Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 416 pages
• Published by: Paraglyph
• Edition: 1st Edition January 24, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1932111980
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1932111989
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 1.5 pounds

Product Description
Most self-help computer books speak in technobabble as if they were written for rocket scientist or computer geeks who live and breathe technology. Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders takes a different approach. This engaging and very accessible guide covers the types of problems all PC users will likely face at one time or another-so don't be caught off guard without it. The authors calm the fearful with easy to follow solutions and a humorous style. (Let's fact it-at some point all disasters, mishaps, and blunders appear humorous once you've gotten past them!) For a PC that is smashed, hacked, in flames, has come down with a nasty virus, or just isn't working as it should, this book covers it all with helpful tips to prevent problems from occurring in the first place.

Nothing strikers horror into the heart of a PC user faster than the words "Permanent Fatal Error" or seeing a PC that was working perfectly well seconds before melt down and send bizarre error messages. Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders covers a wide range of problems including security issues and theft, blunders arising from general clumsiness, disasters such as fire and floods, techniques for protecting important data from scammers and hackers, disasters that can be caused by nasty viruses, tips on buying devices without getting ripped off, techniques for avoiding hard drive crashes and recovering lost data, mishaps and potential disasters that can be caused by identity theft, and much more. You'll learn simple and practical ways to use and protect you PC and other support devices (like printers and scanners), and how to cope if disaster does strike. The book is cleverly organized by disasters, mishaps, and stupid blunders that can occur as you use your PC.

Publisher Description
• Shows you what to do quickly if you encounter both common and not so common hardware failures. Now you’ll have a solution if your computer bursts into flames or your kid spills soda on your keyboard (an all-too-common blunder)!


• The book is a very practical, hands-on, and entertaining read for consumer audiences. The true-life mishaps and blunders that are presented are designed to engage the reader and teach them quick fixes. For many readers, these horror stories will be reminders of similar accidents that have happened to them!


• Covers security issues, including what to do if others are reading your private files or logging your keys and stealing your identity. The disasters that can be caused by cyber scumbags are really freighting unless you immediately know what to do.


• Shows you what to do to protect yourself if your laptop, PC, or PDA is stolen or lost. You’ll also learn how to cope if your PIN/password is stolen or compromised or your credit card number is stolen and you find yourself with a $10,000 charge for lawn flamingos.


• Presents safe wireless networking techniques and easy ways to fix common problems that cause interference with your devices.


• Helps you ensure you’re getting what you pay for when you buy online. Learn how to avoid common fraud and deceptive sales practices including, Bait and Switch, the low/hi game, Out of Stock/Back Ordered, Missing Accessories, Last Year’s Model, and deceptive typos when buying devices.


• Discover techniques to prevent your PC from getting and spreading damaging viruses. Nothing will label you as a big loser faster than wiping out your friend’s PC with a virus your computer is distributing without your knowledge.

Reader Reviews
Every PC is different like our fingerprints. We customize options, install applications, remove default settings and do different things to it. So, a solution may not be the same for two PCs experiencing the same problem. This means trying out various workarounds and fixes. I rarely have trouble addressing the problems I run into with my PC. If I can't do it, then I go to the other pro in the house whose job relates to tech support. Usually between us, the problem gets solved. On rare occasions, we call the manufacturer. Still, we find found in the book tips that we hadn't tried. Others in our shoes might find it useful as well and if someone comes to us asking for help, we can loan them the book when we can't assist. Throughout the book the authors share horror stories, which are good teaching tools so you can learn the lesson from someone else's mistake and avoid making your own. Not only are computers covered, but also PDAs, cell phones, digital cameras and scanners. This is a well-rounded book with coverage on theft, backup and recovery, viruses, spam, junkware and fraud. If you're not into techie things, but want to keep your computer healthy--the book won't bore you. Quite the opposite, as the authors write with humor and down-to-earth feel. An example: after attempting to rescue a hard drive which continues to sputter, try the "defibrillator" method. It states to unplug the computer and remove the computer's cover, and then "yell 'CLEAR!'" and lightly tap the face of the hard drive. How can you not like a book with stuff like that? The authors clearly explain networking and wireless networking. Anyone befuddled by such topics will appreciate the book for those chapters alone. Some problems have simple answers such as, "Is the monitor turned on?" Hearing this from tech support might be embarrassing, but the authors don't talk down to anyone whether or not a solution is super easy or complex. The sections use a handwriting style font adding to the book's friendly nature and engaging writing style. It feels like a buddy helping you figure out the problem or having your own personal support person nearby. In addition to hardware and software troubles, the book includes advice for being proactive such as how to avoid spam and junkware and evade fraud and identity theft. The text is easy to scan for quickly finding things, the contents are well-organized with topics covering almost everything we deal with when it comes to gadgets. When we hit a roadblock, it's painful and frustrating. You can rely on the book to get you through any situation without the attitude that we sometimes face when we ask for help.