Guy Hart-Davis - The Healthy PC: Preventive Care, Home Remedies, and Green Computing

Guy Hart-Davis

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ISBN: 978-0-07-175292-3

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This book is dedicated to Teddy.

Guy Hart-Davis is the author of more than 70 computer books, including iPad and iPhone Administrators Guide, Integrating Macs into Windows Networks, Mac OS X System Administration, and How to Do Everything: iPhone, iPod, and iTunes, Fifth Edition.

James Floyd Kelly is a freelance author from Atlanta, Georgia. He has degrees in both English and industrial engineering and has written on a variety of subjects that include building CNC machines and 3D printers, LEGO robotics, open-source software, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom tablets.

Id like to thank the following people for their help with this book:

Roger Stewart for asking me to write this revised edition of the book

Carey Holzman for writing the first edition of the book

Joya Anthony for handling the acquisitions end of the book

James Floyd Kelly for reviewing the manuscript for technical accuracy and contributing many helpful suggestions

Bart Reed for editing the manuscript with a light touch and good humor

Anupriya Tyagi for keeping the schedule and production of the book within industry-approved norms

Cenveo Publisher Services for laying out the pages

Rebecca Plunkett for creating the index

Is your PC vital to you?

Would you like it to run faster?

Does it ever crash?

Do you need to keep yourself and your family safe online?

If you answered yes to any of these questionsor to all of themthen congratulations. Youve picked up the right book.

This book shows you how to keep your PC healthyrunning well, free from viruses and other malware, and safe for you and your family to use.

Are you a normal personnot a PC expert?

Do you want to keep your PC running well, or maybe get it running a bit betterbut not spend fistfuls of dollars and half your waking hours turning it into a speed demon?

Do you want to solve problems with Windows but not pore over technical details and fiddle with arcane settings?

Then, yes, this book is for you.

This book covers Windows XP and Windows 7. These are the versions of Windows that most people are using at this writing. But most of the content applies to Windows Vista as well.

In of this book, you learn to tune up, optimize, and protect your PC:

walks you through getting your PC to run faster. You learn whats slowing your PC down and then take action to fix the problems. You disable unnecessary startup items, sort out Windows services, give your PC extra virtual memory, and defragment the hard drive.

explains how to free up space on your PCs hard drive. Drives tend to fill up over time, and the lack of space can cripple your PC. To fix the problem, you run Disk Cleanup, slim down the Recycle Bin, and reclaim space from the System Restore feature. If necessary, you take a bite out of the paging file, remove any programs you no longer need, and archive your old files.

shows you how to protect your PC against attacks, viruses, and malware with three quick moves. First, you install vital patches and fixes to squash bugs and close off paths of attack. Second, you install the best free software to keep your PC safe. And third, you turn on Windows Firewall to slam the door shut on network and Internet threats.