There are some book series that I really look forward to reading based on their style and content. One is the Degunking series, and the latest installment is Degunking Your PC by Joli Ballew and Jeff Duntemann. Much common sense that is rarely practiced...
Chapter List: Why Is My PC All Gunked Up?; Degunking Your PC; Physically Cleaning Your PC And Peripherals; Degunking And Configuring Your PC Work Area; Degunking Your Main PC Components; Degunking Your Peripherals; Untangling Your USB And FireWire Connections; Setting Up A Basic Network For Sharing Dial-Up Internet Connections; Moving To DSL Or Cable Internet; Creating Gunk-Free Wired Networks; Going Wireless While Staying Gunk-Less; Degunking Your Backup Strategy; Enhancing PC And Media Performance; Index
I think it's fair to say that if you've been around computers for any length of time, you probably know you should be doing a lot of the stuff in this book. PCs grow internal killer dust bunnies if not cleaned out occasionally (our kitchen PC grows new kittens). An attempt to unplug a device ends up becoming an exercise in tracing the Gordian knot of cables, with slicing through it not being a viable option. And, um, I really thought the plug for my Pocket PC cradle was *that* one, not the one that powered off my PC. If you follow the plans put forth in this book, you'll avoid much (if not all) of these issues. Ballew and Duntemann give you easy-to-follow tips on setting up a program to not only get your system cleaned up (hardware and software), but to keep it that way. They even help you justify getting rid of that ink-jet printer that hasn't worked in two years but you just haven't bothered to reclaim that desk space because you've ceased to notice it...
In some ways, this book seems to go a bit beyond straight degunking. When they talk about network degunking, you'll also get a fair amount of information on just what networking is, how it works, and what you need to know to make it all work. Long-time techies will already know much of that info, but this may be just what the newbie needs to move away from 56K dial-up to 5mb broadband. The style of writing is conversational and non-intimidating, so I think that people from just about all levels of background and experience should get something out of it.
For me, this is a highly recommended book. Now if I can sneak upstairs and start degunking my teenager's PC, I'll have made great strides...