AM-DeadLink  is a free program that detects dead links in browser bookmarks and favorites. It is a Windows only program that works with systems as old as Windows 95, those as new as Windows Vista, and everything in between.

AM-DeadLink works with Internet Explorer favorites, Firefox bookmarks, Opera bookmarks,  and Mozilla and Netscape bookmarks. You can also check URL's in several types of text files.

It is a small that downloads and installs quickly. Once up and running, if you have more than one browser installed, you choose the browser whose bookmarks or favorites you want to check. Then simply click on the green checkmark icon to have the program check your bookmarks. The program moves quickly through each bookmark checking to see if the link is good or bad. It works with amazing speed. Most average Internet users will watch all their bookmarks be checked in a minute or two. It doesn't seem to choke no matter how many bookmarks you have. I tried it on a computer with 1700 bookmarks and it took only about six minutes.

When you see which links are dead, you can delete them right from the program window. The program lets you sort the URLs with the errors on the top, so you can easily delete them. It will also help you delete duplicates. AM-DeadLink will even download favicons for all your favorites and/or bookmarks. Favicons are the small icons that come up next to the URL in the address bar. If you are on the Compu-KISS website as you read this, you will see my favicon, a set of red lips in the address bar.

Even after you get rid of dead links, you may still have some work to do to clean up your bookmarks, but this free program will get you off to a good start.