Rating: 
Summary: I'd buy it for the title alone... :-)
Review: Target Audience
Windows users who are tired of having their computer grow old before it's time...Contents
This book shows you how to take the necessary steps to clean up your Windows installation and restore some of the speed that it had when things were brand new. The book is divided into the following chapters: Why Is My Computer All Gunked Up?; Degunking Your PC; Getting Rid Of Files That Shouldn't Be There; Uninstalling Programs You Don't Need And Tweaking Those You Do; Organizing Your Desktop And Start Menu; Preventing Spam Gunk; Cleaning Up E-Mail Gunk; Cleaning And Tweaking Your Registry; Optimizing Your Hard Drive And Startup System; Installing Upgrades To Your System; The Best Hardware For PC Degunking; PowerToys And Awesome Shareware; Improving Security; Backing Up Precious Files; Last Resort Degunking Techniques Review
Don't you just love how your brand new PC screams when you first remove it from the box and boot it up for the first time? Miles and miles of open disk space, lots of free memory, that "new computer smell"... Then, over time, memory starts to disappear with resident tasks that didn't used to be there. Boot-up now takes minutes instead of seconds. Programs that flew now amble along at pedestrian speeds. Congratulations! Your PC is "gunked up". You need to degunk it with this book. Degunking Windows is a twelve step program designed to help you organize your Windows installation such that you can find the things you need, you are only running the things that matter, and the underlying disk structure is properly formatted. While you can pick and choose what you want to implement, its best to follow the entire program to get the whole synergistic effect. For instance, I could start out by defragmenting my hard drive. Of course, if I still have a lot of garbage on my drive, the defrag won't be as useful as it could be if I took the time to organize things first. The authors have written an extremely useful and easy to read "how to" manual that will add years to your PC's life by getting it running closer to how it used to behave when it was new. The book does assume a Windows XP environment for the degunking tasks. However, many of the steps (such as file cleanup, desktop cleanup, defraging, and such) are applicable to all version of Windows. So don't panic if you're not yet an XP user. Also, hardcore operating system gurus will either know all this stuff already or "scoff" at the simplistic approach. Fine, the book isn't for you. But for those of us who more often are "users" of the operating system, the information is valuable and helpful. I've already regained nearly a gigabyte of disk space, and I'm still on step 1! Conclusion
If you're not a Windows guru with a predefined plan of your own to keep Windows working cleanly, you owe it to yourself to get this book and start your "degunking" program.
Rating:
Summary: Degunking Windows - Clear, Informative and Fun.
Review: The initial thing about this book that strikes you is the cover.
Looking like a 1960's housewife, the woman gives off the air of being terrified with the idea of fixing her broken computer.
The theme of the book is about getting rid of all the "surplus to requirement" things that computers seems to collect, not unlike the junk people collect over the years and only realise when they come to move house. There are lots of suggestions throughout the book, on ways to remove those things that "slow down" your computer. From programs that you do not need, seldom use or that you did not realise are installed, desktop icons that can be deleted without worry, to tidying up those email in and out boxes filled with old emails, and so on. The "Fix-It / Tidy-Up" Technique.
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The book is organized according to "tidy-up" processes that will improve the performance of your computer.
A nice novel approach to this, is the "Quick Degunking Sheet" at the beginning of the book, which helps you determine the time and effort that is required to perform different tasks albeit that they maybe small or large. Each chapter starts off with a checklist of major topics that the chapter covers and uses the author's informal approach, taking potentially very technical sounding subjects, and presenting them in language that can be understood by anyone. Not only for the novice.
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There are also suggestions upon solving far more complex problems such as cleaning your registry, optimizing your hard disk and ways of improving the security on your computer. This comes with "step by step" instructions of specific "de-gunking tasks". Most computer "fix-it" books have lots of useful information, but tend to get too technical and overwhelm the reader, whereas this book is informative and enjoyable at the same time.
Rating: 
Summary: Clean Out and Tune Up Your Windows
Review: The main focus of my site is security- not Windows maintenance. I tend to spend most of my time examining new ways to protect and safeguard my computer, not clean it up. However, perhaps because I install and uninstall software frequently to test it out and surf the Web an inordinate amount of time doing research, my computer becomes cluttered and fragmented faster than most and the information found in Degunking Windows is exactly what the doctor ordered.
If you follow the default Windows installation you may already be starting out with a significant number of applications and utilities that you will never use taking up hard drive space and possibly memory and processor resources. As you surf the Web your computer caches information in Temporary Internet Files which can take a significant amount of drive real estate if not kept in check. As you use programs data that in theory belongs together is actually written to random areas scattered about the hard drive. Over time this file fragmentation can slow your computer down and cause excessive wear and tear on your hard drive.
Joli Ballew and Jeff Duntemann do an excellent job of helping you to find the things that are slowing down and cluttering up your system. They explain in plain-English what you need to know to remove unwanted programs and optimize your Windows machine for maximum performance. Keep the book handy because you will need to go through this cleanup periodically- maybe a couple times a year.
Tony Bradley is a consultant and writer with a focus on network security, antivirus and incident response. He is the About.com Guide for Internet / Network Security (http://netsecurity.about.com), providing a broad range of information security tips, advice, reviews and information. Tony also contributes frequently to other industry publications. For a complete list of his freelance contributions you can visit Essential Computer Security (http://www.tonybradley.com).
Rating:
Summary: Degunking your Email, Spam and Viruses
Review: This is a WONDERFUL book. Every computer user should buy it. The author communicates his experience and acquired knowledge with breathtaking lucidity. I have learned a great deal and now understood my system much better. I understand security issues much better and have improved my practices greatly. It is also a very valuable book about modern personal computers in general.
I venture to say that this is the best computer book I have ever bought. Without being complacent, I dare to hazard the suggestion that I am considerably less likely to have my machines screwed up by enemy action than ever before thanks to reading and practising 'Degunking your Email, Spam and Viruses'.
Rating:
Summary: Common sense cleanups
Review: This is all pretty common sense stuff. The value is in the books completeness. If you follow all of the chapters you will have a lean and clean Windows machine.
The form of the book is step-by-step in nature with lots of screenshots (perhaps a few too many) to aid you. The chapters follow from the operating system through the software and into the hardware. Topics covered include uninstalling applications you don't use, organizing your files and Start Bar, killing spam, reducing your mailbox size, backing stuff up, doing a reasonably in-depth security sweep, and physically cleaning your system. Registry cleaning is covered for the brave of heart.
I think this is a must own for Windows users. It seems to me that people upgrade hardware to fix problems that are really just viruses or poorly maintained software. It's understandable because the Windows operating system is complex. But why drop hundreds or thousand on a new machine when you could buy a book like this and learn techniques that can bring the machine you already have back to life.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for beginners, but nothing here for the hardcore
Review: This might be a good book for my Mom. She needs help with basic things like uninstalling programs, and defragging her hard drive from time to time. Most of her problems are the result of cute cursors and a "free screensaver" fetish, but I digress. Unfortunately, most of the contents of this book are common sense to the majority of Windows users - delete old files, keep your inbox clean, use the built-in defragger from time to time, dont forget to back up your files - you get the idea. If you are relatively new to Windows, or if the idea of general computer maintenance is something that you are not familiar with, then Degunking Windows will offer you some very basic guidelines to keeping your system relatively clean. If you already know the basics, you might benefit from the few chapters that cover some intermediate topics such as keeping the registry clean with some shareware tools, some cursory tips on preventing spam and the like. But if you are looking for coverage of topics like removing and preventing spyware, this book's 3 paragraphs on the subject wont help much. Other chapters in the book seem a bit out of place, such as the security chapter. Dont get me wrong - getting Windows secured is a nightmare at best, and impossible depending on who you ask, but the security tips in the book dont really do anyting towards the title's goal of "degunking." Beyond the very basic, this title does not provide much in the way of improving speed and performance of your Windows system.
Rating:
Summary: Good for beginners, but nothing here for the hardcore
Review: This might be a good book for my Mom. She needs help with basic things like uninstalling programs, and defragging her hard drive from time to time. Most of her problems are the result of cute cursors and a "free screensaver" fetish, but I digress. Unfortunately, most of the contents of this book are common sense to the majority of Windows users - delete old files, keep your inbox clean, use the built-in defragger from time to time, dont forget to back up your files - you get the idea. If you are relatively new to Windows, or if the idea of general computer maintenance is something that you are not familiar with, then Degunking Windows will offer you some very basic guidelines to keeping your system relatively clean. If you already know the basics, you might benefit from the few chapters that cover some intermediate topics such as keeping the registry clean with some shareware tools, some cursory tips on preventing spam and the like. But if you are looking for coverage of topics like removing and preventing spyware, this book's 3 paragraphs on the subject wont help much. Other chapters in the book seem a bit out of place, such as the security chapter. Dont get me wrong - getting Windows secured is a nightmare at best, and impossible depending on who you ask, but the security tips in the book dont really do anyting towards the title's goal of "degunking." Beyond the very basic, this title does not provide much in the way of improving speed and performance of your Windows system.
Rating: 
Summary: For beginners only...
Review: Though touted for a variety of user skill levels, the book is essentially for beginners giving "degunking" suggestions most who have used any version of Windows (and, the book is basically geared to XP--though only the copyright date gives this away) for any time already know. Examples include: "get rid of files you don't really need," "uninstall programs you don't need," and "optimize your hard drive." Good grief! Much of the text is in this vein. I can usually evaluate the utility of computer books by how many "dog-eared" pages I have after a cursory reading. This one had exactly two, an all time low! Almost every other Windows book I've bought does it better, even though they do not specifically emphasize "degunking."
Rating:
Summary: Degunking Windows
Review: What a great computer clean up book that is easy to read and understand. I especially like the first page of the book that offers a 12 step program on how to degunk your computer. Another clever idea that this books offers are quick things you can do for your computer when you have time limitations. This computer book is written in normal people talk and makes the attempt of cleaning out old files seem like a very easy task.
Rating:
Summary: My windows are sparkling again!
Review: What an utter blessing it was to find Degunking Windows on the bookshelf; I suddenly love doing windows again. I am not a techy or computer guru. I am one of millions of Americans referred to as "the average home computer user". The thousand page tech books aren't for me, too much jargon to maneuver through. I need something that falls between heady paperweight and picture book. Degunking windows fits the bill.
I use my Dell with Windows XP for all of my college course work, as well as for working on my family tree and listening to music online. Another words I put a lot photos, word documents and music files on my pc. I also spend a lot of time online doing research which has just plagued my computer with cookies, email, and Spam. My $2,000.00 computer developed a split personality and became very moody. It was definitely not the agreeable and efficient machine that I fell in love with a year ago. It had grown sluggish, prone to freezing up, and came close to crashing several times. A frightening thought when I have so much information stored there. Something had to be done, and it had to be done fast before either, the machine, or I had a melt down.
That's when it happened. I found Degunking Windows and put away the aspirins. Thank you Joli Ballew and Jeff Duntemann for publishing a book that never made me feel stupid and for not calling me a "Dummy". It's a well organized but detailed solution for problems that most of our computers have. It's an invaluable and easy to use resource. I wish my college texts were this organized. I loved the degunking quick reference in the front. I didn't have to meander through the whole text for solutions, the summaries and references got me the information I needed. I was amazed at how easy it was to clean up my PC without spending hundreds of dollars on new software or hardware. Who needs to call tech support? I've got Degunking Windows sitting right next to my computer.
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