Customer Reviews

Degunking Windows: Clean up and speed up your sluggish PC

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Target Audience
Windows users who are tired of having their computer grow old before it's time...

Contents
This book shows you how to take the necessary steps to clean up your Windows installation and restore some of the speed that it had when things were brand new.

The book is divided into the following chapters: Why Is My Computer All Gunked Up?; Degunking Your PC; Getting Rid Of Files That Shouldn't Be There; Uninstalling Programs You Don't Need And Tweaking Those You Do; Organizing Your Desktop And Start Menu; Preventing Spam Gunk; Cleaning Up E-Mail Gunk; Cleaning And Tweaking Your Registry; Optimizing Your Hard Drive And Startup System; Installing Upgrades To Your System; The Best Hardware For PC Degunking; PowerToys And Awesome Shareware; Improving Security; Backing Up Precious Files; Last Resort Degunking Techniques

Review
Don't you just love how your brand new PC screams when you first remove it from the box and boot it up for the first time? Miles and miles of open disk space, lots of free memory, that "new computer smell"... Then, over time, memory starts to disappear with resident tasks that didn't used to be there. Boot-up now takes minutes instead of seconds. Programs that flew now amble along at pedestrian speeds. Congratulations! Your PC is "gunked up". You need to degunk it with this book.

Degunking Windows is a twelve step program designed to help you organize your Windows installation such that you can find the things you need, you are only running the things that matter, and the underlying disk structure is properly formatted. While you can pick and choose what you want to implement, its best to follow the entire program to get the whole synergistic effect. For instance, I could start out by defragmenting my hard drive. Of course, if I still have a lot of garbage on my drive, the defrag won't be as useful as it could be if I took the time to organize things first. The authors have written an extremely useful and easy to read "how to" manual that will add years to your PC's life by getting it running closer to how it used to behave when it was new.

The book does assume a Windows XP environment for the degunking tasks. However, many of the steps (such as file cleanup, desktop cleanup, defraging, and such) are applicable to all version of Windows. So don't panic if you're not yet an XP user. Also, hardcore operating system gurus will either know all this stuff already or "scoff" at the simplistic approach. Fine, the book isn't for you. But for those of us who more often are "users" of the operating system, the information is valuable and helpful. I've already regained nearly a gigabyte of disk space, and I'm still on step 1!

Conclusion
If you're not a Windows guru with a predefined plan of your own to keep Windows working cleanly, you owe it to yourself to get this book and start your "degunking" program.

With all the software reviews I do, I'm constantly cleaning Windows because I hate clutter. The title of the book immediately caught the eye of this organized freak. Get on board with this 12-step program, or rather processes, to clear out the cobwebs and garbage hiding in the chips of your computer.

Unlike most computer books, it's strongly recommended to follow this one from front to back rather than skipping around. Tying a shoe before putting it on a foot is not as effective as doing it the other way around. Though it's possible, it's not going to fit as well and it's harder to put it on.

The book focuses mainly on Windows XP Home and Professional. However, if you're using an earlier version, you can still benefit from the general operations are easily adaptable to most versions.

Each jargon-free chapter with a dash of humor begins with a Degunking Checklist to prepare you for the chapter's content. No need to reinstall your operating system as the program avoids that dreaded step.

Those who rely on their kids' or friends' advice when something goes wrong with the computer will benefit from this book. After getting through the dumping files and programs, cleaning the emailbox, organizing files, tweaking the desktop and registry, and optimizing the hard drive; the computer will be a happy camper and like in those old `50s TV shows where everyone is happy at the end of the episode.

Still freaking out at the mention of "registry?" The authors provide cautions and warnings so you can ensure you're covered.

The formatting is in the style of the 1950s and on the front page is the traditional housewife of the `50s looking overwhelmed at the thought of cleaning up the big mess. It makes me want to put on yellow dishwashing gloves and take the pink feather duster as I get to work. Be gone, crowded Favorites. Shoo, unused programs and files. When you finish the housework, take a load off and treat yourself to a TV dinner.

I've been wrestling with Windows for a while now - I get a lot of spam, my system's running slower than ever, and I get a ton of pop-up ads. Then I saw this book and bought it. It's one of the best investment I've made after buying my computer. It puts you on a maintenance plan for your PC - regardless of whether you have 10 minutes, an hour, or all day. The best thing about this book is that it gives you a priority list on how to get your Windows system running quickly and efficiently and without crashing every day. The book tells you what you need to do first, what you do next, and then if you have more time you can follow the 12-step degunking program, which is a complete routine that teaches you how to manage your desktop, organize your folders, clean up your e-mail, and keep a good security system on your PC. This book should be included in every PC sold today. I think this would be a great reference for IT managers as well, for their support staff, to help them manage the tons of idiotic things their users do with their computers to gunk them up. And if you're not a dummy, this is the book for you. It's written in an intelligent, humorous style - but the authors have managed to boil down about 1,000 pages of Microsoft documentation into a very readable, affordable book.

As someone who frequently "degunks" friends, relatives, and associates' PCs, I can honestly say that this book provides a good step-by-step "blueprint" in optimizing your PC's performance, eliminating viruses and other threats, and reducing the clutter.

If you were to take your PC to a pro to have it looked at, it will likely cost you at least $150 or more to have this service performed for you. If you think you need a new PC because your current one is too slow, try this book first. It will likely get it running smooth again.

Many PC pros won't tell you this, because they want your business. But even computer novices can do all the steps in this book.

The initial thing about this book that strikes you is the cover.
Looking like a 1960's housewife, the woman gives off the air of being terrified with the idea of fixing her broken computer.
The theme of the book is about getting rid of all the "surplus to requirement" things that computers seems to collect, not unlike the junk people collect over the years and only realise when they come to move house.

There are lots of suggestions throughout the book, on ways to remove those things that "slow down" your computer. From programs that you do not need, seldom use or that you did not realise are installed, desktop icons that can be deleted without worry, to tidying up those email in and out boxes filled with old emails, and so on.

The "Fix-It / Tidy-Up" Technique.
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The book is organized according to "tidy-up" processes that will improve the performance of your computer.
A nice novel approach to this, is the "Quick Degunking Sheet" at the beginning of the book, which helps you determine the time and effort that is required to perform different tasks albeit that they maybe small or large.

Each chapter starts off with a checklist of major topics that the chapter covers and uses the author's informal approach, taking potentially very technical sounding subjects, and presenting them in language that can be understood by anyone.

Not only for the novice.
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There are also suggestions upon solving far more complex problems such as cleaning your registry, optimizing your hard disk and ways of improving the security on your computer. This comes with "step by step" instructions of specific "de-gunking tasks".

Most computer "fix-it" books have lots of useful information, but tend to get too technical and overwhelm the reader, whereas this book is informative and enjoyable at the same time.

I've read countless numbers of books about computers. Virtually all of them were quite informative and I learned a lot, but at times I found the information to be a bit "over my head." This book is one of the few I've read that combines a little bit of humor, technical information, and an informal writing style into a truly enjoyable book. Each chapter focuses on a different "degunking" task and offers great step by step explanations of tasks and terms.

Downloadable programs designed to help you "degunk" (I love that term!) your computer are also mentioned. I've downloaded a couple already and have found them quite useful. Some of the suggestions the book offers were ones I already do, like keeping your email in and out boxes nice and empty. But there are those who forget about emptying them and discover a couple hundred sent emails sitting in their out box! Another helpful idea is getting rid of desktop icons for programs you rarely or never use, as well as uninstalling them. I noticed I had a handful of those which I've now gotten rid of. Most of the steps in the book apply to Windows XP users, but there are some steps that can also be helpful to "dinosaurs" like me, still using 98.

Each chapter as well as the book's Appendices I thought were wonderful. The Appendices cover topics like doing a clean Windows install, recovering from a corrupted registry and even a troubleshooting section. The book manages to explain technical terms from a layperson's perspective, something which I really liked. It's quite an enjoyable read, one that if you read it cover to cover will only take a couple hours. And even if you intend to use this book solely as a "quick reference" to solve a specific problem you will generally find a solution quickly. Kudos to the authors for writing a book that is both fun and answers a lot of questions quickly.

I have to admit that computers are similar to cars to my way of thinking--I can drive them competently enough, but I have no idea what goes on under the hood and don't really care. My son, the computer geek of the family, always untangles the problems and fixes whatever program I manage to crash. He gave me a copy of Degunking Windows last weekend with a not very subtle hint that it would teach me to fix my own problems, and maybe even keep out of trouble. He also mentioned that most of the things in the book could be done in a few minutes and wouldn't require taking the back off or rewiring anything. Never having read a computer book before, I wasn't very eager to start with this one. I was pleasantly surprised. At the very front of the book it goes through a list of things you can do based on how much time you have. I tried the ones you could do in ten minutes. When I managed those without breaking anything, I looked for other things that I could clean up. I started really reading the book and found that the instructions were very easy to understand. There were also plenty of pictures and diagrams so I was sure that I was doing everything correctly. The writer also puts in warnings of things to watch out for--so it's pretty foolproof. The email section was particularly helpful--I was guilty of almost every problem in that chapter, but now I proudly sport a clean mailbox! I haven't done everything in the book yet, and some things seem a lttle beyond me, but overall I think it's great for anyone that wants to clean things up and be able to find things easier. Thanks to the authors for finally writing a computer book that anyone can understand!

Book Review: Degunking Windows
By Gregory West
Editor, SCUG Report
(...)

By Joli Ballew and Jeff Duntemann.
Published by Paraglyph Press.
Category: Operating Systems / Windows.
ISBN: 1-932111-84-0
Format: Paperback, 310pp
(...)

Some people claim it a rule of nature that we humans are naturally lazy when it comes to cleaning, organizing, and simply putting things away where they belong. Well, I for one choose to think I am too busy for all of the above, especially when it comes to my computer. The only time we give our computers a concern is when they become sluggish and crash. Many of us tend to hoard all the junk we think we cannot do without taking up valuable space on the hard drive. After a while we face the decision of either calling the computer tech for a in-home-expensive service call, head out and buy that costly new machine, or we reformat and pray that we have all the original discs and that we save all important files properly.

Wait, it really is not all that drastic. There is help and it is contained between the covers of this new computer-self-help book with a basic 12-step process that shows you how to completely cleanup your computer's hard drive and making it run like a new machine. Although the authors "highly recommend that you complete all of the main Degunking tasks in the order they are presented" you do not have to tackle them all at once.

In fact, if you are short on time you can do this process in small amounts. The first thing I did after reading this book is to reorganize all my files into a more manageable system. Instead of completing the 12 steps at one sitting the book offers Ten-Minute, Thirty-Minute, One-Hour, Three-Hour, to a Half-Day Degunking sessions that help you clean up your computer at a pace that suits your lifestyle. Whichever timeframe you choose you will most certainly see the progress immediately as your computer becomes organized and more manageable. Thus, it will run faster and problem free. In just a few hours you will speed up your computer, secure it from "dangerous hackers", and have it run as a well organized machine, functioning like a new computer, only it will be a more effective and secure system.

This book is very easy to use, written in a language that everyone will follow along easily, but its expert assistance will easily guide you through the technical processes of fine-tuning your computer. With extensive sidebar help and tons of amazing screen shots you can see how easy this process really is once you begin. This book not only shows you the how to fix problems, but it easily explains why the problems got there in the first place, thus helping you become aware for the next time. There is also a troubleshooting section guiding you through the common problems; you will see just how easy it is to correct them. This book is a must have for all home computer users.

Degunking Windows is about cleaning up a PC from the inside out - deleting unnecessary files, uninstalling extraneous programs, scrubbing the registry, organizing desktop items, cleaning up and organizing email and attachments, optimizing and tweaking software settings, and removing spyware. The emphasis is on regaining control of your PC and keeping Windows and your applications lean and smooth.

I recommend this book for people who are looking for a "good housekeeping" approach to taking care of their computers. The fact that the book explains WHY you should do many things makes it easy to apply to everyday activities.

I have been a computer tech, a systems and network admin, and computer builder. This books took all of my years of experience and condensed it down to easy to follow instructions with pictures and even showed me a bunch of things about Windows that I never knew. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to fix there come computer because it is bogged down with spy ware and ad ware, or some one who reallys wants to learn the secrets they never tell you about Windows. This books shows the options that you can't get to with any icons and micro$oft doesn't want you to know about.