Amazon.com Review
The scenario: Your computer is acting "funny," so you load it in your car and take it to the "shop." One month later you pay a hefty $350 to replace what you read on the bill as, "lots of techno jargon and funky parts." To help you overcome this kind of situation and correct what may be easily solvable problems
and learn how to fix things cheap, the Geek Squad, a.k.a. Robert Stephens and Dale Burg, soar to the rescue in
The Geek Squad Guide to Solving Any Computer Glitch. The tips and advice in this book (developed after helping thousands of real customers) include how to diagnose your computer in advance of getting pricey consulting and repair services. The authors help you get to know your computer and all of its component parts so that you'll feel comfortable explaining to a technical expert exactly what's ailing your machine and at the same time save your data--and a chunk of change.
One of the more clever "Action Jackson" tricks the squad advises is to slip a $20 spot (yes, just as you might do with a host at your favorite overcrowded restaurant) to a computer techie. For example, stop by Radio Shack and see if they'll replace your computer battery to combat a clock-battery problem. (The trick: fork out $20 to save $100 in tech-shop repair fees.) Another tip: offer the kid from the computer store $20 to copy your printer software on a disk (when faced with having to reinstall your printer driver and printer software without the software on hand).
For new users, this book is a good introduction--with light humor and hand-holding--to maintaining, diagnosing, and quick-fixing your machines, both Macs and PCs. If you've taken the plunge into a Linux OS, however, you'll find no superhero help here; you may also be annoyed by the computer poetry inserted throughout--although it does serve as a nice break from fiddling with file organization and diagnostic checks. For more heavy-duty technical guidance that's several steps up from basic hardware troubleshooting and maintenance, try Upgrading and Repairing PCs, The Unofficial Guide to PCs, or the MacWorld Mac Upgrade and Repair Bible --Brooke Gilbert
From Library Journal
Technophobes and lovers of droll works of the highest order will find themselves immediately drawn to this irreverent manual, written specifically for people who unabashedly hate to read manuals. Stephens, founder of the Geek Squad, a Minneapolis computer service company, sums it all up in the book's sassy introduction: "At that horrible moment when you flip the switch or press a key and your trusty computer companion ignores your commandAor rolls over and plays deadAthis book should help you get it up and, if not quite running, at least limping toward helpAwithout making you resort to a manual." Stephens and company take on a variety of pesky scenarios, including "Terrors of the Tape Drive," "Making the Modem Mind You," "Video Vagaries," and "The Stubborn RAM," and if that isn't enough, treat readers to an equally glib set of appendixes covering everything from Y2K issues to hardware conflicts. This book should have no trouble finding a warm spot on the shelves of all collections.AGeoff Rotunno, Valley Voice Newspaper, Goleta, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
