Book Description
Most self-help computer books speak in technobabble as if they were written for rocket scientist 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 fact 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.

From the Publisher
• Shows you what to do quickly if you encounter both common and not so common hardware failures. Now you’ll have a solution if your computer bursts into flames or your kid spills soda on your keyboard (an all-too-common blunder)! • The book is a very practical, hands-on, and entertaining read for consumer audiences. The true-life mishaps and blunders that are presented are designed to engage the reader and teach them quick fixes. For many readers, these horror stories will be reminders of similar accidents that have happened to them! • Covers security issues, including what to do if others are reading your private files or logging your keys and stealing your identity. The disasters that can be caused by cyber scumbags are really freighting unless you immediately know what to do. • Shows you what to do to protect yourself if your laptop, PC, or PDA is stolen or lost. You’ll also learn how to cope if your PIN/password is stolen or compromised or your credit card number is stolen and you find yourself with a $10,000 charge for lawn flamingos. • Presents safe wireless networking techniques and easy ways to fix common problems that cause interference with your devices. • Helps you ensure you’re getting what you pay for when you buy online. Learn how to avoid common fraud and deceptive sales practices including, Bait and Switch, the low/hi game, Out of Stock/Back Ordered, Missing Accessories, Last Year’s Model, and deceptive typos when buying devices. • Discover techniques to prevent your PC from getting and spreading damaging viruses. Nothing will label you as a big loser faster than wiping out your friend’s PC with a virus your computer is distributing without your knowledge.

From the Author
Co-author Jesse Torres says, "As an IT consultant, I see wicked PC disasters every day. Sadly, most of these crises could be avoided with just a little planning. My intention in writing this book was to help arm everyone with common-sense advice on protecting their PCs and other devices, and learning how to recover from those unexpected catastrophes that always seem to happen at the worst possible time." Co-author Peter Sideris adds, "I’m always amazed at how vulnerable most computer users are to identity theft, theft of their laptops, or completely avoidable blunders, such as letting their kids play in their office around all their cables and wires. That’s just an accident waiting to happen. This book is a must-have for anyone who is worried that they’re not ready for a computer disaster – or someone who runs a computing environment and needs to prepare for the worst."

From the Inside Flap
Shows you what to do quickly if you encounter hardware failures. Practical, hands-on, and an entertaining read, with loads of true-life mishaps and blunders, presented to engage and educate the reader. Covers security issues, including what to do if others hack into your files, steal passwords, or hijack your identity. Shows how to protect yourself if your laptop, PC, or PDA is stolen or lost. Presents safe wireless networking techniques. Helps you ensure that you get what you pay for when shopping online or at a computer electronics store.

About the Author
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 the author of Windows Admin Scripting Little Black Book, Second Edition, published by Paraglyph Press. 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. He 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.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
What do you do when... Your hard drive crashes and you￯﾿ﾽve just got to get that data? You￯﾿ﾽve lost the power adapter to your notebook PC (or scanner, or whatever)? You replaced your wireless card, and now you can￯﾿ﾽt connect, no way, no how? You need a hardware driver and the manufacturer went out of business? You￯﾿ﾽre getting spam that says it￯﾿ﾽs from you? You￯﾿ﾽre in an airport and you can￯﾿ﾽt find a power outlet? Your computer keeps switching off all by itself? Your PDA won￯﾿ﾽt sync? WinXP won￯﾿ﾽt run your old software? You accidentally deleted a critical system file? What you do is this: you get a copy of Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders, find the answer, and fix the problem. Done. Bill Camarda, from the April 2005 Read Only

FROM THE PUBLISHER