ONLINE COMPUTER RESOURCES

General reference: dictionaries, encyclopedia, etc.

OneLook (meta search): http://www.freetune.com/most_popular_pages.htm
Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com
Calculators—Martindale's The Reference Desk site contains over 15,656 calculators for math, statistics, science and engineering: http://www-sci.lib.uci.edu/HSG/RefCalculators.html
Many library tools: http://www.itools.com/research-it and http://www.libraryspot.com
TechWeb TechEncyclopedia: http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia
Tech glossary: http://support.microsoft.com/support/glossary
The Computing Research Repository: http://xxx.lanl.gov/archive/cs/intro.html
Slang/jargon lookup: http://www.sabram.com/site/slang.html
Acronym Finder: http://www.acronymfinder.com
Meta-reference (many tools): http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/bartlett
Thesaurus: http://www.thesaurus.com
FAQ Finder (may be temporarily offline): http://ps.superb.net/FAQ
Grammar/syntax; Common Errors In English: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors
ReferenceDesk: http://www.refdesk.com
How to Choose a Search Engine: http://www.albany.edu/library/internet/choose.html
A Complete Illustrated Guide to the PC Hardware (KarbosGuide.com): http://www.mkdata.dk/click/index.htm
List of Lists: http://lists.gpick.net/ Links to everything from Alternative OSes to Windows XP.
Find an ISP with these ISP lookup databases.
- Find An ISP: ISP Directory for the United States and Canada
- The List of ISPs: The List: The Definitive Internet Services Buyer's Guide
- ISP Finder: ISP Finder
- SPIDER: Find ISP
- LookSmart ISP Locator: ISP Locator
- GOOGLE Search Result: Google Search: find isp

General problem solving and troubleshooting references

List of Windows Startup Programs: http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
General Windows support info from Microsoft (all Windows versions): http://support.microsoft.com and http://search.support.microsoft.com/kb/c.asp?fr=0&SD=GN&LN=EN-US
Patches/downloads (Microsoft): http://corporate.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp and http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp
Feature articles that lead to many other resources and sites
- Hardware: http://content.techweb.com/winmag/library/1998/1001/fea0045.htm
- Software: http://content.techweb.com/winmag/library/1998/1001/fea0045.htm
- Win98Bugs and Fixes: http://content.techweb.com/winmag/library/1998/1201/cov0066.htm
- 10 Ways To Make Win98 Run Better: http://content.techweb.com/ winmag/windows/ features/98runbetter/05.htm
- 10 Ways To Make WinME Run Better: http://content.techweb.com/ winmag/windows/features/ merunbetter/default.htm
- 10 Ways To Make WinXP Run Better: http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011204S0009
- Maximize ''System Restore'' In WinME/WinXP: www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020711S0009
- Hardware/software diagnostic tools and techniques: http://content.techweb.com/ winmag/library/1998/ 1001/fea0045g.htm
- Resolving version conflicts: http://content.techweb.com/ winmag/library/1998/ 1201/ana0010.htm
- CD-R and CD-RW FAQs http://www.cdrfaq.org/
- DVD FAQs http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
- What Should You Do With Your Old Computer?: http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,102526,00.asp
  - Donate Your Computer: PEP National Directory of Computer Recycling Programs
    - IRS Publication 526 for Charitable Contributions: IRS Publication 526
    - Computer Equipment & Software Donations for Kalamazoo County: TeleCITY USA - Old Equipment & Software
Identify Your Computer's Hardware at the FCC Identification Database: OET --FCC ID Number Search Page

Hardware

The PC Guide: http://www.pcguide.com/

SysOpt.com: http://www.sysopt.com/

Windows

Kelly's XP Korner ! [Troubleshoot WinXP]:http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp.htm

Windows-Help.net: http://www.windows-help.net

Annoyances.org [Win9x,2K,SE,Me,XP]: http://www.anoyances.org/

Bob Cerelli's Windows Page: http://www.onecomputerguy.com/

Windows XP-erience site: http://www.xp-erience.org/

A large collection of XP tips at this Microsoft site: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/tips/default.asp

"10 cool Registry Tips for Windows XP": http://www.mcsetr.com/2000/article/article1.htm

Applications

Microsoft Office—Woody's Office Portal: http://www.wopr.com

Excel—Ask Mr. Excel: http://www.mrexcel.com

PowerPoint—The PowerPoint FAQ: www.rdp-slides.com/pptfaq

Corel WordPerfect—WordPerfect Universe: www.wpuniverse.com/

AOL—AdamKB@AOL.COM: members.aol.com/adamkb

Quicken—Dr. M's Quicken Hints & Tips: www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Network/8814

Photoshop—www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop

Paint Shop Pro—www.pspug.org/forum

MS Outlook Express—Inside Outlook Express is a source of technical information, help and tips for users of Microsoft Outlook Express® for Windows, versions 5, 5.01, 5.5 and 6.

Sci-tech news and info:

TechWeb: http://techweb.com
InformationWeek: http://www.informationweek.com
Slashdot: http://slashdot.org
Geeknews: http://www.geeknews.net
Multiple news feeds (near real time): http://www.newsnow.co.uk/ cgi/NewsNow/NewsFeed.htm? Section=Technology
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news
NewsBytes: http://www.newsbytes.com
Silicon Valley news: http://www.siliconvalley.com
EE Times: http://www.eetimes.com
New Scientist (United Kingdom): http://www.newscientist.com
Science News: http://www.sciencenews.org
BBC Sci-Tech News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech
MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/news/TECH_Front.asp?a
Scientific American: http://www.sciam.com
SciTech Daily Review: http://www.scitechdaily.com
Using the Web to Find Science and Technical Information: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~creegank/scitech/
Links to (Mostly) Science News Sites: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~creegank/Sites_to_Check/

Reliable Security info and research

AntiOnline: http://www.antionline.com
Network Security Library: http://secinf.net
Proxys-4-All: http://proxys4all.cgi.net (under redesign; may be temporarily unavailable)
SANS (System Administration, Networking, and Security): http://www.sans.org/newlook/home.htm
Security encyclopedia: http://www.itsecurity.com
How Much Security Is Enough? Too much or too little security can lead to a world of trouble. Here's a solution—article by Fred Langa: http://www.informationweek.com/840/langa.htm (6/4/01)

Virus info

Symantec: http://securityresponse.symantec.com

Hoaxes, myths, chain letters, etc.

Symantec antivirus research center: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html
McAfee virus hoax list: http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp
Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability: http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
Debunking online and E-mail hoaxes: http://www.kumite.com/myths
The urban legends Web site: http://www.urbanlegends.com
Urban Legends Reference Pages: http://www.snopes.com
Datafellows Hoax Warnings: http://www.Europe.Datafellows.com/news/hoax.htm

Disk Repair Utilities

Freeware sites:http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,6170,00.asp
http://windows.about.com/cs/diskpartitionsw/
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Utilities/Disk_Maintenance_and_Repair_Utilities/indext.html
http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/~tkuurstra/other.htm

Conversions

Many converters (e.g. English/metric): http://www.mikesart.net/giantglossarycom/Converters_and_Calculators/all_in_one

Quick and dirty language translation

Babelfish: http://babelfish.altavista.com

Free Drivers Download Sites

Search for the perfect driver at: http://www.perfectdrivers.com. Related information here, also.
Driver's Guide at: http://www.driverguide.com/

HTML validation and related tools

Free online HTML validation (Australia): http://www.unimelb.edu.au/ html-check/validation-form.html
Check cascading style sheets: http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/csscheck
HTML analysis: http://watson.addy.com
HTML validation for ease of use by disabled surfers: http://www.cast.org/bobby
Meta site for World Wide Web Consortium (includes some free validation services): http://www.w3.org
Craig Cecil — Tools to Check Your Site: http://www.craigcecil.com/checkyoursite.htm

Browser and connection speed issues

BrowserTune can help with UI issues, browser issues, connectivity and throughput issues, and lots more having to do with the Internet, the Web, intranets, general connectivity, and all the related technologies: http://browsertune.com
Also, the top four reasons for browser instability are discussed here: http://content.techweb.com/winmag/library/1999/0701/ana0008.htm

Other connection-speed tests:

DSL Reports: http://www.dslreports.com/stest (You'll find a customized variant of the DSL Reports test at http://www.dslky.com/speedtest; it may be available when the DSL Reports servers are offline or bogged down.)
Test My Speed: http://www.testmyspeed.com/howto.htm
PC PitStop: http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/default.asp
BandWidthPlace: http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/speedtest_add.html
MSN test: http://computingcentral.msn.com/internet/speedtest.asp
Toast Net: http://www.toast.net/performance
Modem speed tests: http://homepage.eircom.net/~leslie/testpage.htm
U.K.-based bandwidth test: http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/band-test

Online security tests

Online antivirus test: http://www.pcpitstop.com/antivirus/default.asp
DSL Reports port probe: http://www.dslreports.com/secureme
Steve Gibson's Shield's Up: http://grc.com
Vulnerabilities.org: http://www.vulnerabilities.org
HackerWhacker: http://www.hackerwhacker.com
My Security: http://www.securityspace.com/smysecure
Free ibh Online NetBIOS Vulnerability Check: http://www.it-sec.de/vulchke.html
Head-to-head leak tests of 13 firewalls with links to 5 differenct firewall leak tests: http://www.pcflank.com/art21.htm
PC Flank—comprehensive online security site. New personal firewalls vs. Stealth Test II: http://www.pcflank.com/
Qualys Browser Checkup—Web-based browser tests that tell you whether your IE setup has security vunerabilities: Qualys Browser Checkup

General system health

PC PitStop: http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/default.asp

Fred's published info, tips, and tricks

Search all of Fred's newer (2001+) InformationWeek columns http://www.informationweek.com/LP/columnists/fredlanga.html
Search all of Fred's older (pre-2001) InformationWeek and TechWeb columns: http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter/archives.htm
Search all back issues of Fred's WinMag columns: http://content.techweb.com/winmag/columns/explorer/backissu.htm
Search all back issues of the LangaList newsletter: http://www.langa.com/search.htm

Application troubleshooting, tips, etc

The Office Letter: Weekly newsletter devoted to helping you get the most out of the Microsoft Office suite, whether you're using Office 97, Office 2000, or Office XP. http://www.officeletter.com/
Barry MacDonald's Toolbox for WordPerfect for Windows: Tips (mainly for WP8, -9, -10), Macro & Template Library (includes some for WP7), Links to WP Sites, and Upgrade Infromation. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/macdonnell/
General WordPerfect help from Corel: Welcome to Corel Support: Support Services: Online Services: Knowledgebase
WordPerfect Office User Group—free registration worth it to use the comprehensive info, Macros & Merges, and user forum: WordPerfect Universe - First Stop for WordPerfect Office Users
WordPerfect Tips: WordPerfect 7/8/9/10 Tips - Overview [Intranet Works]
Comprehensive WP Tips and Techniques site: WordPerfect Tips & Tricks at wpwriter.com
Dr. M's Quicken Tip List: http://www.geocities.com/marvin1000/index149.html
MS Word Add-ons and Add-ins: PCWorld.com - Home Office: It Pays to Increase Your Word Power
MS Word MPV site. Tweaks and Downloads: Microsoft Word MVP FAQ Site

Software downloads

Huge compendium of freeware, shareware, and commercial downloads for file utilities, FTP programs, office apps, games, and system tools, among other catagories: DaveCentral
Nice comprehensive list of freeware (75 programs as of this writing) covering all aspects of computing: DJBDownloads

Further afield

If you can't find what you need among the above, you can find answers to almost anything else at http://content.techweb.com/winmag/library/1998/0701/fea0077.htm. This article contains techniques and tips for cutting through the clutter of most Web searches so you can quickly find exactly what you need, on your own.

Since that article was published, Google has emerged as probably the best all-around search engine. For more info, see http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=google&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000.

One of the neatest things about Google is that you can focus its impressive power on almost any site, in effect replacing the search engine on that site with Google's own. You can do this via Google's advanced features or by appending the search term "site:" to the end of your Google search, followed by the target site's URL.

For example, if you find the Microsoft KnowledgeBase unwieldy, you can use Google instead to mine the KnowledgeBase. Say you wanted to look up Microsoft KnowledgeBase article Q266709 in a hurry, via Google:

You can do this in one step, thus: http://www.google.com/search?q=Q266709+site:support.microsoft.com. For other searches at support.microsoft.com, you'd replace the "Q266709" with any other search term; string together multiple search terms with plus signs. For searches of other sites, simply replace the "support.microsoft.com" with whatever site interests you—say, "www.informationweek.com."

Place a Google Toolbar on your browser to start searching NOW! Download this free tool, and use Google to search from any Web site without returning to the Google home page to begin another search. You can customize your search to include just the site that you're visiting, or just the page you're viewing. You can also use the toolbar to find similar pages, or sites that link back to that page. The best search engine just got faster and eaiser to use. Highly recommended.

NOTE: The Google Toolbar works for all OSes above Win3.1 and Internet Explorer 5x browser >.

Google Answers: Google has quietly introduced a beta program that allows users to post questions that will be personally answered by a professional researcher—for a fee. It will allow users, however, for browse previously answerd questions and answers for free.More.
The Library of Congress—Ask a Librarian (AskA): Some of the world's best "search engines" work at the U.S. Library of Congress, and they're available online to answer your questions by chat or email.
- AskA+ Locator: A list of AskA sites organized by their subject matter, from the Virtual Reference Desk.

DISCLAIMER: The tips, techniques, and all other information gleaned from these links are the sole responsibility of the individual authors and any changes made to your computer, especially the Registry, should be made with caution and only after creating a full backup of the original data....dhill