Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders 
Book Review

By Dale Farris, Vice President Golden Triangle PC Club February 2005 General Overview Most self-help computer books speak in technobabble, as if they were written for rocket scientists or computer geeks who live and breathe technology. Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders takes a different approach. This engaging and very accessible guide covers the types of problems all PC users will likely face at one time or another. So, don't be caught off guard without it. The authors calm the fearful with easy-to-follow solutions and a humorous style. Let's face it. At some point all disasters, mishaps, and blunders appear humorous, once you've gotten past them! For a PC that is smashed, hacked, in flames, has come down with a nasty virus, or just isn't working as it should, this book covers it all with helpful tips to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Nothing strikers horror into the heart of a PC user faster than the words "Permanent Fatal Error" or seeing a PC that was working perfectly well seconds before melt down and send bizarre error messages. Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders covers a wide range of problems, including security issues and theft, blunders arising from general clumsiness, disasters such as fire and floods, techniques for protecting important data from scammers and hackers, disasters that can be caused by nasty viruses, tips on buying devices without getting ripped off, techniques for avoiding hard drive crashes and recovering lost data, mishaps and potential disasters that can be caused by identity theft, and much more. You'll learn simple and practical ways to use and protect you PC and other support devices (like printers and scanners), and how to cope if disaster does strike. The book is cleverly organized by disasters, mishaps, and stupid blunders that can occur as you use your PC. Focus of the Book This book is written for: Those who are worried that their PC is not sufficiently protected from theft, loss, or unforeseen accidents Anyone who has problems with their Windows PC Anyone who needs to support Windows PCs in a corporate environment. Table of Contents The book is organized into fifteen (15) chapters, including: Chapter 1.   Theft and Loss Chapter 2.   Hardware Disasters and Mishaps Chapter 3.   Software Disasters and Mishaps Chapter 4.   Network Disasters and Mishaps Chapter 5.   Wireless Networking Chapter 6.   Internet Fraud Chapter 7.   Spam Chapter 8.   Surviving Viruses Chapter 9.   Junkware: Malware, Adware, and Spyware Chapter 10. Email and Other Internet Hazards Chapter 11. Travel Mishaps and Disasters Chapter 12. Power Adapters and Batteries Chapter 13. Backup and Recovery Chapter 14. Digital Lifestyle Hazards Chapter 15. Piracy Book Contents 400 pages; paperback; introduction; figures; horror stories; tips; index Authors Jesse M. Torres Peter Sideris About the Authors Jesse M. Torres is an IT consultant specializing in enterprise management and administration, with over ten years experience in the government, corporate, and private sector. He has extensive experience in process analysis and automation. Jesse is an MCSE and has written articles for "Win 32 Scripting Journal." He is also the author of "Windows 2000 Admin Scripting Little Black Book." Peter Sideris has earned numerous certifications including A+, MCSE, MCDBA, and MCAD. He started his career as a field technician and quickly became an IT department assistant manager with Prudential CT Realty managing the helpdesk, creating network documentation, providing technology needs assessment, and troubleshooting. Peter is currently working as a Systems Engineer for General Technology Group in Meriden Connecticut specializing in security, disaster recovery and planning and client needs assessment. ISBN January 2005 - First Edition 1-932111-98-0 List Price $29.99 $43.99 CAN About Paraglyph Press Paraglyph Press was formed in 2002 by industry veterans Keith Weiskamp and Jeff Duntemann, the original founders of the Coriolis Group. Keith and Jeff are highly successful entrepreneurs and best-selling authors who built Coriolis into a $25+ million operation, and established leading product lines and brands, including Exam Cram and Exam Prep, Black Books and Little Black Books, and f/x and Design guides. Paraglyph's mission is to publish high-level technology books for general audiences and experienced technology users. The fall 2002 list included new titles focused on advanced programming, Mac OS X, and networking topics. In 2003, Paraglyph published a set of key titles for developers, network administrators, game developers, and Web designers. Two of their best selling titles included "Game Coding Complete" by Mike McShaffry and Jeff Duntemann's "Drive By Wi-Fi Guide." The Paraglyph publishing team includes Steven Sayre, another industry veteran with over 20 years in publishing, and Cynthia Caldwell, who brings over 10 years of experience in public relations, sales, and marketing. Sayre has worked for companies such as Coriolis, Hungry Minds, John Wiley & Sons, and International Thomson in their publishing and sales divisions. Caldwell has a background in worldwide sales and marketing with several companies, as well as retailing experience with Barnes & Noble. In early 2004, Paraglyph started a new partnership with O'Reilly and Associates. O'Reilly now sells and distributes Paraglyph titles to the trade in the U.S. and Canada. This new partnership will greatly allow Paraglyph to increase its distribution and sales by working with the top technical book publisher around the world. About O'Reilly Media O'Reilly Media is the premier information source for leading-edge computer technologies. The company's books, conferences, and web sites bring to light the knowledge of technology innovators. O'Reilly books, known for the animals on their covers, occupy a treasured place on the shelves of the developers building the next generation of software. O'Reilly conferences and summits bring alpha geeks and forward-thinking business leaders together to shape the revolutionary ideas that spark new industries. From the Internet to XML, open source, .NET, Java, and web services, O'Reilly puts technologies on the map. O'Reilly Media creates products that they want to use. Whatever form it takes--book, conference, online product--they want anything produced with the O'Reilly name to be useful, interesting, and truthful. And O'Reilly Media believes that there are plenty of intelligent, discriminating people in the world who value those qualities as deeply as they do. Publisher Contact Paraglyph publishes books for computer users and professionals on such topics as web design, game programming and development, and wireless and emerging technologies. Some of its best-selling titles are "Degunking Windows," "Game Coding Complete," "Jeff Duntemann’s Wi-Fi Guide, 2nd Edition," and "Looking Good in Print, 5th Edition." For more information about the company, visit its web site at www.paraglyphpress.com. Paraglyph Press 1238 East Cambridge Avenue Phoenix, Arizona 85006 602-749-8787 FAX 602-971-0327 Distribution Information Paraglyph Press books are now sold and distributed by O'Reilly & Associates. Paraglyph Press is distributed by O’Reilly & Associates in the U.S. and Canada. For order information, please use the following contact information: O’Reilly & Associates 1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, California 95472 800-294-4747 FAX 800-997-9901 order@oreilly.com www.oreilly.com