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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
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In this week's
issue. . .
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*** 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
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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. |
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Email your
questions to us and we will answer them live on the air or on
our daily website updates!
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Custom
Computer Help from Rick and Adam
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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
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Tip of the Week
Troubleshoot
Hardware Problems Using the Device Manager - Video Tip
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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. |
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Great deal on a Dell Laptop with
Windows XP!!
Inspiron
1520 laptop only $799 (before tax, fees, shipping & handling)
after $145 instant savings
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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. |
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GMAIL
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Computer
News...and comment
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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.
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Poll
Results
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Do you have a GPS for your car?
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Next
week's poll:
What size of monitor do you have?
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Yes
32%
No
62%
Not yet, but I'm looking to buy
6% |
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Adam's Comments
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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.
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Email of the week
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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
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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
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Castellini
on Computers & HelpMeRick.com ©2008
Rick Castellini and Adam Cochran
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