Half.com The Smartest Place to Buy and Sell Books, Music, Movies, and Games and more...
Half.com is going away in a few months. This is a great place to buy good stuff cheap!

Freeware Arena - Delivering 100% pure freeware since 1997 - Downloads
Hey..Git yer red hot Freeware!

Introduction To Stroud's CWSApps List
The CWSApps List is designed to help 'net users stay current on the latest and greatest winsock applications (Internet Software for Windows 3.x/95/98/NT). The Introduction page (this one) has been designed to introduce new users to The CWSApps List and to provide insight into the prodigious amount of information contained within.

Power Tools (Software) Forum - Championing the Best Software
The aim of the Power Tools Forum is to champion the best software. Both the Yahoo! list which now has 400 members and the website work together to achieve this objective.

Computer Cops
Information security - portal & forums - port scans - audits - patches - security

DAILY ROTATION
Quick Loading Headlines From 250+ Tech Sites
You Pick The Sites. They Snag The Headlines

BOOT SEQUENCES
This site describes the win 9X and the Win2k boot sequences. They also link to tons of other information useful for an A+ technician or PC Troubleshooter.

The Green Eggs Report
Culls links from most usenet newsgroups into easy-to-access pages!

Tech Support Alert's best tech support sites on the Web
Tons of articles and tutorials on everything from the Windows Scripting Host to TCP/IP to Office XP tips.

TinyApps.Org
Lots of good programs that are almost all free and weigh in at under
 1.44 MB. Enjoy!

Privacy-Security (UIUC)
This site contains links to numerous pages on the Web where home users can find software and information relevant to Windows PC privacy and security. It also contains a rudimentary "checklist" of basic steps that home PC users can take to enhance their privacy and security while using the Internet. Finally, you'll find a set of resources developed by the author of this site to help you protect your privacy and security on the Internet, including information about Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and the Gnu Privacy Guard (GPG).

PC BIOS reprogramming, replacement, recovery
They say: "If you trashed your computer's bios,
we are THE RESOURCE you need!"

Tabbys Tabbed Browsers
Tabbed browsers are quite useful.  They allow you to have multiple web page in one browser. Many are free.

Refdesk
Refdesk is only about indexing quality Internet sites and assisting visitors in navigating these sites. At Refdesk that is all that counts and that is all that will ever count. Refdesk is free and family friendly.
Avaritia facit Bardus - Greed makes you stupid.

Computer Training - Education Link and Resource Sites - page 1 of 4
Lots of certification and computer related links!

These two FAQs are extremely thorough and well-regarded. If you have any questions about cd or dvd try these two FAQs first.

DVD FAQ
CD-Recordable FAQ

Mike's List

Mike's List is a free e-mail newsletter based entirely on a single proposition: technology is funny.  His newsletter focuses on off-the-beaten-track stories that go unreported, underreported, or should never be reported by the mainstream press. Mike's List is different. Like many, Mike's List is free. But unlike most, it's also ad-free and spam-free. You'll never see an ad or sponsorship and therefore no chance of commercial influence. He doesn't make any money on it. Why? Well, he says "because I live in Silicon Valley, and throwing away good money and never expecting profit is what we do here. The other reason I do it is to build an audience of tens of thousands of warped readers interested in the same sick stuff who can help me find obscure stories."

Check out these links that Mike has provided in the past to get a flavor of what you can expect to find at his site:

Ghostzilla - the invisible browser
advertising cartoons of Dr. Seuss
opposite of Google

Cobian Backup 4.0
A free backup program that will backup and compress specified folders at specified times. In win2k or XP it runs as a service.  Backing up is the ONE essential thing most people don't do.  This program is a get it, set it, forget it, and don't sweat it done deal backup!

Favorite Freeware
I love it when a person takes the time to describe the freeware they actually use.  This is one such site.  There appear to be some gems here!  Thanks James!  Be sure to check out his home page for useful support links as well.

Top 50 Tech Sites
It's just what it says!

CertCities.com Welcome
The publishers of Microsoft Certified Professional magazine welcome you to CertCities.com, an online magazine for the certified IT professional community. Covering more than 120 IT certifications, our mission is to provide the best independent editorial on the Web, featuring news and insights for every step of the certification process – from selecting your next certification to picking the right prep materials to advice on how to best leverage your hard-won designations. We also provide general IT technology articles and a community environment where certified professionals can interact.

Benchmark Programs and software
From the site:
Here is some of the most popular benchmark software used to gauge computer performance. Some of these are especially designed to test specific areas of a computer system while others are used to perform multiple tests and give an overall quality index of the performance measured.
Thanks to Phil Porter for the link!

Windows XP Home and Professional Service Configurations by Black Viper
Which services do you need and why?

Numion - WebSpeed and SiteSpeed
This is the best Internet throughput test site I've seen to date.

BetaNews Inside Information, Unreleased Products
The inside scoop on what's new and what's hot.

Search Engine Watch
Search Engine Watch provides tips and information about searching the web, analysis of the search engine industry and help to site owners trying to improve their ability to be found in search engines.

PC Flank Make sure you're protected on all sides.
The goal of PC Flank is to make your interactions on the Internet safe and private. Our main concern is to help protect your computer from Internet viruses and attacks by hackers (more properly called 'crackers').
Test your system, submit suspicious files, find comparisons of security tools, and more!

Internet Archive Internet Collections
11 billion pages of archived web sites - plus hundreds of downloadable public-domain movies, and FTP sites

Geek.com - The Online Technology Resource!
 Geek.com was created to fill a gaping hole on the 'Net--a place that Geeks could call home, and where those who aspire to be Geeks can get their feet wet! Get ready to enjoy the Online Technology Resource for Geeks--written by Geeks for Geeks.

TechTutorials Free tutorials for the IT. Professional

 Undocumented & Hidden Command Prompt Secrets!

XPTUNEUP
Lots of tips and information about Microsoft's latest OS

ExtremeTech - Deep technology for enthusiasts and professionals
Reviews - articles - chips - cpus - video - news - mboards - etc.

Computer Hardware Links
A Gazillion Computer Hardware Links! At Least.

Study Notes and Quiz Index for A+ Exam
Take sample tests and study!

Bart's way to create bootable CD-Roms
Utilities and instructions necessary to create bootable CD-ROMs for Win2k, XP, NT 4, etc.

CompTIA Certification Studies
Cram sheets, free tests, and more.

Computer Education, Training, and Tutorial Resources
From the site:
Whether you're going for technical certification or teaching yourself programming, web design, or networking, here you will find plenty of web resources. Get Free Knowledge, Information, References, and Resources about computers now by visiting the many Free Computer, Programming and IT Training Courses, Tutorials, Books, Training Guides, Tips, Articles, and How-Tos. We give you great assistance, whether you're a student learning computer programming or an IT professional.

A+ Operating System facts
This link will take you to a useful cheat-sheet all about Windows Operating Systems.  Useful for A+ preparation!

In honor of the tragic loss of life that occurred last week in NYC and Washington DC and in honor of the spirit of America and in honor of all good people the world over, this week's link is as follows:
Antiwar.com
presents another viewpoint worth considering with lots of current news articles you won't find in your daily paper.
----------
Another great site to get more information is at:
Terrorism and Taliban Links
and finally
September 11 - Journalists' Resources
is a site that is used by journalists to cover the 9-11 attacks.
----------

Motherboards.org - The Most Comprehensive Mboard Site on the Web
From their site: Motherboards.org is committed to being the most comprehensive information/editorial site about motherboards on the Web.

A PLUS TEST PREP PRACTICE QUESTIONS - INTRODUCTION ( A+ )
Lots of sample test questions at this great site. Also lots of pop ups, but the site is worth it. Just close the popups and enjoy the sample tests! Sent to me by Dave Gilbert or Cya Capon.  Thanks!

The Tech Report - Personal computing explored
From their site: "We aim to give you something to talk about—with running news commentary as it happens, regular opinion columns, frank reviews, and in-depth tech articles on the hottest new PC hardware. Processors are overclocked, video cards are benchmarked, the beefiest PC tech of the day is pushed to the absolute limits, and we lay it all out for you in easy-to-read graphs and concise prose."
 On Monday they reported on Intel's 2GHz P4. They also feature forums and current reviews.

[VR-Zone Hardware] - Most Interesting News n ReviewsReviews, Articles, Drivers, News, Forums, Classifieds, Guides, and more.

TenLinks.com - Ultimate Directories for Technology Professionals
Up to date Portal for Technical professionals. Articles, Reviews.

LabMice.net - The Windows 2000 Resource Index
We are determined to be the definitive online resource for IT Professionals who deploy, manage, and support Microsoft Windows 2000 products and services. We locate and consolidate the best resources from hundreds of the biggest tech sites, and sort them here by topic. Each one of our 10,593 links are hand picked, and verified weekly. Our goal is to save you time, and to help you find the answers you need in 3 clicks or less.

Vintage Computer Festival Link Library
1211 links to sites featuring old and obsolete computer technology. This is very cool stuff (unless you have a life!)

Electic Tech The 1 Tech News Site
Go here for the latest in patches, drivers, reviews and news, and forums related to technology.

NT Compatible
A site that is dedicated to hardware and software compatibility with Win2k, XP, and NT. Check out their game tuning guide for Win2k. The hardware and software lists are on the menu to the right. A great site!

Cramsessions For CompTIA Certifications
This site from BrainBuzz offers some excellent study guides for both of the 2001 A+ exams.

StorageReview.com
StorageReview.com attempts to supplement the excellent hardware coverage already out there with news and reviews of storage-related products. We have become the Internet's leading independent storage authority.

AD-Aware
Ad-aware is a free multi spyware removal utility, that scans your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware components and lets you remove them safely.

THE FONT WAREHOUSE-FONT LINKS
 & freefonts
Lots of Free Fonts!

Tom's Hardware Guide
One of the best all around sites for everything hardware. Be there or be square   !

DAILY ROTATION
This is the mother of Computer Portal sites.  It collects headlines from over 123 web sites all pertaining to PCs. You get to choose which sites you want included. Then you visit this personalized headline site any day for that day's headlines. This is just too good to be free and yet it is!

SysOpt.com expert community of PC hardware enthusiasts and professionals.
A team of eight computer enthusiasts work this site for both power users and IT professionals. There are articles, forums, reviews, and guides. This site is updated daily and is easy to use. It's user interface is lean, mean, and over-all quite professional. Well worth a daily visit!

Spychecker - database of Spyware (adware) products lets you detect spyware before you download. 
Not sure if the free software you are about to download is in fact a so called Spyware, or adware or otherwise advertising enhanced product that installs additional third party components on your system? This site maintains a frequently-updated data-base of shareware and adware.

Google Groups
Here you can search all the messages that have been posted in newsgroups since 1995. This archive is the largest such storehouse of postings on the web and contains more than 650 million messages-- over a terabyte of human conversation, much of which has been unavailable for years.
Google has done an outstanding job of restoring this archive. Results are searchable by date and thread count is included.

AXCEL216's MAX Speeed WinDOwS Tricks Secrets Bugs Fixes
This site is huge... over 100 pages [with 1000+ ©tricks] and counting.
So you need to take a break from whatever you were doing, brew a fresh coffee pot, fill up your XL mug [but don't spill it on your keyboard ;)], kick back, relax, and only after that, dig in, 1 tip at a time.
All these steps must be performed in this exact order for maximum comfort. :-)
Posted 4-23-01

Evaluations of Mail-Order-Internet Computer Companies
At present, there are 1721 companies evaluated in this survey. The survey covers nationally advertised mail-order companies, and/or companies who do business on the Internet. All of the evaluations on the ResellerRatings.com site were submitted by your fellow Internet users. Find out what they think, where they shop, and where they've been burned, so you won't be.
Note: Reviews are also organized by rating.
posted 4-15-01

Google Toolbar
This is great! It adds a Google search window to your browser toolbar. 
Posted Sunday 4-1-01

Trish's Escape from Hardware Hell 
By far one of the best and most comprehensive PC portals around! 
Posted 2-8-01

Eric's BIOS CENTRAL
 This site has great information, a nice clean look, and is easy to navigate. It rates   2-1-01
From the site: "Welcome to Bios Central. My goal here is to provide the most comprehensive PC BIOS information on the Internet."

ODP - Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.com)ODP - Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.com)
The largest human-edited directory of the web. The Open Directory Project's goal is to produce the most comprehensive directory of the web, by relying on a vast army of volunteer editors. 
Thanks to Phil Porter for the link!

www.virtualplastic
This site is mostly dedicated to making Windows look and act the way you want it. Page after page to links about icons, desktops, wallpapers, registry hacks and everything else to help you customize 'look and feel'.

SHELL EXTENSION CITY
This is a site full of little tweaking programs to change the way your OS works. There are some gems here!
BE CAREFUL with system tweaks!

FREESITEZ
 Phil Porter's Excellent collection of links,
 software, & A+ study notes

The PC Technology Guide

*****EXCELLENT all-in-one Guide to all things PC! *****