Riding Shotgun with Rick + Riding Shotgun with Adam + Tech Pets

Rick's Answers his email Videocast - 005

Rick — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:23:47 -0500

I'm almost caught up with the email in the Questions Inbox here at HelpMeRick.com. Keep them coming by clicking the link above that says "Email Us".

In today's episode, I answer questions from users about converting from Vista to XP, many Firefox questions, and some others I don't remember, but you will find out shortly when you click the Play button on the video.

2 laptop suggestions for college students

Rick — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:46:12 -0500

Millions of new college students will be leaving for their respective campuses (campii?) soon. These students will more than likely go to college with a computer...probably a laptop. I would like to suggest two possible laptops ideas for these students.

Both of my ideas involve good systems that will allow college kids to word process, chat, email, listen to music, watch DVD's, browse the web wirelessly(for school research of course), create presentations, spreadsheets, download and edit photos and much more. Neither involve Windows and thus don't require a degree in computer security and maintenance. One of the computers costs between $1200-1800 and the other costs less than $700.

Rick's Answers his email Videocast - 004

Rick — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:05:09 -0500

Troubleshooting Your High Speed Internet Connection

Rick — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:26:48 -0500

This tip needs to come back to the front page again. I've helped many more people the last few weeks with this issue. Please print it and hang it by your computer...and send it your friends as well.

I posted this tip many moons ago, but wanted to bring it back to the front page because we have so many new high speed Internet users. Click the Printer Friendly option at the bottom of this tip, print it out and post it next to your computer...you will be glad you did.

Routers take high speed Internet signals and then distribute the signal (route) to multiple computers. Sometimes, however, the signal gets lost and an Internet connection cannot be made. This can be due to multiple reasons, but most can be rectified the same way. Before you reach for the phone or grumble under your breath, follow this simple and highly effective procedure to get your system(s) up and running again.

Shut off all computers.
Unplug the power from the high speed modem.
Unplug the power from

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Linux at Lowes

Rick — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:13:51 -0500

I'm in the middle of a pretty major house refurbishing right now and am making frequent trips to the hardware stores and elsewhere. Today, while asking a Lowes rep a question, I glanced at one of the computer screens and saw Firefox for Lowes on the title bar. I was blown away that a major corporation had the good sense to use Firefox, then as I scanned the monitor, there was no sign of a start button. Instead, I immediately recognized a Linux like Start button that looked similar to the Xfce desktop that Xubuntu uses.

Printer Troubleshooting 101

Rick — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:49:46 -0500

Lately, I've run across many printer problems so I'm going to share with you my formula for approaching a printer problem.

Shut off computer
Shut off printer
Check cable from printer to computer and make sure it is securely plugged in on both sides
Check cable from printer to power source and make they plugged in well.
Turn the printer on and wait for it to go through all of its startup activities (wait until it is quiet)

If the printer happens to be a HP printer, I will sometimes unplug the power cable from the back of the printer, then

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Rick's Answers his email Videocast - 003

Rick — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:10:09 -0500

It's been awhile since I recorded answers to your email, but I plan to start doing this at least twice per week. So, keep sending your questions, and I'll keep answering them.

Windows XP Service Pack 3

Rick — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:34:20 -0500

Microsoft released the 3rd service pack for Windows XP about three months ago. Microsoft packages many operating system updates and fixes into one large package and then releases it as a service pack. Because these are extremely large files that apply many updates and changes to our systems, they can sometimes have trouble.

Solution for computer users who can't print from Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7)

Rick — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:00:21 -0500

Since I use Firefox exclusively for my browsing, I haven't seen this problem yet, but today I ran into a computer that could print from anywhere but Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). Turns out that, in her case, the upgrade to AVG 8.0 caused the problem. A standard installation of AVG 8 installs a security toolbar in Firefox, if you use it, or Internet Explorer 7. The toolbar is meant to help users from clicking on potentially harmful web links. However, the toolbar, like most toolbars, slows down browsing speeds and in the case of Internet Explorer 7 with Windows Vista, it also disables the ability to print!

Internet Speed does not determine computer speed

Rick — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:02:34 -0500

I'm always surprised at how many computer users equate the speed of their computer with the speed of their Internet. If you have a brand new computer, it will not make your dial-up connection faster. Likewise, if you have an older computer, a fast cable or DSL connection will not make the computer faster.

Internet speed only makes your Internet experience faster or slower. If you have a high speed connection and your computer slows down or the Internet speed seems slow, the problem is due to the computer not your Internet connection...most of the time. Calling your Internet provider for computer speed problems is like calling the Department of Transportation because you ran out of gas on the highway.