Best Free Stuff on the Web

Computer Help

Windows Secrets

When windows craps out, who you gonna call? We turn to Brian's Buzz by ace Infoworld columnist Brian Livingston. The site has Livingston's biweekly newsletter full of Windows tips (which you can get via e-mail) and, better yet, his Windows Tips Search Engine, which scans over a dozen top-notch tech sites. An excellent partner in help is Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center, which features how-tos, fixes, patches, utilities, and other assistance for people who rely on Microsoft's e-mail and messaging programs.

Geeks to the Rescue!

If you don't mind scrolling around a bit, check out Black Viper for Windows and Linux (Red Hat) installation guides, as well as general PC tips, buying advice, reviews, and PC-user postings identified simply as "rants." The site also provides help when you want to install more than one operating system. AnandTech and Arstechnica.com are helpful as well. AnandTech is chockablock with incredibly detailed reviews, analyses, and hardware news. Arstechnica features lots of primers ("Guide to Video Capturing"), buyers guides, and system tweaks.

Let's Get Small

When it comes to handhelds, few nexuses are worth visiting. An exception is Dave's PDA Place, a full-featured site with reviews, generous FAQs on Palms and Pocket PCs, buying guides, and more. The site even lets you build tables to compare PDAs on the fly. Brighthand.com likewise covers both Palm and Pocket PC platforms, with news, forums, and interviews. Its tightly formatted reviews dig into audio, video, battery life, and wireless issues. For serious info on Pocket PCs, hit Pocket PC FAQ. The site has detailed FAQs that tackle an exhaustive number of topics. Feeling cheap? Put on your shades and check the scads of Pocket PC freeware at the gaudy but useful CeBeans.

PC, Meet Mac

Some call it heresy; we call it common sense. The Mac and PC gotta talk, and Macwindows.com delves into every aspect of Mac and PC integration problems. You'll find solutions to connecting PCs and Macs on the same LAN, reading Mac floppies on a PC, sharing printers, and more, thanks to oodles of tips, tutorials, relevant news, and in-depth reports. The site is updated three times a week.

Top o' the Optical

When it comes to all things CD, Andy McFadden's CD-Recordable FAQ is the place to go. In addition to details on what different formats offer, the site tells you how to diagnose disc problems, how to take advantage of recordable features, and more. Be prepared: The site is basically one big hypertext page with lots and lots of links. It's well organized, however, and it offers nuts-and-bolts details to satisfy pros while remaining clear enough for newbies. For a terrific (and similar-looking) FAQ site covering all things DVD, seek out DVD Demystified.

Photoshop Help

By his own estimation, Russell Brown is one heck of a Photoshop guru. His puckish site offers lots of tutorials on basic to advanced Photoshop skills, from removing wrinkles to distorting text. Tutorials come as text documents, PDFs, and narrated QuickTime movies. Computer-Darkroom is a good adjunct. It offers a ton of tutorials on manipulating images in Photoshop, scanning, and calibrating monitors, along with user reviews of products like photo printers.

Where's That Blog?

Some people might describe Daypop as the Google of blogs. It can search 35,000 blogs, news sites, and other feeds. It also lists the top 40 links showing up in blogs, the top blogs by citation and linking, and stats of all kinds. Type Windows, for example, in the search field, and you'll find a slew of links to great tech-related blogs. Or try Technorati, which finds out which blogs link to which sites--type in the URL, and you get a list.