Degunking Your PC (Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author) "There are two types of gunk: internal and external..." (more)
Key Phrases: Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Degunking Your PC takes Paraglyph's unique "degunking" approach--an easy to follow, tried and true, 12 step method to get your PC and all your gadgets running in tip-top shape. It covers techniques for everything from tweaking your monitor to suit your needs, installing/uninstalling peripherals, to networking several computers without technical jargon. Is your wireless keyboard fighting with your wireless mouse? Do you really need to keep those desktop speakers? Don't know how to get rid of old drivers or where they are hiding? Do you know how to physically clean your hard drive, scanners, print heads, and monitors? Can you see the top and the underside of your desk or is it cluttered with devices and cables and unidentifiable wires? If this sounds familiar, you have some degunking to do! Learn about the joys and headaches of Wi-Fi networking, why good printers go bad, all about USB and FireWire and free yourself from cords. If you are still in the dial-up Dark !

Ages, you'll learn everything you need to know about Moving to DSL or cable. When it's finally time to say goodbye to your old devices, learn the proper way to donate, recycle or dispose of them and choose the right upgrades for your needs.

From the Publisher

Billions of PCs and various pieces of hardware – from simple printer cables to CD burners, monitors, printers, digital cameras, wireless devices and more – are sold each year in the U.S. and worldwide. With the wide range of devices functional and for fun available for your PC, it is easy to overload your desk (and hard drive) with a mess of devices and their attending software. Some devices have compatibility issues with others, and nothing is more frustrating than discovering the hard way that your wireless mouse conflicts with your wireless keyboard, or that you are bloating your memory and causing your PC performance to slow down just by uploading the gems from you digital camera. Degunking Your PC will show you the right way to install and use your devices for optimum performance, and now to keep computer gunk at bay.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Paraglyph Press; 1 edition (March 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933097035
• ISBN-13: 978-1933097039
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,066,165 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars careful explanation of wireless, April 10, 2005

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Yet another book in the Degunking series. Here the authors focus on helping with your PC's hardware. This includes both the hardware in the PC itself and any common peripherals or network that the PC is associated with.

Unlike the earlier Degunking books that I've seen, this starts off with a nice convenience. Four pages at the very start that summarise the major steps you can do. Lists are also given for various time limits under which you have to perform the tasks. Handy.

Some advice seems quite mundane. Like tips on how to best physically clean the PC. But then the skill set of readers can vary greatly.

Outside the PC, perhaps the most useful chapter for many is on making a wireless network, or connecting your PC to it. The authors carefully spell out the security precautions that you are strongly urged to perform. They stress that wireless can be far more insecure than wired. Heed this advice.

There's even a brief mention of HomePlug. Making a network via the power supply in your house. This is still pretty raw and the book compares it to where WiFi was in 2000 - "expensive, bleeding edge". But maybe that will not deter you.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why, When and How, May 10, 2005

By	Glynn Brooks (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In Degunking Your PC, Joli Ballew and Jeff Duntemann focus on the physical aspects of keeping your PC and your workspace in good working order.

Their twelve step degunking process covers cleaning your PC and peripheral equipment inside and out, unsnarling and labeling the cables that connect all the devices, overcoming the limitations of USB and Firewire devices, setting up and maintaining gunk-free networks (both wired and wireless), and setting up a shared Internet connection. There is also a good discussion of preventing data loss and how to properly backup data to external media.

The final portion of the book tells how to upgrade PC hardware: more RAM, adding home entertainment upgrades, and how to tweak computer performance. And since upgrading a computer often means that some hardware is cast aside, the book has an appendix that deals with responsibly recycling the items you no longer need (and making sure your personal information is not passed along).

Degunking Your PC for anyone who has a desire to better understand how PCs work, how to solve common hardware problems, how to install upgrades, and how to keep things running smoothly.

But just as important as HOW to do things, the book also tells you WHY and WHEN you should do things. If you have been reluctant to work on a computer yourself, this book should give you the confidence you have been lacking. And even if you have someone else handle things, you'll understand what has to be done and know whether the work is done right.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Got gunk? Count on it., April 8, 2005

By	Lieutenant Kije, "Ft. Potemkin" (Moscow, Idaho) - See all my reviews

Gunk: it's a fact of life. Our computers accumulate gunk -- physical gunk, in the form of needless, obsolete peripherals, wires, cables, and clutter; and virtual gunk, on the system itself. How many old computers are stacked in your closet? Face it: you're never, ever going to power those up again ("But I can turn it into a server!"). Or how many dinosaur laser printers do you have, with no hope of ever finding a fresh toner cartridge? ("But I paid $3000 for that printer!") And no, you can't off them on ebay (go ahead, do an auction search). And that's only the hardware gunk; what about the digital dust bunnies caught in the cobwebs of your hard drive? We all have plenty of software and hardware manuals on our computer-room bookshelves, but Jeff Duntemann and Joli Ballew's latest book in the "Degunking" series addresses a topic I've never seen covered anywhere else -- treating your entire computer system as a whole, to be cleaned up, streamlined, made more efficient. Treatments range from the obvious to the arcane, but even for obvious hints, sometimes somebody has to point those out to make us take action. And for the arcane, the book provides clear, lucid instructions. Beyond general physical uncluttering, chapters include degunking the PC's user interface; ditto for peripherals; USB/firewire; setting up networks; stepping up to broadband; setting up an effective backup strategy AND STICKING TO IT; and boosting PC performance (without buying a new PC). There's something in this book for everyone, from non-computer-literate users to power users. Works for me.