Email Newsletter - 05-07-08

Castellini on Computers Free Weekly Email Newsletter
May 07, 2008

Hear (and see) our show LIVE
Every Thursday night at 9:30 PM MST
or
Visit HelpMeRick.com ANY time to download or hear
any of our shows.

Spelling and punctuation guaranteed to be at least 78 percent accurate

In this week's issue. . .

*** Tip of the Week

*** Geek Speek of the Week - (Simple definition of common computer terms)

*** Computer News...and comment

*** Last week's Poll results

*** Adam's Comments - Stuff from the digital world that is rolling around in Adam's head.

*** Email of the week
Castellini on Computers live webshow is better than ever. After a few glitches over the past few weeks, we have finally discovered a way to broadcast the show without spammers, feedback and video problems.

Tune in tomorrow for the new and improved Castellini on Computers show.

You can listen to - or download - any and all of our previous shows here.

Email your questions to us and we will answer them live on the air or on our daily website updates!

Custom Computer Help from Rick and Adam

We have been posting a new how-to video every week since November 2006 and the feedback has been tremendous. Now YOU have the opportunity to get your own customized video tutorial about a topic that you are having trouble with or just want to learn.

To learn more, visit: www.HelpMeRick.com/videohelp

Tip of the Week

Troubleshoot Hardware Problems Using the Device Manager - Video Tip
Starting with Windows 95 all the way through today's Windows Vista, Microsoft supplied computer users with a great tool listing the different hardware devices attached to and residing in our computers. This tool is called the Device Manager.

Today's tip focuses on how to use the Device Manager to troubleshoot a video card, sound card or other internal hardware problem. If you suddenly lose sound or your monitor's picture lacks the quality it had before, or you can't connect your high speed modem to your computer, this tip will solve the problem a high percentage of the time.

1. RIGHT Click on My Computer from your desktop or Start menu (XP & Vista)

2. Click Properties (or use the Windows key + Pause/Break key to replace these two steps)

3. Click Device Manager (Windows 95-Me, Vista). or in WindowsVista Click the Hardware tab --> then click Device Manager (XP)

4. Click the "+" sign next to the device having the problem

5. RIGHT Click the device itself

6. Click Remove (Windows 95-Me) or Uninstall (XP & Vista)

7. Close any open screens and shut down your computer (don't just restart, shut it all the way off)

8. When Windows restarts, it should re-recognize your hardware and function properly again.

If these steps don't work, then you get some extra computer help.

Watch the short (2 minutes) video below to see these steps in action!

Click this link and watch the video.
Great deal on a Dell Laptop with Windows XP!!

Inspiron 1520 laptop only $799 (before tax, fees, shipping & handling) after $145 instant savings
Geek Speek GMAIL is a free email system provided by Google. GMAIL is often compared to other free email systems such as Yahoo and Hotmail. However in many ways there is no comparison.

GMAIL offers virtually unlimited storage at over 6.5 gigs of storage.

Unlike Hotmail and Yahoo, GMAIL can be routed through POP3 programs like Outlook Express, Thunderbird and Mac mail software.

You can even use GMAIL to retrieve your email from other email accounts.

GMAIL also offers a spam filter that is a little different from the filters offered by Yahoo and Hotmail in the sense that it works. In fact, it does an amazing job of filtering Spam. We consider GMAIL's filter to be comparable to Cloudmark - the only other filter we have ever found that actually works.

If you are in need of an additional or replacement email address, give GMAIL a try. It's free and offers many advantages over other services.

GMAIL
Once You Know, You Newegg

Computer News...and comment

XP SP3 undelayed
For the past three weeks, we have posted stories about the coming service pack 3 for Windows XP. First we warned that it was coming, then we reported that it was delayed. Now, it is back on.

Trust us, when we advise to stay away from it for at least a month or two before installing it.

In other Windows Service Pack news, widely reported problems with Vista Service Pack 1 also make it a definite hold for a few months as well.

Apple ranks highest for tech supports
Consumer Reports ranked Apple highest among tech support in its latest issue. Someone always has to rank first, but Apple embarrassed every other company with its excellent ratings indicated by little red circles.

Google ends up big winner in failed Microsoft-Yahoo union

It is official, there will not be a union of Microsoft and Yahoo in the foreseeable future. The possibilities of the deal broke down on every level early this week. In the end, the whole controversy did little more than solidify Google as the Internet's greatest superpower.

Google just stood on the sidelines and watched their two biggest competitors beat each other down in what is called - pulling a McCain.

Sun Microsystems releases new version of OpenSolaris and a new logo

Gotcha! This was a very geeky article, and I couldn't resist putting one of the geekiest article headlines every to grace our newsletter. OpenSolaris is probably really important for companies who provide us content on the web, but we have no idea what it is and how it is used.

Poll Results

Do you have a GPS for your car?

Next week's poll:
What size of monitor do you have?
Yes 32%

No 62%

Not yet, but I'm looking to buy 6%
Apple Store

Adam's Comments
My article this week is a quick one, but it may be one of the more important articles I write this year.

Anyone who has listened to the show for a while or reads the newsletter will not find much useful in this article, but read it anyway just in case.

I have decided to summarize most of the advice that I give on a weekly basis. Even though I have written, taught and talked about each of these things numerous times, the number of problems I see on a daily basis that this advice could have prevented continues to grow.

1. Don't use any product with the word Norton in it. Never - even if you just paid for it - remove it and your computer will instantly work much better.

2. Don't defrag if you are using Windows XP or Vista. There is no reason to do it unless you are video editing or work as a professional photographer. It may help a little bit, but not enough to notice. If you do defrag, you don't need to do it more than once a year in most cases.

3. Your computer does not get slow because of too much stuff. Too many photos, too much music, too many emails will not slow down your computer.

There is one exception to this rule - if you have a teenager at home, it may be possible to have too much stuff stored, but that problem will lead to a system crash, not a slowdown.

4. Firewalls are useless if you don't understand how to use them. They don't block spam, they don't block viruses and they don't block spyware in most cases. They prevent you from being hacked, but if you click ALLOW every time the firewall message pops up you might as well not use a firewall. If you click BLOCK every time, you will lose the ability to surf the web among other problems.

If you have a router and Windows XP or Vista, you are protected enough, from a firewall perspective. If you don't have any important information on your computer, you don't need to protect it.

5. Teenagers don't know as much as you think they know about computers. They take on the computer with more courage, but they do not know what is good for the computer. They learn what to do from their friends. One of our most common house calls involves cleaning up messes made by knowledgeable teenagers.

6. Deleting History doesn't do anything but hide from your spouse where you have been on the computer. Thousands of items in your history will have no effect on your computer's speed.

7. Cookies are not bad. They don't slow your computer down, they don't violate your privacy and they don't clog your system up. They simply work to collect marketing data from the mass collective that visits a site.

Signing your name to a political petition or having your name and number in the white pages is far more dangerous than cookies on your computer.

Now, if this stirs you up, write us or call the show and let us know. We would love to debate these things with anyone who thinks they know better. Have examples ready because we speak from daily experience.

Email of the week
Hello Rick,

I downloaded picasa today. what i am looking for is to use this on my ebay items. i am getting ready to sell jewelry and would like to know how to add a rose, or another background to my items. my favorite seller is luxurycharm on ebay. if you would like to see what i am talking about doing. i can not seem to find out how to do this with picasa. is there another download or directions to help with this. i thank you very much for being available and helping.

Linda

----------------

Hi Linda,

Unfortunately, Picasa will not help you with what you want to do for your eBay listings. In order to combine images, add text and other embellishments, you need a photo editing program. The standard for home users is Adobe Photoshop Elements. The current version is 6. You can find Photoshop Elements at any big box electronics store or office store.

You can, of course, also find it on Amazon.com (click here to get it for just $55 after rebate) and other online retailers.

Have a good day.

Rick
Cloudmark Desktop Banner

Castellini on Computers & HelpMeRick.com ©2008
Rick Castellini and Adam Cochran

• ‹ previous
• 5 of 1287
• next ›