Great Computer Information Web Sites and Free Security Utilities/Tools

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A short list of excellent computer-related and free software websites

Test the speed of your broadband connection - http://www.speedtest.net/

OpenOffice.org - Superb complete free office suite - http://www.openoffice.org/

DVDFlick - Free DVD burner - burn movies or slide shows on to a DVD, complete with a menu, subtitles and other professional touches - http://www.dvdflick.net/

CDBurnerXP - Free tool that burns CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs and ISOs. In spite of the XP in its name, it works in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and does most of what Nero can do - http://cdburnerxp.se/ or http://majorgeeks.com/CDBurnerXP_d4242.html

SkyDrive - Provides 25GB of free storage space online. April 2012 update. The space will soon be changing to 7GB, but, for a limited time, you can retain 25GB indefinitely if you follow the provided click-through. - http://skydrive.live.com/

Searching your PC's entire hard disk - the fastest such search facility - http://www.voidtools.com/

Backup/sync - superb utility - sync folders between PC/laptop/external drive/websites/FTP servers - GoodSync [shareware - after trial period will cost £19.99] - http://www.goodsync.com/

Hard-drive defragmenter - Puran Defragmenter - http://www.puransoftware.com/Puran-Defrag.html

Hard-disk-drive space - find out just what software is using your PC's disk storage space - WinDirStat - http://windirstat.info/

Clean software/application uninstallation - Revo Uninstaller - http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

Remote Control - TeamViewer - Operate your laptop or desktop PC from the other machine, over a home network and across the Internet - http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

FTP client/server - FileZilla - http://filezilla-project.org/

Virtual machines - "VMware Player is the easiest way to run multiple operating systems at the same time on your PC. With its user-friendly interface, VMware Player makes it effortless for anyone to try out Windows 7, Chrome OS or the latest Linux releases, or create isolated virtual machines to safely test new software and surf the Web. VMware Player can also be used to run a virtual copy of an old PC so that you can recycle the old machines you have under your desk or stored in the closet." - VMware Player - http://www.vmware.com/products/player/

Gimp - An excellent free alternative to expensive picture-editing software such as Photoshop - http://www.gimp.org/

Nvu - free website authoring software for Windows, Linux, and Apple Mac - http://www.nvu.com/

Free webmaster tutorials - http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp

Windows Sysinternals - "Whether you’re an IT Pro or a developer, you’ll find Sysinternals utilities to help you manage, troubleshoot and diagnose your Windows systems and applications." - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx

Functionx.com - a great site for tutorials on programming, databases, spreadsheets, etc. - http://www.functionx.com/

How Stuff Works - http://www.howstuffworks.com/

The Windows Support Center - http://aumha.org/

Tom's Hardware Guide - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/

Lynda.com - Online training library - http://www.lynda.com/

Doug's Windows Tweaks and Tips - http://www.dougknox.com/

PC911 - http://www.pcnineoneone.com/index.html

BootDisk.com - http://www.bootdisk.com/

BartPE - An essential recovery and repair utility - http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) - http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Practically Networked - http://www.practicallynetworked.com/

Computerworld - http://www.computerworld.com/

InformationWeek - http://www.informationweek.com/

The Mozilla Firefox web bowser's site - Excellent free alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer (also free) web browser - http://www.mozilla.com/

Mozilla Thunderbird - Excellent free email program - http://www.mozillamessaging.com/

Skype - Allows free computer-to-computer calls as well as low-cost international calls to landlines and mobiles via the web - http://www.skype.com/

Spotify - Listen to songs (6 million tracks) for free (you have to view adverts) or pay for them online using this music-streaming service - http://www.spotify.com/

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

Anandtech.com - http://www.anandtech.com/

ExtremeTech.com - http://www.extremetech.com/

TechSpot.com - http://www.techspot.com/

PC Tools Guides for Windows - http://www.pctools.com/guides/

Wim's BIOS Page - http://www.wimsbios.com/

Sci.Electronics.Repair - http://www.repairfaq.org/

Tweak3D - http://www.tweak3d.net/

MajorGeeks.com - freeware/shareware downloads - http://www.majorgeeks.com/

Steve Gibson's ShieldsUp online security tests - https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

CFlank's online security tests - http://www.pcflank.com/about.htm

Security Essentials - Microsoft's free malware and virus scanner - http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

AVG Anti-Virus - The free version of this antivirus scanner - http://free.avg.com/

AVG LinkScanner - Free - helps you to browse the web more safely, and protects against malware and phishing attacks - http://linkscanner.avg.com/

Comodo Firewall Pro - Free Comodo Firewall, Anti-Malware, Website Authentication, AntiVirus, Email Security Certificate - http://comodo.com/

ZoneAlarm Free Firewall - http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-pc-security-free-firewall.htm