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", 27 Jun 2004
By "sonnyboy110" - Published on Amazon.com
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, 1 July 2004
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
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, 12 April 2004
By W Boudville - Published on Amazon.com
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.