Two new tomes from Paraglyph Press and SelectBooks offer valuable tips

Have you checked the Microsoft XP update site lately? If you don't have automatic updates turned on, it may be worth the trip.

Waiting there are 10 security updates to protect you from new threats on the Internet, ranging from a new spawn of the MyDoom virus to worms and spyware that can steal your identity.

This, my friends, can take all the fun out of computing. But help is on the way.

Two new books, "Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps and Blunders" by Jesse Torres and Peter Sideris and "Spam Wars" by Danny Goodman tell us how to battle these nasty threats and survive these attacks.

"Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps and Blunders"

Torres and Sideris have put together a 408-page survival kit dealing with everything ranging from nasty virus attacks to what to do if your PC catches on fire.

For example, did you know you can revive a "dead" hard drive by sticking it in a freezer, letting it get "nice and cold" and then putting it back in your PC? Or how about cleaning an uncooperative floppy drive with a vacuum cleaner?

Other disasters dealt with in the book include:

• What to do if you spill soda on your keyboard.
• What to do if your network crashes.
• What to do if your important data is stolen and you're the victim of identity theft.
• What to do if you're ripped off because of Internet fraud.
• What to do if you have a bad crash and need to restore valuable data.
• What to do if your PC or PDA is stolen.

The list is endless. More information on this survival manual can be found at www.paraglyphpress.com.

"Spam Wars"

Goodman's book contains an anti-spamming arsenal of weapons to fight off and defeat those that invade our inboxes with tons of useless e-mails or try to steal our identities by probing for security holes

Right now, spammers could be making money from your e-mail address or your PC may be sending floods of spam without your knowledge.

According to Goodman, more than 80 percent of messages hitting our inboxes are unsolicited e-mails intended to sell us something we don't want or containing viruses that can take over or disable our PCs.

In a stroll through the table of contents we see that this book offers insight into:

• Spammers' tricks _ how they get us to open and even reply to unsolicited e-mails.
• How spam differs from junk mail.
• How spammers get your e-mail address.
• How we got into this mess.
• The spammer's view of the world.

Valuable advice? You'd better believe it. More information can be found at www.selectbooks.com.

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