My recommended free, secure and trusted online resources…
Windows (User / General)
- TeamViewer : Best remote support tool (Quick)
- Avast Antivirus : Free personal version (alternatives discussed here)
- Internet Connectivity Monitor : Monitor you connectivity uptime
- Defraggler : The best free disk defragmenter
- Smart Defrag : An excellent alternative to the above
- MalwareBytes : Malware / malicious software cleaner / remove
- 7-Zip : File compression & decompression
- Paint.NET : Image manipulation / edit
- Device Doctor : Driver updater
- PDF-XChange : PDF viewer / annotator
- PDF24 Creator : PDF page manager: Add, delete & combine pages / PDFs
- HandBrake : Open source video transcoder
- Free Commander : File management & synchronisation
- ImgBurn : CD/DVD data recording / copying
- InfraRecorder : Alternative CD/DVD data recording / copying
- Acrylic Wi-Fi Home : Measure & optimise Wi-Fi signal strength
- Quick Config : Change between various settings profiles
- Revo Uninstaller : Remove stubborn software
- Project Viewer Lite : Free Gantt chart viewer / editor / creator
- Recuva : Deleted / lost file recovery
- CCleaner : Cleans up cached program settings (CCEnhancer)
- WinDirStat : Excellent disk space usage analysis tool
- Audacity : Best open source audio editor
- VideoPad : Top free video editing tool (non-commercial use only)
- Skype : Need I say more? Ok, let’s talk about it…
- My Public WiFi : The easiest way to share connectivity
- VLC Player : The easiest & safest codecs package
- Caffeinated : Prevent your system from entering sleep mode
- Insomnia : Tiny alternative to the above
- Cyberduck : Excellent universal file transfer client
Windows (Admin / Server)
- Rufus : USB formatting / “bootable” tool. Inc UEFI / GPT.
- VHDx Tool : Massively speed up creation of Virtual Machine HDs / VHDs
- BGInfo : Fantastic system info tool for remote admin / Virtualisation
- Offline NT Password & Registry Editor : NT 3.1 – Windows 7 / 2008R2 64
- WinMTR : Network diagnostics tool
- Ultimate Boot CD : Should be in every techie toolbox
Other Software Sources
Online “User” Services
- WeTransfer : A great file transfer tool, even includes encryption
- Dropbox: The leading online secure file storage service
- onlineOCR.net : Online image & PDF OCR
- HTMLG : Superb online, WYSIWIG HTML editor
- image-maps.com : Online image map generator (HTML & CSS)
- goo.gl : The best URL shortener out there
- gantter.com : Excellent online Gantt chart tool (inc .mpp viewer)
- Fotor : Excellent HTML5 online photo editor
- Google Fonts : The best font resource full stop.
- Anagram Solver : Does exactly what says on the nit 😉
- Speedtest.net : The best known internet connection testing site
- BBC iPlayer Diagnostics : Excellent alternate connection test
Online “Admin” Services
- Online Visual Traceroute : Does what it says on tin
- tracemyip.org : Very useful self service Internet system info tool
- intoDNS : A superb DNS health checker for any / all domains
- whatsmydns.net : A great tool for checking DNS change propagation globally
- Validator.w3.org : Very goods website markup standards checker
- SortSite : Clearer / more helpful website syntax / code checker
- EmailSecurityGrader : Useful tool for checking email server security
- MXToolBox : Excellent and comprehensive email service / server testing
- Exchange Connectivity Analyzer : Microsoft’s excellent remote tester
- Down Detector : Best place to check if a website or service is down
- Is It Down Right Now?: Good alternative to the above (In case it’s down?)
- Is It Down or Just Me?: Nicely presented alternative to the above two
- Blitz.io : Very handy tool for load testing a website / app online
- HTML5Test : Standards compliance for web browsers old and new
- AV-Comparatives : Comparison of anti-virus / malware software
- Netflix ISP Speed Index: Pick your country to compare ISP speeds
- Cellular Signal Comparison: Which providing yet another important service
Depricated, but could still be useful;
- Spybot S&D : Malware / malicious software cleaner / remover