use Google almost exclusively) so you can quickly find answers to problems you may have not yet encountered. When I say hone your skills, I mean learn how to properly word a search phrase and re-word it if necessary. Learn how to quickly scan the results of a search for the most logical and applicable result. Learn how to use tabs in your browser to make your searches and reading even faster. Learn how to discern which possible solutions apply to your specific situation. And finally, learn how to properly implement the solution you just found.
  6. Learning to carry out a solution requires that you to learn how to safely and properly make use of tools like Windows Device Manager, the registry editor, the command prompt, task manager,  computer management tool, anti-virus, and anti-spwyare scans to name a few.
  7. Always keep track of the steps you take as you work towards a solution. By keeping track and leaving yourself some bread crumbs, you can often back track if a solution results in a dead end and you need to star over.
  8. And most importantly, follow Harry Callahan’s (Clint Eastwood) advice, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Computer problems can eat up more time than a late night infomercial. Know when to walk away and re-evaluate a situation.

I’ve laid out most of the steps and techniques I use every day to solve computer problems. Feel free to use them and develop your own skills. When you decide that you need more help, follow Callahan’s advice and then call in the professionals.

Rick’s Answers his email Videocast – 014

Some good questions this week, but some of them could be found already just by using the search engine right here at HelpMeRick.com.

Episode 14 of my email series is brought to you by questions from Darla, Rose, Anne, Barbara, Sharon, Jerry, Peter, Dick, Toni, Joe, and the number 700,000,000,000.

Rick’s Answers his email Videocast – 013

Here’s another installment of my email answers. Brought to you by the questions from Lesa, Maria, Oliver, Anne, Richard, Wilma, Dave, Don, Gary, Shannon, Bobbie, and Bill including questions about SCD (Slow Computer Disease), faxing, backing up email and believe it or not, not a single AVG question

Rick’s Answers his email Videocast – 012

This week I answer some questions about faxing in Vista, email problems, security software, removing spyware and much more…brought to you by the questions from Guido, Shirley, Tina, Cindy, Ticia, James, Jo, Mariane, Margie, Sandra, Jackie, Nellie, DJ and John.

Rick’s Answers his email Videocast – 011

If your name is Mel, Jim, Barbara, Happy, Sandie, Buddy, Larry, or David and a few others…your email answer is here! Their questions ranged from hard drive data retrieval to Macintosh password management to AVG and many other questions as well…tune in by clicking play!!

Rick answers his email – Videocast 010

In this edition of my videocast, I answer questions about wireless problems with Ubuntu, sending faxes via the Internet, WinAntivirus 2009, and many others. Take a look and listen…I’m starting to integrate more video with the answers so the answers have even more meaning.

Rick’s Answers his email Videocast – 009

Today is the “silhouette edition” of my new series. You will see why immediately as you start watching…however, don’t let that deter you from some great Q&A! In today’s episode I answer questions from Zilla May, Beverly, Roger, Tami, Tom, Terry, Greg, Sandy, Jon, and a few others about topics ranging from printing recipes to choosing a MIL laptop.