Best FREE Online Windows Support Sites

In my continuing saga to publish my 'Best Free Online...' lists, here is my latest edition.

Today's topic is: Windows technical support and reference sites. You can use these sites for troubleshooting different types of hardware and software problems, and getting answers to your questions.

Most of the sites below exists for the sole purpose of answering your questions about different problems that you're having with the Windows OS and its applications. The other sites are more generic like Google, but they're still great tools for troubleshooting problems.

Search/Reference Sites

• Google (Search Engine)
• I always start with Google when looking for an answer to a specific problem, then I start to narrow my search with other sites depending on the problem I am having. Note: The more specific keywords you use to describe your problem (such as the text from an error message), the better the results.
• Google Group (Usenet Archive)
• If the results from the main Google search page can not answer my questions, I then check the Usenet archive for answers. Note: If you can't find the answer to your problem here, post a question, then check back in a few days to see if any one has answered it.
• FILExt (File Extension Reference)
• NTFS.com (NTFS Reference Site)

Online Communities and Support Forums
(Check the sites below to see if you can find a specific answer to your problem. If can't find the answer to your problem, then post the questions on the site and check back in a few days to see if any one has answered it.)

• Tech Support Guy (Support Forums)
• protonic.com (Support Forums)
• 5 Star Support (Online Community)
• annoyances (Support Forums)
  

Microsoft Support Sites (These are best Microsoft sites for finding answers to your problems and questions.)

• Support Site (Knowledge Base)
• Support Knowledge Base (Advanced Search)
• Security Site (Security Information)
• DLL Help Database
• Download Center
• Product Support Lifecycle (Select a product to see when its considered obsolete.)
• Product Solution Center (Select a product to get more information on it.)
• Windows Hardware Compatibility List

I have tried to make this list as complete as possible, so if you feel that I am missing a great site that should be included in this list please feel free to e-mail me (use the 'Send Comments' link on the side to this page to e-mail me). I will include all the updates in this post as soon as I am made aware of them and have verified the site.

Best FREE Online Windows Tools

I have decided to create a series of posts that I am going to be calling the 'Best FREE Online ... Tools'. I consider these tools to be the best of the best, and all of them are free (unless otherwise noted). I plan to cover several different topics over the next few days and weeks.

Today's Topic
I have visited thousands of web sites, and these are the best and most useful Windows utilities sites I have found online. Each site can perform a different set of functions, such as: diagnostic, security, etc.. All these sites broken down into groups, based on the function that they can perform.

Note: All of these sites require Internet Explorer v6.0 or higher

Computer

• PC Pitstop (System Diagnostics)
• Microsoft Windows Update
  
• Microsoft Office Update

Security

• HouseCall (Anti-Virus Scanner)
  
• PestScan (Spyware Scanner)
  
• Symantec Internet Security Check (Security Scanner)
• Qualys' Browser Checkup (Browser Security Checkup)

Networking

• MyWebEx PC (PC Remote Control)

I have tried to make this list as complete as possible, so if you feel that I am missing a great site that should be included in this list please feel free to e-mail me (use the 'Send Comments' link on the side to this page to e-mail me). I will include all the updates in this post as soon as I am made aware of them and have verified the site.

Email Message Shortcuts

You can setup a shortcut that will allow you to create an e-mail message quickly. When this shortcut is launch it will open a new message in your default e-mail program.

• Right-click an empty area on the desktop (or choose any folder), then select 'New>Shortcut'.
• In the Shortcut Wizard, in the location box type "mailto:".
  
• Press the 'Next >' button, then give the shortcut a name (for example: "Create New Message") and then press the Finished button.

If you want to, you can also pre-addressed your messages, all you have to do is add the e-mail address after the 'mailto:' (i.e.: 'mailto:jsavitt@example.com'). Then when you double-click the shortcut it will open up a new e-mail message that is pre-addressed to the recipient.

The Dos and Don'ts Battery Table

Every type of battery has its own unique needs that should be satisfied to obtain the optimal reliability and service from it. The 'Do and Don't battery table' summarizes these needs and advises proper handling for each type of battery. By not properly maintaining your computer's batteries, you will lower it reliability and life expectancy.

Shutdown/Restart Your PC from a Shortcut

It is very easy to create a shortcut to shutdown or restart your PC on the desktop:

• Right-click an empty area on the desktop (or choose any folder), then select 'New>Shortcut'.
• In the Shortcut Wizard, in the location box type "shutdown -s -t 01" (to shutdown your computer) or type "shutdown -r -t 01" (to restart your computer).
  
• Press the 'Next >' button, then give the shortcut a name (for example: "Shutdown Computer" or "Restart Computer") and then press the Finished button.

Then all you have do is double-click the shortcut, and your computer will shutdown or restart itself depending on what shortcut you created.

Shortcuts to Web Sites

It is very easy to create a shortcut to your favorite web site on the desktop:

• Right-click an empty area on the desktop (or choose any folder), then select 'New>Shortcut'.
• In the Shortcut Wizard, in the location box type the URL to your favorite web site (i.e.: "http://www.example.com").
  
• Press the 'Next >' button, then give the shortcut a name (i.e.: "Example.com") and then press the Finished button.

Then all you have to do is double-click the shortcut, and your browser will open that web site.

Shortcut to 'Run' Command

This is one of those tips that you might think is cool, I didn't know you could do that; or dude this is totally useless. To create a shortcut to the Run... command under the Start menu, all you have to do is right-click on the icon and drag it to the Desktop or any open folder.

Note: This tip will work on just about any item under the Start menu.

Create an MS-DOS Prompt Shortcut on Your Desktop

It is very easy to create a shortcut to the MS-DOS Prompt on your desktop:

• Right-click an empty area on the desktop (or choose any folder), then select 'New>Shortcut'.
• In the Shortcut Wizard, in the location box type "CMD.EXE" (if that doesn't work try "%WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\CMD.EXE").
  
• Press the 'Next >' button, then give the shortcut a name (for example: "MS-DOS Prompt") and then press the Finished button.

Change Your Browser's Home Page

This tip works in Internet Explorer, and Firefox. To change your browser's default home page all you have to do is drag the little icon next to the web site address (i.e.: http://www.example.com) in the address bar, to the picture of the house in the toolbar. A pop-up dialog will display asking if you want to change the default home page, and all you have to do is say 'Yes'.

Speed-up Menu Displays

If the collapsed menus (such as those in MS Word) are displaying too slowly for you. You can make a quick and easy modification to make them appear more quickly.

Open the Control Panel and double-click on the System icon.
Click the Advanced tab, and under Performance section press the Settings button.
Uncheck the 'Fade or slide menus into view' check box, and then press the OK button.

Now when you expand a collapsed menu, it will appear more quickly.

Switch Browsers Now...

You have probably heard people raving about the new Firefox browser. Its been out for several months now, and it is taking the Internet by storm. I personally use this browser at home, and at work.

I almost never use Internet Explorer (IE) anymore, because I like the features of Firefox better. IE v6, was an okay browser for its day, but Microsoft stopped enhancing it and is now getting beat by Firefox.

If you want to know why you should make the switch to this browser, there are several reasons:

• It is more secure then IE. Although its had its security issues that needed to addressed. Mozilla had to push out four minor releases in the last few months to fix security issues. So you will have to keep it up-to-date.
• It supports tab browsing, this allows you to open up different tabs for different web sites in one browser window. Once you use this feature, you will be hooked.
• It also includes features like: a download manager, a form and password manager, web searching from the toolbar, plug-in extensions, and themes. IE does have some of these features but not all of them.

Overall Firefox is just a better browser, try it out and uninstall it if you don't like it. It will automatically import all your setting from IE when you install it. So it should be an easy conversion.

The Best Computer Newsletter

If you read only one computer newsletter, I would highly recommend reading LangaList by Fred Langa. I have personally been reading it for years, and have always gotten some valuable information from it.

To sign-up for it, go to Langa.com.

Encrypting Your Important Files

This Tip Will Only Work on Windows XP Professional, the Home Edition doesn't support this feature.

Windows XP Professional contains a built-in ability to encrypt and decrypt files on the fly without any user intervention. This allows you to quickly access your protected files, while preventing others from being able to read them.

To encrypt a file or folder:

• Right-click it, and select Properties.
• Press the Advanced button.
• In the dialog box that displays, check 'Encrypt contents to secure data' check box, then press the OK button.

In the Windows Explorer you will notice that the text next to the icon changed to green, this indicates that the file or folder is now encrypted. All this means to you is any data inside that file or folder will now be encrypted when you save, and decrypted when you open it. This operation should almost be invisible to you.

To undo this feature, all you have to do is follow the instructions above, and uncheck the 'Encrypt contents to secure data' check box, then press the OK button.

If you need to allow others people to access your protected files or folders, do the following:

• Right-click the protected file or folder you wish to grant others access too, and select Properties.
• Press the Advanced button.
• In the dialog box that displays, press the Details button next to the 'Encrypt contents to secure data' check box
• Press the Add button to add the users you want to grant access to the file or folder.
  
• Press the OK button.

Note: If you're going to delete the user account that created the encrypted files/folders or reinstall XP, you must unencrypted all your files first. Otherwise you will not be able to recover them. Even if you create another user with the same ID and password, you will not be able to recover these files.

Hiding or Unhiding Notification Tray Icons

Another feature of the Taskbar, is it will automatically hide of icons that are not used in the Notification Area (formerly known as the System Tray). To unhide icons that were automatically hidden, you have to tell Windows not to hide them.

• Right-click the Taskbar, and select Properties
• Check the 'Hide inactive icons' checkbox.
  
• Press the Customize button.
• In the dialog box you can select one of three states for each Notification Tray icon: Hide when inactive, Always hide, or always show. All you have to do change the state of an icon is change the drop-down menu next to it.
  
• Press the OK button, twice when you're done.
  

Grouping or Ungrouping Taskbar Icons

If you open up a lot of applications in Windows XP, by default itwill automatically group similar taskbar application icons under one icon. Some people like this feature, and some people hate it.

To disable (or re-enable) this feature:

• Right-click the Taskbar.
• Select Properties.
• Check or uncheck 'Group similar taskbar buttons' checkbox.
  

Closing Multiple Applications in the Taskbar

If you need to quickly close multiple application windows in the taskbar. You can do so by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on applications icons in the taskbar that you want to close. Then right-click on one of the selected icons and choose 'Close Group'.

Stretch Your Signal (Article)

This is a great article if you're struggling trying to extend the range of your Wireless Access Point (WAP). WAP are advertised with greater broadcast ranges then most people will be able to achive in real life situations. So if your WAP, is not providing coverage of your home or business the way you want it, then check out this article to get some ideas on how to increase you wireless LAN coverage.

Creating Keyboard Shortcuts

You can quickly access just about any application and folder by creating keyboard shortcuts to them. Keyboard shortcuts work by opening a specific application or folder when you press a key combination that you assign to it.

To a create keyboard shortcut:

• Create an application shortcut to the application or folder that you want to assign the keyboard shortcut.
• Right-click the application shortcut, and select Properties.
• In the Shortcut tab, click in the 'Shortcut key' field, then type the keyboard shortcut you want to create. For example: CTRL+ALT+P, for Microsoft Paint.
• Press the OK button when done.

Now all you have to do to launch Microsoft Paint is press the CTRL+ALT+P key combination. Within a few seconds pressing the keyboard shortcut the applicationshould load.

Note: All keyboard shortcuts have to start with CTRL+ALT+(some letter or number), you can't assign just CTRL or ALT keys by themselves.

Run Command Windows Shortcuts

With the Run... command (under the Start menu, select Run...) you can quickly access different Windows consoles and utilities by typing their filename, and pressing the Enter key. Below is a brief list of the more popular utilities that you might use:

• Command prompt: cmd
• Computer management: compmgmt.msc
• Device manager: devmgmt.msc
• Event viewer: eventvwr.msc
• Internet Explorer: iexplore
  
• Registry Editor: regedit
• Services: services.msc
• Storage manager: diskmgmt.msc
• Windows Explorer: explorer

Alphabetize 'All Programs' in the Start Menu

You can alphabetize all the applications listed under the 'All Programs' in the Start menu. All you have to do is right-click some where in the 'All Programs' submenu and select 'Sort by Name.' All the program will now be listed alphabetically.

Capture Screenshots

A screen-capture utility comes built into Windows that allows you to capture the current screen or window. All you have to do is press the 'PrtSc' button (aka 'Print Screen') to capture the current screen, or press the 'Alt+PrtSc' buttons to capture the current window to the clipboard.

Then load an image-editing program (such as: Windows Paint) to view, edit, or save the captured image. Press Ctrl+V to paste the image into it.

Put Notepad in the 'Send To' Menu

If you use Notepad a lot, there is an easy and quick way to send a file to it. Just put Notepad in your 'Send To' menu.

Here's how:

• Right click the Start menu.
• Click Explore.
• In Windows Explorer's left pane, expand the Documents and Settings folder (usually on the C: drive).
• Click the folder for your user account name.
• Click the Sendto folder.
• In the right pane, right-click and select New, then select Shortcut.
• Create a shortcut to Notepad.exe by browsing to the file location in the Create Shortcut Wizard (it should be located in the system root folder, usually named WINDOWS, usually on the C: drive).

Now when you right click a file and select Send to, Notepad will show up in the menu.