Never Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.
Langa Letter: The Best PC Help, Reference, And Test Sites
<b>Fred Langa</b> provides a list of 85 useful Web sites--and that's just for a start. Add your favorites to his definitive list of outstanding online resources.
3 Min Read
Browser and connection speed issues
BrowserTune can help with UI issues, browser issues, connectivity and throughput issues, and lots more having to do with the Internet, the Web, intranets, general connectivity, and all the related technologies: http://browsertune.com
Also, the top four reasons for browser instability are discussed here: http://content.techweb.com/winmag/library/1999/0701/ana0008.htm
Other connection-speed tests:
DSL Reports: http://www.dslreports.com/stest (You'll find a customized variant of the DSL Reports test at http://www.dslky.com/speedtest; it may be available when the DSL Reports servers are offline or bogged down.)
Test My Speed: http://www.testmyspeed.com/howto.htm
PC PitStop: http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/default.asp
BandWidthPlace: http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/speedtest_add.html
Toast Net: http://www.toast.net/performance
Modem speed tests: http://homepage.eircom.net/~leslie/testpage.htm
U.K.-based bandwidth test: http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/band-test
Online security tests
Online antivirus test: http://www.pcpitstop.com/antivirus/default.asp
DSL Reports port probe: http://www.dslreports.com/secureme
Steve Gibson's Shield's Up: http://grc.com
Vulnerabilities.org: http://www.vulnerabilities.org
HackerWhacker: http://www.hackerwhacker.com
My Security: http://www.securityspace.com/smysecure
Free ibh Online NetBIOS Vulnerability Check: http://www.it-sec.de/vulchke.html
General system health
PC PitStop: http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/default.asp
Fred's published info, tips, and tricks
Search all of Fred's newer (2001+) InformationWeek columns http://www.informationweek.com/LP/columnists/fredlanga.html
Search all of Fred's older (pre-2001) InformationWeek and TechWeb columns: http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter/archives.htm
Search all back issues of Fred's WinMag columns: http://content.techweb.com/winmag/columns/explorer/backissu.htm
Search all back issues of the LangaList newsletter: http://www.langa.com/search.htm
Further afield
If you can't find what you need among the above, you can find answers to almost anything else at http://content.techweb.com/winmag/library/1998/0701/fea0077.htm. This article contains techniques and tips for cutting through the clutter of most Web searches so you can quickly find exactly what you need, on your own.
Since that article was published, Google has emerged as probably the best all-around search engine. For more info, see http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=google&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000.
One of the neatest things about Google is that you can focus its impressive power on almost any site, in effect replacing the search engine on that site with Google's own. You can do this via Google's advanced features or by appending the search term "site:" to the end of your Google search, followed by the target site's URL.
For example, if you find the Microsoft KnowledgeBase unwieldy, you can use Google instead to mine the KnowledgeBase. Say you wanted to look up Microsoft KnowledgeBase article Q266709 in a hurry, via Google: You can do this in one step thus: http://www.google.com/search?q=Q266709+site:support.microsoft.com. For other searches at support.microsoft.com, you'd replace the "Q266709" with any other search term; string together multiple search terms with plus signs. For searches of other sites, simply replace the "support.microsoft.com" with whatever site interests you--say, "www.informationweek.com."
Now It's Your Turn
I hope my list is just the start of much more. Please dig out your favorite search/research/information/test sites to add to the mix and help create a truly a definitive list of outstanding online resources. See you in the discussion area.
About the Author
You May Also Like
More Insights
