Mike's Keys to the Internet

Hi-Tech - Reviews, Advice, Best Places to Buy

Cellphones, Notebooks reviews and a look back to when things started.

Do some research before you sign up. How to save money on cell-phone costs.
Use these links to get the latest news, user reviews and online deals on wireless plans and equipment.

Forums, reviews, and the latest Notebook News and Deals going on. What more could you want?

How to repair and troubleshoot Laptops. How to connect a laptop hard drive to a desktop computer.

They have a number of computer hook-up items that can be shipped to the store for free pickup.
SVID2COMP | Cat#: 55011234 works with an IBM T42.

Before you run out to Radio Shack, see how to activate and connect your PC to your TV.

PCLinuxOS Magazine

All Issues online.

Throwing Windows Out The Window

Maximum PC

PDF Archive of issues.

Over three years available free online

Popular Science offers their entire 137-year archive when you search their PopSci archives.

Flip through the pages of old catalogs from 1939 to 2005 thanks to RadioShackCatalogs.com

Need an HD TV Antenna? - Look here:
TV Antenna Plans
EHow - Homemade HD Antenna
New Improved HDTV Coat Hanger Antenna - UHF / VHF

Links to photos of over 9,000 radios. Find images of vintage audio equipment.

The Gallery of Old Iron

Yes young people, there were productive computers even before there were desktops and a windows operating system.
People had long careers working with the old systems back in the day, and none of them were anywhere close to having the computing power of the old desktop you have sitting unplugged and gathering dust on the floor.

History of IBM magnetic disk drives

Computer Data Storage Through the Ages --
From Punch Cards to Blu-Ray
Follow the evolution of computer storage from its earliest days, all the way up to now.

Find free datasheets, service manuals, schematic diagrams and software downloads, service menu and mode information, code calculators for many brands of equipment.
Start Here - All service manuals and data sheets, sorted on make and model.

Great Places to check for low Prices and Buys

Price Watch
The fastest way to find a great street price on a computer product

Compare 1,000,000 prices on 100,000 products

Who makes the best NiHM Batteries? This article lists all the major brands, and shows the difference between NiMH and alkalines.
The Great Battery Shootout!

PC and Hi-Tech Magazines
Maximum PC Magazine
PC Magazine
PC World
Information Week
Computer Shopper
PC Gammer
PC Pro
zdnet

PC Hardware Reviews - How to Info - Speed Tests

PCPartPicker - Price drops * Which parts give me the best performance for the price? * Which parts are compatible? * How do the prices compare across multiple merchants? * View recent builds with prices.


Part 1 Choosing Your Components	Part 2 The Build - Newegg TV -	Part 3 Installing Windows Finishing Touches

Memtest86 - A Stand-alone Memory Diagnostic
Download the free ISO and burn a CD.
Then run the tests independent of the OS.

Online Modem test

Modem speed test pages - are designed for ordinary analogue dial-up modems, and ISDN modems.

Speedtest.net will test the speed of your Internet connection. See if you are getting what you pay for.

Broadband DSL Reports - has a number of tests like the one above where you click on the city of your choice to start a test against that city and server.

Benchmarks and utility programs are available here.
If you recently bought a new LCD monitor, you can check for bad pixels or other irregularities - try Monitors Matter CheckScreen.

The Belarc Advisor - builds a detailed profile of everything installed in your system. Version, manufacturer, and serial numbers are listed, as well as available memory slots and hard drive space. Includes printer information, installed Licenses, and software, Microsoft Hotfixes and a lot more.

Reviews of CPUs, video cards, storage devices, sound cards and games, and: Ask the Tech: CPU Price Chart: and a Download of the Week

Free Help Setting up Your Router or Firewall. They have written support documents and instructions.

Motherboard comparison Charts - a complete line of products: Bare-Bones Systems, Cables, Cases, CD/ DVD, CPUs, Controllers, Floppy Drives, Hard Drives, Memory, Monitors, Motherboards, Multimedia, Networking, Power Supplies, Processors, Software Specials, Systems Tape Drives, and Video Cards.

Overclocking - Everything you need to know.

Overclockers.com | Overclockersclub.com
Both sites have guides, reviews, and forums with tips and techniques.


Reviews on Motherboards, CPUs, RAM, BIOS, Harddisks, 3D, Video, Scanners, CDROMS, BIOS, and PC Performance Guides. What's that PS 20-24 plug thing on the right? Read it first before you buy a PS.

Reviews and articles on Cases, CPU Coolers, Power Supplies, Memory and UPSs. Power Supply Facts

Buying an SSD Hard Drive, Video Card, CPU or Ram, PC System, Android, iPhone? Check out their Chart based Benchmarks and click on the item for price history and how it stacks up against others in its class.

Hot Hardware reviews, forums and articles.

Legion Hardware reviews, forums and articles.

Gaming

If you're into ultimate gaming, you have to make a pit stop here.

CPU - Memory price guides

Their CPU and Memory price guide are worth the visit, but just like a shark, there is more here than what you'd expect.

How do you become certified in one
of the hot Hi-Tech fields?
Well, you can start here and look at the requirements from 3Com, Adobe, Cisco, Compaq, IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Novell, and many more companies.

Show me the Motherboards!
OK - Here's are links from all these tech sites, that directly go to their motherboard reviews:
XBIT - Mainboards
Tom's Hardware Mainboard
Hot Hardware Reviews
Tbreak Reviews
SysOpt Motherboard Reviews
sharkyExtreme Motherboards

Spyware - It's Lurking On Your Machine - Free tools to fix that.

CCleaner - cleans your system from temporary and unnecessary files that accumulate over time.
NOTE: Go to Options-Cookies - the first time you use this program to select cookies you want to keep.

Flash Cookies - ALERT - Are Flash Cookies Devouring Your Privacy? Flash cookies can be used to re-create regular tracking cookies that users delete.

Malwarebytes - A malware scanner that can detect and remove a variety of malicious programs.

SUPERAntiSpyware - Detect and Remove Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers, Parasites, and Rootkits.

Spybot Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer.

Rkill - You may need to run this small program first if you can't get rid of a nasty virus using the programs mentioned above.

AVG Free Edition is the well-known anti-virus protection tool. AVG Free is easy-to-use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements).

Ad-Aware Free Internet Security features real-time protection, rootkit protection, and automatic updates.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free anti-malware program to protect against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software for PCs that have a genuine Windows installed.

Maximum PC Security Shootout: 10 Top Antivirus Apps Put to the Test.

Dealing with Browser Hijacking - Browser settings are being hijacked by malicious web sites and software which modify your default start and search pages. This forces you to visit a web site of the hijacker's choice so that they can inflate their web site's traffic for higher advertising revenues.

Merijn.org - HijackThis log tutorial.

Free Antivirus Tools.
Available from PC World.

Learn more about - Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites.

Too many startup programs? What are they and are they safe? Info - Searchlist

Track your laptop
Prey - An open-source protector of your PC that puts paid-for software to shame.

How to track lost Laptops and Smartphones with Prey
How to Recover a Stolen Computer with Prey
Tracking My Stolen Laptop in Panama

Hot Topics Explained
This site has the latest tech news an many varied articles, like the ones listed below. RAID in your system for speed and security. IDE RAID - Is There A Benefit? Hitchhiker's Guide to the Mainframe - The Basics You know a lot about the PC world, but how about those mainframes? What is DASD, an LPAR, an I/O channel? Why are mainframes so special (RAS) and how did this all this start? Just three pages of reading and you're tuned in. Printing Your Own CDRs With Ink. Before you buy your next printer, see if you might want to get one that can do this. Also check on what's coming down the line - No ink. It's all in the colors. Check your monitor, or take a free copy of the DisplayMate demo along with you when you go shopping for a monitor. It includes 6 sample full-screen test patterns and associated help screens for setting up your display. Runs at any resolution, color depth and screen shape or aspect ratio. Forgot your password - try this. Asterisk Key shows passwords hidden under asterisks. It uncovers those hidden passwords on password dialog boxes and web pages, and it's free. Input-Drivers.com - maintains listings of mouse, keyboard, and other input device drivers available on the web, organized by company. Make your own bootable CD - Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) - Read about it. Then Download PE Builder v3.1.10a - Here Make a Bootable USB Key - PC Magazine How-to. Can't play that media file, then try this. GSPOT establishes what video codecs (audio and video) are required to play an AVI file. Determines whether these codecs are installed on your system. Shows framerate, duration, aspect ratio, bitrates, AVI structure info, and more, and it's free. PC World - Windows How-To. Find things like: Open Office 2007 Docs in Older Versions. How to Create File Associations. PC World - 101 Fantastic Freebies - Web's best free stuff to keep you productive, secure, and entertained. PC World - The Best Free Software of 2010. PC World - PlayStation 2 games on your PC. Official PCSX2 configuration guide v0.9.8. Nitroroms - Sony Playstation 2 List. 20 Essential Tips and Tricks Every: Flickr User Should Know. BitTorrent User Should Know. Outlook User Needs to Know. Firefox User Should Know. Ebooks - How To Manage and Convert Your Ebooks with Calibre - Manage your ebooks and to get them working on any reader.	Lots of great how-to info on this site - Windows, Microsoft Office, General Computing. Things like Show Full File Names in XP Lifehacker points out software downloads, web sites, do-it-yourself projects, howto's, and tutorials to get things done smarter and more efficiently. Like this: Automatically back up your hard drive Windows 7 Tips - Windows 7 Ultimate Tweaks & Utilities. Performance Tweaks. Utilities. RamDisk. Windows Tips - All Versions - PC Magazine XP Tips & Tricks - JSKYs XP Support Windows XP Info and Tips - Raymond Windows Vista, Tips - ZDnet How to convert FAT16 or FAT32 to NTFS. Hard Drive Help: Resizing an existing partition on a single hard drive. EASEUS Partition Master (Home Edition) - Freeware. How to repartition for free without losing data. DMA reverts to PIO - Winhlp.com Need to undelete files that were removed from the recycle bin or directly deleted from within Windows, or from a USB Flash drive. Try the linked download. Internet Explorer and Netscape Tips - PC Magazine DirectX problems? - The DirectX diagnostic tool lets you display all DirectX related files on your computer; check the versions of those files, input devices, and the video drivers you're running; and run tests. Download and convert Flash video to play on your iPod, other devices, or DVD player. Free Diagnostic Software. Free Portable Applications. USB - 10 things you should know about USB 2.0 and 3.0. Check speed and everything USB on your system. Connect two computers over the Internet, hassle-free. System Restore Points - How to use them. Adobe - Determine the Flash Player version you installed. Adobe - Download the Latest Adobe Flash for Firefox and IE Without Any Extras Windows 7 Hover - Hover your mouse and surprise - you just clicked! - The Fix.
Help with websites
Namu6 Website Editor - Read about it. Open Source Web Design - a collection of web designs that anyone can download free of charge! Open Web Design - More help here.	W3C Markup Validation Service Free Web Development Software Free blogs - example - Dancing With The Stars Music. Here's were you would start - WordPress.com
Buying or selling? - Free domain appraisals - More	List a domain for sale - Sedo Info - More - More
McAfeeSiteAdvisor - Type in the url to check it.	Wayback Machine - View past Websites
How to set up a LAN in your home and then share an Internet connection
How Home Networking Works \| Monitor Network Traffic \| Webcam Surveillance Software Top 7 Tips for Wireless Home Network Security Home Network Setup - Interactive Advisor

Shareware Sites

CNET

ZD Net Software

PC Mag Downloads

TUCOWS

SnapFiles
Check out their Must-Have Freeware Downloads
Freeware by Category | doPDF - Convert docs to PDF

Free downloads encyclopedia

Youtube Downloader HD - Download High-Def (HD) 1080P videos from YouTube and all other major video streaming sites with YouTube Downloader.

Quick Media Converter - Converts between audio and video formats, including AVI, DVD, Quicktime, Flash, Xvid, DivX, MPEG, MP3, WMA, MP4, 3GP and can strip the audio track.

EaseUS Partition Master - Configure and manage partitions on your hard drives. You can delete or format, and also resize and move your partitions.

VLC Media Player - A multimedia player that plays DVDs and supports a wide variety of audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, etc.)

Abandonware. A site dedicated to the DOS games from the past. Find some of your old favorites to download and play. Like this - Ultimate Stunts.
DOSBox - Some games will require an emulator like this that supports many sound cards and video.

21 Great Free PC Games - 21 of the best freeware titles for your PC, from retro-shooters to cutting-edge platformers and experimental indie games.

ScreenSaver.com
Find lots of amusing screensavers here

Pigeons.com
The first choice for free software and MP3 downloads

Stroud's CWSA
The ultimate one-stop download site.
Comprehensive file listings, ratings, and extensive reviews for the best Windows applications.

HI-Tech Page 2 - Digital Cameras, Camcorders - How to fix things.

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