Best Troubleshooting Sites
Free Solutions to Common Windows Problems
Windows
Annoyances offers a very useful set of information on how to deal with
common Windows problems. Nice set of tips too. Highly recommended
for all users except raw beginners.
Excellent Windows Resource Site
The About Windows
Guide is among the best of the Windows portal sites. Tips, tricks,
troubleshooting and more. Oriented to end-users rather than tech-heads.
http://windows.about.com/compute/windows/mbody.htm
Excellent Free Tech Support Sites
Subscriber Ted Green
writes: "Thanks a million, Gizmo, for telling me about the Tek-Tips
forums. With the help of the forum members I solved a Windows shutdown problem
that was driving me nuts." Note, though, that Tek-Tips is geared toward
experienced users. Beginners may get better results from the TechSupportGuy
forums. Both are free and well worth trying.
http://www.tek-tips.com/
http://forums.techguy.org/
Free Computer Help
"Computer
Hope" is an aptly-named web site offering useful online resources, a very
active set of forums and a free email support service. I found the forums
particularly responsive. Well worth trying next time you run into a PC problem.
http://www.computerhope.com/index.htm
Free Help with MS Word
Here's a site
dedicated to tips, tricks and techniques for getting the most out of MS Word
Free Excel Help
If you've got an
Excel problem you can't solve, try the busy forum at this site. It's free and
the folks are very helpful.
http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/
Free Outlook Help
Some users just never
get the hang of Microsoft Outlook. If you need help, check out this listing of
Outlook Web tutorials, most of which are free. These tutorials are not just for
beginners; there are some useful advanced guides as well.
http://www.techtutorials.info/emoutlook.html
Fix for Corrupted Office Files
Got a user with a
corrupted MS Office document? Tried the built-in filter for raw text
recovery and got nowhere? Try this site, which has programs designed to
help you.
http://www.officerecovery.com.
Database of File Extensions
Got a file with an unknown extension? Need
to know what created it? This'll help.
http://filext.com/
Free Modem Help
Reader Alex Goode
says, "This site is my first port of call when I run into modem problems
or when I'm looking for modem info..." I've checked it out and it is as
goode as Alex says.
Start-Up Applications Unplugged
It's frustrating
trying to edit the Windows start-up list because the filenames themselves tell
you little about the program's function. This free site lists thousands of
common startup files, full descriptions of what they, and links back to the
vendors' web sites. Top stuff.
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm
Download Missing DLLs
Most users have
experienced a "missing DLL" error message. This site provides a free
library of DLL files that you can download.
Locate Spammers’ Real Locations
These folks provide a
free online service which allows you to type in an IP or URL (web site address)
and get the geographical location of the server. They also offer a variety of
free tools to allow web sites to customize their web pages according to the
geographical location of site visitors.
http://www.geobytes.com/FreeServices.htm
Disposable Email Addresses to Order
Need a temporary
email address to give to some annoying web site that insists that you register?
Well, simply make up anything and then add the suffix "@mailinator.com”.
For example, giz@mailinator.com. Then go to the Mailinator
website and collect any email to that account. It's free and you don't even
need a password to get your temporary mail. All mail is deleted after a few
hours.
Troubleshooting Wireless Networks
Despite the
advertising, I can assure you that installing a wireless network can be a real
pain. If you run into trouble, try the excellent troubleshooting section at
this site. The site has some excellent tutorials as well.
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/
Track Down Windows Errors
Thanks to subscriber
David J. for letting me know about this site which allows you to track down
solutions to problems in different Windows sub-systems. The organization of the
site is odd but quite effective. It has about 400 topics arranged
alphabetically. However, some of the topics are general, such as "Shutdown
problems", while others are very specific, such as
"sh31w32.dll." Once you select a topic, you'll be shown a variety of
resources ranging from Microsoft Knowledge base links to simple fix-it guides.
Overall, an excellent trouble-shooting resource.
http://www.colba.net/~hlebo49/
How to Fix Your Printer Yourself
Sick of paying out
big bucks to fix simple printer problems? Then try repairing it yourself using
the resources provided at this specialist site.
http://www.fixyourownprinter.com
What DLL is That?
Ever wondered what a
particular DLL does? Find out from this useful Microsoft database.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=/servicedesks/fileversion/dllinfo.asp
Send Files up to 100MB for Nix
This is impressive -
a free service that allows you to send a file up to 100MB to another PC or
person. Just type in the recipient’s email address and upload the file. The
recipient is then notified by email and can download the file anytime within 7
days before it is deleted from the server. "No passwords to share, no
software to install, no accounts to create, and no full mailboxes. Start
sending now!" there is a 1GB monthly limit. The paid service allows files
up to 1GB. For large files, see the next item.
HFS Personal Fileserver
For sending files of
unlimited size you need your own mini-server. Install this tiny server app on
your PC and give others your IP, then they can download any size of file
whenever they like. You just need to keep your PC on till they've got the file.
Definitely the best solution now for large files, though you're limited to the
upload speed of your DSL connection (which is half the download speed). It just
means a big file can take awhile but that hardly matters. [webmaster - there's
a tute for this on my site if you want to link it - chris.p]
Great PDF Resource Site
If you are looking
for Adobe PDF information or utilities, head straight for PDFZone. They are
currently running an article on the "Ten Best Free PDF utilities."
Here's the link to the article:
http://www.pdfzone.com/news/1351-PDFzone_news.html
Beep Beeeeep Beep
You turn on your PC
and all it does is beep. But what does the code mean? This site will
translate for you.
http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.html
