My little page o' links

BIGHEAS' LITTLE PAGE O' LINKS

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Hi all. I will be adding more links to software and tutorials soon. Bigheas!

The following links are some of my favorites that I use quite frequently. I've listed them in no particular order. I'm sure that once you peruse these sites, you'll agree that many are among the best on the net. Happy Hunting.

Windows Sites

Obviously, the following image is a Windows logo. If you wish to go to Microsoft's site, then click on the logo. Other links for Windows related stuff are below Microsoft's link image.

PCWin is quite simply one of the best sites on the net for shareware, freeware and valuable information for Windows and related software.

Winfiles is another one of those sites packed with tons of shareware for Windows users. Give it a try.

Zdnet = Computing. Period. No matter who you ask that knows anything about computing, you'll find them at least mentioning some publication brought to you by Ziff Davis.

Winplanet. Another software, information site.

WinfoHQ is yet another software, information site.

Frank's World O' Windows is hands down the best software driver and company links page on the net. I have visited many sites and still can't find one to beat his.

No picture, no banner, just a very well written page dealing with updating all versions of windows 95 and 98. Click Walbeehm's Windows Updates to go to the page. Remember to follow his instructions precisely! All users from beginner to advanced will thank me for this one. (Windows 98 isn't Y2K compliant either, gang.)

Oops, did I say Y2K? Sheez, I hate when I do that :) For you paranoid schizophrenics, this link Y2K fixer-uppers will take you down the path to the promised land of Y2K freedom (At least for those of you who don't rely on tons of 3rd party stuff. For that, I'm afraid that you'll have to contact the individual software vendors. If you've got a small or large business that is currently updating to Windows 98 to solve the Y2K issue and your network administrator hasn't told you about Windows 98 Y2K non-compliance by now or if you have a contractor updating your system and they haven't told you about 98 not being Y2K compliant, you might have your hands full. Sorry.) and they have a "free" to download Y2K hardware test. Remember that 1st and last, you have to have a correctly compliant BIOS or at least one that can be fixed by flash updating or a software TSR. Your BIOS sets the computer clock. Your operating system interprets the information from the BIOS clock settings and applies it appropriately. Remember to check the Walbeehm's Windows Updates link for updates and some details, as well as this Y2K fixer-uppers link.

Windows 98 Annoyances Just what the name says and (duck) some Y2K stuff also. Excellent site to help you customize your Windows based pc to your taste. Many of the tips on this page work with Windows 95.

Phew! Now that the serious stuff is out of the way....

Time to lighten up. If you want to read something that serves no purpose other than to rip the frown right off your face, then go to http://www.rs-kit.com/bs/Tableof.htm and have yourself a chuckle.

Ok. There are many of you that just don't know what software is good and what is bad. Some of you simply don't want to be bothered looking for the "good" software and are looking for recommendations. Well, I'll just list some of them here.

Individual Software Sites

You've made it this far and want to know what you should get 1st. Obviously, you're on the internet to see what's out there. Most of you will go to the World Wide Web (http://www.whatever.com) to do that, and besides e-mail and chat, that's probably why you have a computer in the 1st place. You are probably using Internet Explorer to access this page and you should know that you have other choices besides Microsoft for your browser. Right now, the two biggies in the browser bizz are Microsoft who makes Internet Explorer and Netscape who makes Navigator and the more fully featured browser Communicator. There is another choice that some of you might want to try. It is called Opera and it is made by Opera Software. It is trialware and will time out in 30 days unless you register it for a nominal fee. The other two are free. Click on any of the three buttons below to try the browser of your choice.

After you find that really cool game, you might find out that it is stored in "zip" format. That is to say, that the file you just spent two hours downloading came in the form of mygame.zip. So you need a program to "unzip" it. Try this one.

Winzip is just one of those programs that you simply are gonna have to try out. It is shareware and you might as well download this one 1st. You will need it, you will use it. And if you are going to spend any time at all on the internet, you're going to be happy you have it.

Now youv'e pulled in that game, unzipped it, installed it and it just rocked. So you go back to the same site and you see 7 other games that you want as well. But, you just don't have the time to pull them in one at a time because you have to run out and grab something for your better half and the site you found isn't particularly fast. What to do? What to do? Basically, 2 things...

MTU Speed is definitely a program all of you should pull in and learn to use. It is very easy and versatile. Basically what it does is optimize the settings that Windows 9x uses to transfer data through your internet connection. So, if you're tired of the world wide wait, grab this util and speed up those transfers. :)

Getright is a superb download manager. What's a download manager? Funny you should ask. Click on a file in your web browser that you want to save on your hard drive and Getright will intercept the click and open a save dialog box asking you for a save location and name of the file. Click save and bingo, it'll pull it in for you. No big deal, right? Welp, not really. You see, getright will find as many as 15 alternate sites to pull the file from and it will also reconnect the transfer if lost and start where you left off. While the download is going on, you can choose as many more files as you want and it will manage the downloads in separate mini windows all at once. With this app, you will never lose a download again.

ICQ is a free to download and use internet chat/pager program that will automatically activate when your internet connection is established. It will add whomever you wish to a contact list, much like AOL's instant messenger with the ability to connect to anyone anywhere on the internet no matter who they use to connect as long as both of you are running ICQ. And, believe me when I tell you -- many, many people use ICQ. Easy, configurable, versatile, fully featured, and powerful are just some of the words used to describe this program. A definite must have.

Phew! Time for a break. Why don't you join me in a cold one. Hey, now that I think of it, get your very 1st bonafide "freebie" from the internet. Click here to get a very convenient beverage holder. It even stores itself when you're done. Make sure that nothing, repeat nothing is in blocking the front of your computer. Ahhh, refreshing :) Sorry, WebTV users, this won't work for you.