BUY IT
Easy to read book about computers. You will learn something for sure with in the first chapter for sure if you are starting out with your first computer.
A must-have book for Windows users!
Containing great humor and experience(!), this book is written mainly for users of Windows XP/ME/and 98, although users of Windows 95/NT/and especially 2000 will find that most of this 1st edition still applies. 2nd edition= XP exclusively. Dan Gookin wrote the original Dos for Dummies book- all Dummies books started with him! Chapters 1-5 cover the basics, with 6-and-on being intense! This is the strength of the book: hands-on, down & dirty problem solving! Solutions include: getting around in Windows; minor irks & quirks; slow PC; audio-video; startup-shutdown; keyboard, mouse, monitor & printer; disk disaster; internet connection; Internet Explorer; Outlook Express; general Windows disruption- too much to list here! (This is mainly a software-related book- for an intro to detailed hardware-related issues, I highly recommend Upgrading & Fixing PCs for Dummies by Andy Rathbone, or for advanced issues Scott Mueller's Upgrading & Repairing PCs). My favorite thing here: Registry Editing 101! Many books mention the Registry- Dan actually walks you through some basic, yet sometimes necessary, editing procedures in a few very specific instances. This is beyond basic info, and is downright technical in nature. It's insane how much information he's crammed into one book! Finishing Chapters include PM- preventive maintenance- for disks in general, and using Backup. I use Norton Ghost for Backup myself- I can't stress enough how great it is! You can get it with Norton AntiVirus too if you purchase SystemWorks 2003 Professional (my favorite!). They're all worth their weight in gold(!). To Dan Gookin: In a good-natured way, I recommend Argument 4 in favor of reinstalling Windows: it brings peace of mind! With all the latest Internet threats today in the news- Viruses, Worms & Spyware- some people just don't trust that their computers are clean & secure without the reinstalling of Windows(!). Of course, with the proper use of disk imaging/backup software, this really shouldn't be an issue, but some people never get around to this kind of PM. Some people may not trust AntiVirus/Spyware apps to work for them, and reinstalling Windows can bring enormous peace of mind. Don't blame me for mentioning it- paranoia can be a powerful thing! Suggestions for next edition: maybe in PM section & Internet disaster prevention, including basic definitions & tips on safe Internet use? Phishing, Pharming, Identity Theft & Email-scams may not *directly* damage computers, but they sure do affect their users(!). Also- How about advanced videogame troubleshooting? Even people with up-to-date hardware experience crashes & restarts during games. In the Windows 2000 Getting Started book, a common solution to blue-screen stop messages is to "Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing". Believe it or not, it worked for me! Far fewer crashes during fast moving video & videogames. These are my best suggestions! Thank you for this incredible & long-overdue book!
I treasure this book!
I bought this book before I experimented with other books of it's kind and I was able to apply what I read within minutes to my broken computer. I have over 15 years experience as an Electronic Technician and 4 years experience as a Design Engineer and I learned something new from each and every page I studied. I was able to "laugh" at my fear of PC repair after reading this book. He covers everything from start-up problems to fixing bugs and everything in between. This book was so easy to read too! It was a welcomed relief from the over-complicated articles that I usually read. Thank you Dan Gookin!
