The Healthy PC: Preventive Care and Home Remedies for Your Computer (Consumer Education) [Paperback]

Carey Holzman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072229233 | ISBN-13: 978-0072229233 | Publication Date: May 2003 | Edition: 1

Learn routine maintenance as well as desktop basics, hard drive care and defragmentation, and plenty more to make your PC more efficient and keep it running smoothly. Learn software management, tame the Internet, secure your machine, deal with downloads, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Keep Your PC Running Smoothly--Without Spending a Lot of Money!

Solve everyday PC problems, improve performance and speed, and protect yourself from malicious attacks with the helpful tips in this user-friendly guide. Easy-to-follow "recipes" show you, click-by-click, how to prevent computer catastrophes and recover completely from unavoidable disasters. If you've had a hard time understanding other computer guides, you'll love this book's clear, accessible approach. PC guru Carey Holzman dispels common myths and explains complicated issues in language that anyone can understand, regardless of their computer experience. Don't be held hostage by hackers or overpaid computer technicians. Learn how to maintain and upgrade your own PC and have fun in the process.

Inside, you'll learn to:

• Avoid disasters caused by computer viruses, hackers, and hard disk crashes
• Use Scandisk and Defragment to find and repair hard drive problems before it's too late
• Remove spyware, Trojan horses, unnecessary temp files, and unused programs
• Eliminate pop-ups, spam, email hoaxes, and unwanted Internet solicitations
• Manage cookies, temporary Internet files, and Web browser preferences
• Defend against worms and Denial-of-Service attacks with firewall and anti-virus software
• Understand and optimize DMA, Active Desktop, animations, fonts, and swap files
• Tweak power and hardware settings, screen savers, and start-up routines
• Back up and restore Windows configurations, files, and applications
• Obtain and install Windows, application, and driver upgrades
• Optimize your Internet connection

About the Author:

Carey Holzman, A+, IBM Quality Service Skill Certified, HP Laserjet Hardware Certified, is the owner of Discount Computer Repair, in Phoenix, Arizona. He also hosts his own Internet radio show featuring the latest computer news, and has been an operating systems beta-tester for Microsoft since Windows 95.

About the Author

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072229233
• ISBN-13: 978-0072229233
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,132,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The PC book I have been waiting for all of these years", June 26, 2004

By 

"sonnyboy110" (CAMARILLO, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Healthy PC: Preventive Care and Home Remedies for Your Computer (Consumer Education) (Paperback)

I recommend this book without any reservations, qualifications or any other comment that would minimize this superb book: All those symbols you didn't know e.g. EULA (End User License Agreement), GUI ( Graphical User Interface) and numerous others that I used to just pass over while reading because the authors seldom took the time to explain what the symbols stand for and what they function they perform on your PC, I now understand what the translation is when I encounter these symbols and how they work on your PC.
Carey Holzman writes cleary and in plain English so the content of this fine book is easy to understand. I just followed along with the numbered step by step instructions which are combined with the screen shots that clearly illustrate the written instructions of the author. Don't hesitate -- buy this book and you will be rewarded with a much better understanding of your PC. As a bonus, perhaps for the first time you will be able to carry on a knowledgeable conversation with other informed PC users for the first time.
While I dislike the use of the term: empowerment; it certainly applies to this book. For the first time -- 4+ yrs.-- in working with computers -- an XP system -- and often feeling frustrated, I now feel that I really comprehend my PC and how it works. It is now my primary reference source that I will use with confidence.
Many thanks to Carey Holtzman.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Computer Club Member Swears BY The Healthy PC, July 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Healthy PC: Preventive Care and Home Remedies for Your Computer (Consumer Education) (Paperback)

Our computer club had a chance to buy and use Carey's new book, The Healthy PC. In my case I had already accomplished some of the suggestions in Carey's book, but others he included certainly did speed up my PC and make it safer. The book includes a number of performance and safety suggestions I had not heard of. His step-by-step instructions, as well as why we should consider each "fix", are simple and easy to follow.

My daughter has been complaining about problems with her PC. I know she will definitely benefit from Carey's book, since she is not a PC technie and is too busy with work to spend time learning how to fix it on her own. It's just the book for her.

Definitely a five star book that every PC owner can benefit from.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Puts the Internet first, April 12, 2004

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Healthy PC: Preventive Care and Home Remedies for Your Computer (Consumer Education) (Paperback)

A person using a Microsoft PC for the first time can face a formidable amount of documentation. Microsoft has produced heavy tomes, delineating all that is possible with its system. Her problem is worsened if the computer is for her home. Then there is no corporate IT staff to pester. But the prospects of reading several large volumes is daunting.

So Holzman has given her an alternative. His book is directed squarely at the new user. It covers both looking after the software and hardware. In the latter, to give you an idea of the level of expertise he is pitching to, he explains that "the motherboard is the largest circuit board in the PC". An experienced user may snigger, but there are millions of people out there (perhaps you?) for which this is new and nonobvious.

As for software, he has chosen an order of presentation which is a symptom of what Microsoft dreads. Holzman starts by describing how to connect to the Internet and then he discusses the browser, email and a firewall. Only after these does he go into outlining how to use the Microsoft operating system. Because what drives much uptake of computers these days is the web, as contrasted to a purely local interaction. Not that he is anti-Microsoft, but he is predicting that many readers have precisely these priorities for their computer usages.