Computer Tips and Help Guides

I receive a weekly email from ZDNet called Download Digest (which I read about every 4th one). It is their weekly recommendation of software; much of it is useless, but occasionally there are some nuggets. In addition, there is a section on recommended TechRepublic articles. These are recycled over time, but again there are some nuggets. For example, if you're not real Internet savvy, you might be interested in 10 things you should do to a new PC before connecting it to the Internet. (Note that you must sign-up for a free account to access TechRepublic.)

Here are some TechRepublic tips and guides that I believe people may find valuable:

1. Powerful PowerPoint Presentations: This wont teach you how to make better presentations, but it will teach you how to use PowerPoint to its fullest capability.
2. How do I...Migrate from Outlook Express to Mozilla's Thunderbird?: If you haven't yet switched to Thunderbird for email, this article is helpful in getting you through the process.
3. Creating a bootable USB flash drive for Windows XP: Just what you need when you're troubleshooting your friends PC.
4. Create a bootable WinXP CD slipstreamed with SP2 and hotfixes: The perfect companion for your bootable USB flash drive when you need to reinstall XP.
5. How do I... Uninstall Microsoft Internet Explorer 7?: This will only roll you back to IE6, but if you are having problems with some web apps using IE7, this is a great help. (Of course you should have been using Firefox anyway.)
   

While you're visiting TechRepublic, also be sure to read The 10 worst geek gift ideas for the holidays.

As with the Download Digest, if you are willing to put the effort into sifting through for the nuggets, TechRepublic does contain some practical articles.