Great Computer Information Web Sites and Free Security Utilities/Tools

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

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 - http://cdburnerxp.se/

SkyDrive - Provides 25GB of free storage space online - http://skydrive.live.com/

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

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

Spywareinfo.com - http://www.spywareinfo.com/

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