The Healthy PC: Preventive Care, Home Remedies, and Green Computing, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

This book saved me $600. It also made me the local computer whiz for all my relatives and neighbors...which is kind of a pain (so don't brag about what you learn...unless you want to start charging your grandparents and cousins).

First, I was so frustrated with my 3-year old Dell Inspiron that I planned on buying myself a new computer for Christmas. Before I did, I decided to take a $15 crack at curing my PC rather than putting it out of its misery. I picked this book because I loved the author's book on the iPhone (How to Do Everything...) -- everything was clear, concise, and didn't bog me down with tons of jargon and technical stuff.

This book is even more amazing - it was worth the price just for Chapter 1. The "10 things to do to speed up your computer" did *exactly* that! I spent about 3 hours following every step religiously. (If anyone would have told me that I'd be turning off "services" and "processes" and updating "drivers," I'd have told them they were crazy...but that's what I did. It was actually so simple, I was kind of embarassed I didn't know how to do it before.) Anyway, when I was finished, I rebooted...and what do you know -- my "new" computer was back. It was twice as fast as before. The next couple chapters made it even faster. (You should have seen all the junk that had clogged up the computer over the years -- now its ALL gone.)

I thought I knew all about the Internet, but man I was SO wrong. When was the last time you checked all your Internet Explorer settings? Yeah, me too...never. Well, now that someone explained what everything did and let me tailor it to my needs, I feel like I'm a lot safer on the big bad web. The networking (especially the "wireless") sections cleared up a lot a mysteries too -- I never used the Starbuck's and Panera wireless networks before because I was afraid of them. With a few precautions, they're actally a snap...and not as dangerous as you'd think.

The last thing this book helped me with was what I was dreading most -- adding hardware (memory) to my laptop. Since that was supposed to speed up the computer too, I took the ($50) plunge for more RAM. Instead of paying the Staples guys $50 to fiddle put the chips in, I decided to try it myself. Well, guess what -- it's 2 screws, a little trick...and bang, you've doubled your memory. That's the thing that got the computer working as fast as a brand new one.

Oh yeah, I forgot. I am using Windows XP. But this book is written so that anyone with XP or Windows 7 can use it. Which leads me to the one piece of advice I *didn't* do. I haven't upgraded to Win 7 yet. But since even that is covered in the book too, I'm sure that when Win 7 goes on sale (come on Microsoft - $79 would be fairer than $200, right), I'm confident I'll do that too.

Well, that's about it. The writing was clear and to the point. The explanations were step-by-step, and like I said before, I'm now the family troubleshooting guru. Not bad for 15 bucks.

Most people understand the benefits of a regular oil change, but how many understand the benefits of defragmenting a hard disk? Or the correct size of upgrade memory modules to buy? Or how to configure a firewall? Or knowing when a "virus alert" is real or fake? In "The Healthy PC", Guy Hart-Davis has taken on the challenge of instructing normal people in the kinds of computer maintenance tasks usually acquired by painful experience over years of frustration, or delegated in helpless fury to the household (or neighborhood) adolescent. There is a better way, says Hart-Davis, and here he lays it out: your home computer will run better and faster with the digital equivalent of a periodic oil change, and it's not difficult at all.

What slows a PC to an agonizing crawl, or makes it crash altogether? In general, it's the digital junk that collects over time: unnecessary, even malicious, background processes running without your knowledge; hard disks glutted with useless files; spyware, adware, even viruses or spam-bots. It all builds up like plaque, and "The Healthy PC" will help you blow it away without forcing you to obtain a degree in engineering in the process.

Hart-Davis starts off with the fundamentals of hard disk maintenance. The discussion is lucid and brief, quickly laying out the essentials. The tools needed are readily available right now on your machine and they are easy to use, but step-by-step instructions are provided anyway so that even the least experienced user can follow and get results. If you are lazy, it's possible to skip the explanations and just follow the numbered directions, although you'll miss quite a bit of useful insight if you do.

After your hard disk is all shiny and running like new, it's time for the real meat of the matter: home computing defense. The sad truth is that there are people out there who believe your computer is a trusting fool deserving to be exploited, and to a certain extent they have a point. Your computer will, in fact, do whatever it's told without question or hesitation. So if you want to protect it from the evil forces that really do surround us, those protections must be automatic and constant. Of special interest here are the sections on e-mail and social networking, which are the prime avenues through which bad things infect your machine.

Hart-Davis offers practical and independent advice on which Internet browser is best (it depends on how you use your computer), how to set up your firewalls (you'll need at least two), how to prevent most adware and other malware from gaining access to your PC, and how to clear them out promptly and thoroughly if they do.

Although your kids usually know more about computing than you do, that doesn't mean they are more careful. A lot of malicious software is intended to attract children. A detailed section in "The Healthy PC" covers parental control techniques, which could easily cover the cost of the book by saving a family the time, heartache, and expense of clearing out megabytes of malicious or highly objectionable content.

Finally, a short course in upgrading your machine might not make you a certified hardware engineer, but it will spare you the cost of a new computer when only a few simple inexpensive tweaks will double or triple its useful life. This section is short, sweet, and especially valuable.

Saving a couple of hundred dollars or so by following the advice in a twenty-five dollar book is an obvious value. But sparing yourself endless hours, even months, of unnecessary frustration, suffering, and stress? That's priceless. Highly recommended.

(Robert Thomas is a professional database administrator with 30 years experience programming and networking personal computers for businesses. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon.)

I can't think of anybody I know who hasn't experienced a computer slowing down and wished they could fix the problem. Chapter 1 of this book is dedicated to doing just that. This is just one of many topics in this book that deal directly with everyday issues experienced by anyone who uses a computer. Such issues as freeing up disk space, protecting ourselves from computer viruses and malware, connecting to and using the Internet safely, protecting children, and upgrading the computer and its operating system are all topics thoroughly addressed in this book.
In a class I am teaching on intermediate Windows 7, I showed the book to the students and had all of them ask to order it. This is the book for someone who wants to take charge of their PC and make sure it is operating at its best.
I am also an author of computing books and know a number of other authors. Guy Hart-Davis is one of the very few who bring real craft, skill, and a deep knowledge of what he is writing about to the task. I believe his books are among the very best.