Computer and Internet Resources, Programs, Info and Must Reads Here's a list with goodies for you... Links to help you to get better use of your computer, links to outstanding tools and sources, links to good info all together. I'm sure you find something of interest! The links are categorized into several sections.

Removal Tools
BitDefender, Eset, F-Secure, Kaspersky, McAfee, Norman, Symantec
Many security vendors developed tools to automatically conduct what would often amount to extensive and tedious manual removal tasks. If your system has become infected, the tools listed here should aid you in repairing the damage.

Jotti's Malware Scan
Jotti's malware scan is a free online scan service, utilizing various (20 of them when I added this link - David) anti-virus programs to diagnose single files.

ConsumerAffairs
The guys at ConsumerAffairs have a good online and comparison guide - check it out - it'll get you on your way.

7 reasons why HTML e-mail is EVIL
What is wrong with sending HTML or MIME messages? There are now five main reasons for NOT doing this... Check this one too: Configuring Mail Clients to Send Plain ASCII Text.

MailWasher
MailWasher is a powerful e-mail checker and an effective spam elimination tool. It allows you to bounce back unwanted e-mails so it looks as if your e-mail address is not valid. Free version is great, Pro version offers unlimited accounts, and has a better and more easier to use interface. Brilliant!

Munging FAQ
This FAQ is intended to be a concise discourse on "spam-blocking". Otherwise known as "munging", or breaking one's email address, for the purposes of avoiding junk e-mail.

OE-QuoteFix
Extends the functionality of Outlook Express to allow for correct quoting and change the appearance of your plain-text replies in general. If you must use OE, use OE-QuoteFix.

E-mail etiquette and related gripes... Must read.

Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a fully featured, secure and very functional email client. It lets you handle mail efficiently and with style, and Mozilla Thunderbird filters away junk mail too. It has intelligent spam filters, a built-in spell checker, extension support, and much more.

Acid-Play
Quote: "Thanks to our dedicated reviewers and energetic community Acid-Play is the most popular freeware games site on the Internet (according to Alexa). We have over 1000 freeware games, most of which have files hosted on our own servers, and send out over 3800 GB of games every month".

Deviant Art
Very popular and exciting online art community.
Internet's largest community for digital art in all its forms.

Tom's Hardware Guide
Great reviews, guides... Also check Tom's Hardware Guide Community: the forum of Tom's Hardware Guide is well known as a very useful and helpful place for hardware information for many years now.

Driverfiles.net
In search for a driver? A great place to find lots of various drivers is Driverfiles.net. They also have a growing list of DLL files available for you to download. And it's free!

DotWhat?
An extension is a filename addition, usually consisting of a dot plus three or four letters. The extension helps the computer recognise what type of file it is and what it may contain (.doc is a Word document file, .exe is a computer program, .jpg is a picture file). For any information on file extensions and formats head over to DotWhat.net.

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
This guide will teach you how to ask questions in a way that is likely to get you a satisfactory answer.

Lockergnome
Let the Lockergnome inform you about the newest Windows stuff, and get the Lockergnome free newsletter! I'm a fan and subscriber since '98 and I recommend it with all my heart! And not because BlueFive was mentioned a few times, no, just because it is such a delight to read! Cheers to you, Chris!

Mouse Runner
A collection of some of the best resources of many categories. Pre-screened and pre-tested links and downloads; guides; reviews and more on many topics all in a simple to read and navigate format.

Windows Secrets
Windows Secrets is an informational web site and newsletter providing lots of useful information about Windows, Windows security, Windows tuning tips and tricks, and other types of Windows problems and work arounds. Every IT guy, or any home geek who has Windows or provides help to others who run Windows, should have the Windows Secrets site among their favorites.

Mozilla
The open-source web browser, designed for standards compliance, performance and portability. Take along mozdev.org : they host many different projects maintained by developers throughout the Mozilla community.

Firefox
Firefox empowers you to accomplish your online activities faster, more safely and efficiently than any other browser, period. Built with Tab browsing, popup blocking and a number of other seamless innovations, Firefox stands out ahead.

PracticallyNetworked
Huge resource for network debugging. Extensive troubleshooting information and tips.

System Internals
Great site hosted by some really skilled programmers - now part of Microsoft TechNet. (TCPView is from there). See Filemon, Regmon, Process Explorer, RootkitRevealer, and many many more. You can't live without these tools!

TCPView
TCPView is a Windows program that will show you detailed listings of all TCP and UDP endpoints on your system, including the remote address and state of TCP connections.

Google Docs - LibreOffice - OpenOffice.org
3 alternative freeware office suites. All of these programs features just about everything from MS Office except for Outlook and maybe Access. They work well and are constantly being worked on and upgraded. Google Docs is an online service and allows you to create and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations in real time.

SpywareBlaster
This tool can help keep your system spyware-free and secure, and does not have to remain running in the background. It works with Block and Ignore Lists (a database you can update online from within the program). Must Have!

Spybot-S&D
Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. An excellent free spyware removal utility that can also clean usage tracks and allows to fix some registry inconsistencies. 'Easy mode' for new users who want just the basic features, and 'Advanced mode' for professional users and those who want more control.

Wilders Security Forums
If you are looking for information and advice to secure your PC the best you can, visit this site.

Gibson Research
The Internet's quickest, most popular, reliable and trusted, free Internet security checkup and information service. Must visit!

Kelly's Corner
Troubleshooting Windows XP, registry edits, all kinds of nifty tweaks, tips, scripts and utilities by Microsoft-MVP Kelly Theriot.

X-Setup Pro
Checkout X-Setup Pro. The best "tweaker" program around.
It allows you to change settings that are normally hidden deeply in some configuration-files (like the registry) fast and easily.

Agent
If you don't know already: Agent is the top-rated USENET Newsreader on the Internet. The absolute best of the best.

The seven don'ts of Usenet
Just avoid the seven most common and most harmful mistakes when posting to Usenet.

Online X-Face Converter
X-Faces are sent along with the headers of an e-mail message or a Usenet post.

yEnc32
Freeware implementation of the yEnc binary encoding system, which is primarily used in Usenet newsgroup posts.

CCleaner
Removes unused files from your system allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. Go for the basic or slim version (these setups don't carry the annoying Yahoo! Toolbar).

Eraser
Eraser allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns.

InfoRapid
Most excellent Search & Replace freeware, a real must have!
One of the most powerful text retrieval programs currently available I think.

jv16 PowerTools
An amazing set of registry cleaners and system maintenance utilities to help you fix, repair, optimize and tune up your computer. I've been using this since the early days when it was called RegCleaner, and the only tool available at that time.

KatMouse
Can't scroll a window, unless you first click that window?
Get KatMouse! KatMouse is a program that enhances the behavior of your mouse wheel. It allows you to point and roll, that is, hover over a window, roll the wheel, and scroll that window. No more need to click first. (I found this excellent freeware when I was looking for a way to let me scroll vb6 windows again).

Second Copy
Great backup software! Very easy to use, and very powerful.
It makes a backup of your data files to another directory, disk or computer across the network. I'm a registered user. Very much worth checking out.