Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly important, informative, and entertaining
Review: PC Fear Factor succeeds at a very difficult task: providing easy-to-follow, non-technical instruction on how to perform important defensive computing tasks. The author has a humerous, conversational style and provides in-depth explanations to problems that are easily understandable. If you follow the advice in this book, you should be able to eliminate 90% of all computer disasters and you will be prepared for the other 10% so that you can recover without losing any data or time. The author's companion web site keeps you up to date with new developments in the world of defensive computing. Buy this book - you will be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly important, informative, and entertaining
Review: PC Fear Factor succeeds at a very difficult task: providing easy-to-follow, non-technical instruction on how to perform important defensive computing tasks. The author has a humerous, conversational style and provides in-depth explanations to problems that are easily understandable. If you follow the advice in this book, you should be able to eliminate 90% of all computer disasters and you will be prepared for the other 10% so that you can recover without losing any data or time. The author's companion web site keeps you up to date with new developments in the world of defensive computing. Buy this book - you will be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: The most useful practical computer book I've ever purchased
Review: The author, Alan Luber, succeeds at a difficult task - writing a technical book for non-technical PC users. The challenge is two fold: keeping it easy to understand, and making it entertaining. Mr. Luber succeeds on both fronts. The net result is that you don't have to be a computer expert to protect yourself from computer disasters.The book's objective is to help users prevent avoidable computer disasters and to recover "quickly, easily, and completely" from unavoidable disasters, thereby taking total control of their computing environment. This book shows you how to protect yourself against every computer disaster imaginable, including viruses, hackers, mechanical failure, self-inflicted computer disasters cause by "ill advised" changes to your computing environment. The book also addresses the most frustrating type of disaster of all: disasters of "mysterious unknown origin." Having been in aggravating situations where my computer suddenly stopped working for no apparent reason, I am thankful that this book provides solutions for such disasters. The book is geared for non-technical home, home office, and small office users of personal computers. It addresses all three currently supported consumer oriented versions of Windows: 98, Millennium, and XP. The author goes to great lengths to provide solutions for each flavor of Windows. Mr. Luber's main premise is one that I can identify with: that personal computers are unstable equilibriums, naturally prone to "disruption and disaster." He makes a compelling case, explaining that our computing environments are growing increasingly complex with each passing year as use more applications - applications that often conflict with each other or hardware components, or worse, trash your system. (The author even provides examples of applications intended to solve problems that actually cause problems in some cases.) In addition, the author argues, we place higher service demands on our computers and have more computers than ever before, effectively multiplying the chances of a computer disaster that results in the loss of irreplaceable data. Mr. Luber also notes that we store more valuable data on our computers than in the past, so that the impact of a computer disaster is far worse than it was a few short years ago. This is certainly true in my case, as I have several gigabytes worth of digital music, photographs, and other critical documents on my computer. I never realized how vulnerable I was or contemplated the thought of losing that data until I read this book. The title of the book is somewhat misleading. This book isn't about creating fear - it's about creating awareness and providing solutions. The author lays a foundation of knowledge and need in the opening chapters, explaining why it is crucial that users take control over their computing environments to prevent computer disasters. Mr. Luber explains technical concepts in clear understandable English and using non-technical analogies that are very helpful, such as comparing the physical and logical structures of your computer's hard disk to an office building. The author explains what tools you will need to prevent and recover from computer disasters. He recommends specific products and provides detailed, step-by-step instructions that anybody of reasonable intelligence can follow. I already had two of the software applications recommended in PC Fear Factor, and the book does a better job of explaining how to use them than the vendors' own documentation! The author even explains deficiencies in the tools and advises the reader on how to work around them. The book is extremely readable and well written, and is laced with unexpected, droll humor that enabled me to learn and laugh at the same time. The author weaves many pop culture references into the discussion, and the device makes for a very entertaining as well as informative book. More than once, I found myself laughing out loud at a hilarious comment inserted almost incongruously in the midst of a serious discussion about cyber-terrorism or disaster recovery. Part of the pleasure in reading this book is that these sudden injections of humor take you completely by surprise. The book also includes many real-world examples of computer disasters, including one that befell ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. The book includes two important chapters for those of us who are about to purchase a new computer. One chapter explains how to avoid a computer disaster before you purchase the computer, and another chapter explains how to minimize the chances of disasters during the life of your computer by following a structure and a process for putting your new computer into service. The author also includes two chapters that help you prepare for unavoidable computer disasters, such as a hard disk crash, and one chapter to help you recover from such disasters. Mr. Luber integrates the book with his web site, which is really helpful because the book contains dozens of important links to web sites. Rather than require readers to manually enter these links, the author provides a page on his web site where you can access all of the links, chapter by chapter, page by page. The links are also kept up to date as they change. The web site is well designed and as easy to use as the book. You can even contact the author through his web site. (I asked the author a question and received a personal reply!) Mr. Luber also focuses on the administrative side of things - putting effective procedures into place that all members of your family should follow to minimize the chances of a computer disaster. He notes the importance of educating and training each family member, because it only takes one weak link to cause a computer disaster. The think I like most about the book is that it covers each topic in depth. Many books gloss over topics at a high level. Not so here - all of the information you need for disaster prevention and recovery is right here in one comprehensive, readable, entertaining book. One word of advice, though: don't look at the cover without sunglasses.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo, and indispensible tool for real people
Review: This book is targeted at beginning to intermediate computer users. It teaches PC users who are not PC technicians how to perform a variety of critical PC disaster prevention and recovery tasks. I am not a PC expert, but I was able to follow the author's detailed, step-by-step instructions (accompanied by pictures) for performing some rather complex tasks. I don't have a PC professional at my beck and call to help me solve a computer problem or recover from a computer disaster, and I don't need one thanks to this book. The emphasis on disaster prevention is especially welcome. In retrospect, I can see that I could have avoided many of the PC disasters I have endured over the years had I followed the advice in PC Fear Factor. Well done and well written. It has me doing tasks that I would have thought well beyond my level of expertise.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo, and indispensible tool for real people
Review: This book is targeted at beginning to intermediate computer users. It teaches PC users who are not PC technicians how to perform a variety of critical PC disaster prevention and recovery tasks. I am not a PC expert, but I was able to follow the author's detailed, step-by-step instructions (accompanied by pictures) for performing some rather complex tasks. I don't have a PC professional at my beck and call to help me solve a computer problem or recover from a computer disaster, and I don't need one thanks to this book. The emphasis on disaster prevention is especially welcome. In retrospect, I can see that I could have avoided many of the PC disasters I have endured over the years had I followed the advice in PC Fear Factor. Well done and well written. It has me doing tasks that I would have thought well beyond my level of expertise.
Rating: 
Summary: from a technician's point of view
Review: This book is very easily read and understood even for the first time computer owner as well as all old-timers. The suggestions of the writer make perfect sense and the products recommended are all excellent. If you are concerned about any type of computer disaster, this book will put your fears to rest. This book should be a MUST READ for all computer owners from the home PC to the corperate Computer Administrators.
This is the BEST information I have ever read on computers!
Rating:
Summary: The Bible for Disaster Prevention
Review: This book is very easily read and understood even for the first time computer owner as well as all old-timers. The suggestions of the writer make perfect sense and the products recommended are all excellent. If you are concerned about any type of computer disaster, this book will put your fears to rest. This book should be a MUST READ for all computer owners from the home PC to the corperate Computer Administrators.
This is the BEST information I have ever read on computers!
Rating:
Summary: from a technician's point of view
Review: This may come as a surprise to you. This book will not help you avert disaster. It will not help you protect your data against hackers and crackers. It does not even begin to help you understand why these attacks occur. If you feel a need to buy this book, you simply must need to consult a support professional. If you're a support professional and you need to read this book, you need a new career. The knowledge needed to avert disaster and protect against hackers doesn't come from a book. Chances are, if you think this book will help you, you have been tricked into thinking that you can be a support professional as well. If it were that easy to do, everyone would do it. This book could focus more on the technical aspects of disaster prevention. When an author writes non-technical about a technical subject, bad things can happen. Would you read a dummy's guide to brain surgery?
Rating:
Summary: Must Reading for All Personal Computer Users!!!
Review: Truly an outstanding book, PC Fear Factor teaches us mere mortals (non-technical computer users) all about how to prevent most computer disasters through the proper use of tools and procedures, as well as how to prepare for and recover from unavoidable computer disasters. This book is informative, funny, and most of all, understandable. This is no small feat given the complexity of the subject matter. Although the book is rated for the "beginner to intermediate" skill levels on the back cover, I believe that even computer experts will learn a great deal from this book, because it covers the topic of disaster prevention and recovery in more depth than anything I have ever read. The author takes on Microsoft in several places for encroaching on the turf of other software vendors and failing to provide as adequate a solution. For example, the author explains why the Internet Connection Firewall, the free firewall included in Windows XP, is inferior to other free firewalls that are available to the user. In fact, the author even points to the user to a Microsoft web page where Microsoft admits that its product is inferior. The author describes how other vendors of software utilities (anti-virus software, firewalls, etc.) routinely encroach on each other's turf without providing a comprehensive solution. He persuasively argues that you need a suite of specialized tools to adequately protect yourself against computer disasters, rather than one all-purpose tool. He recommends specific tools, and shows you how to configure and use them (as well as how to purchase them at the cheapest price!). But PC Fear Factor isn't just about tools. The author discusses procedures that you should implement to prevent computer disasters, including self-inflicted computer disasters. For example, he discusses how many computer disasters result from allowing somebody outside the family - a friend, relative, or house guest - to use your computer. He points out that these individuals typically don't follow safe computing practices and are likely to put your computer at risk by downloading something, installing something, or making some change to your computing environment. The author's central theme - that personal computers are unstable equilibriums, really resonated with me. I have on several occasions experienced computer disasters caused by the most seemingly insignificant change to my computer. I only wish I had had a book like this a few years ago - it would have saved me untold grief by telling me how to prepare for and recover from such inevitable disasters. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, this 384 page book is the most important, useful computer book I have ever purchased. I have also found the author's companion web site to be a valuable source of disaster prevention and recovery information.
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