by Joe Kraynak | Mar 8, 2009 | Troubleshooting
Whenever I run into computer problems, I usually visit Google, type a brief description of the problem and click Search. In most cases, one of the links leads to something useful or at least points me down the path to the solution. Frequently, however, the links...
by Joe Kraynak | Mar 1, 2009 | Troubleshooting
Excerpt from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Computer Basics, 5th Edition. I get calls all the time from friends, relatives, and colleagues who claim that a file they were working on mysteriously vanished. In about 1 percent of those cases, they’re right –...
by Joe Kraynak | Feb 20, 2009 | Document Formatting
When most people want some space between paragraphs in a Word document, they simply press the Enter key a couple extra times. While that certainly does the trick, it’s a very sloppy way of formatting and can cause all sorts of formatting problems for anyone who gets...
by Joe Kraynak | Feb 8, 2009 | Computer Books
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Computer Basics, 5th Edition Price: $19.95, February 2009, Penguin – Alpha Books Most introductory computer books focus on hardware – CPU, RAM, motherboard, hard drive, expansion cards, and other high-tech gear. The Complete Idiot’s...
by Joe Kraynak | Jan 17, 2009 | Printers, Troubleshooting
My son called me from work, where he was having trouble printing out a checklist of daily tasks. The checklist was 4 pages long, but when he tried to print it, only a half page would print. He kept trying and trying, and every time he tried, the printer printed out...
by Joe Kraynak | Dec 16, 2008 | Troubleshooting
I’ve always considered computers to be odd creatures. One day, everything seems to be working just swell, and the next day, for no apparent reason, it slows to a crawl or refuses to do anything. Recently, however, I discovered just how strange computers can...
by Joe Kraynak | Nov 22, 2008 | Google
Most computer users are well aware of Google’s ability to track down just about everything on the Internet, but few are aware that Google moonlights as a calculator: To perform a calculation, type it into the Google Search box followed by the equal sign, and...
by Joe Kraynak | Oct 1, 2008 | Printers, Troubleshooting, Windows
I encountered a nagging problem with all the Windows PCs on my network. Sometimes, they’d run just fine. Other times, they’d slow to a crawl. What used to take only a few seconds for my computer to accomplish would now take several minutes. During my research, I found...
by Joe Kraynak | Sep 29, 2008 | Scams
Experienced computer users know what phishing is – any attempt to con users into handing over sensitive information, including usernames and passwords. However, many computer users still get fooled by phishing emails. To protect yourself, you need to know what a...
by Joe Kraynak | Sep 27, 2008 | Printers
One of the most common problems that beginning computer users have is dealing with the Windows print queue. They’ll click the Print button and if the printer doesn’t spit out a page immediately, they’ll click the button again and again. When the...
