Book details of 'Windows XP Hacks'

Title	Windows XP Hacks
Author(s)	Preston Gralla
ISBN	0596005113
Language	English
Published	September 2003
Publisher	O'Reilly & Associates

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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Windows XP Hacks':

Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Chapter one covers startup and shutdown options for the system. The material is not always careful about actual names and procedures, which may make use of the hacks difficult. Much of the content is presented without a great deal of thought or analysis. For example, clearing the page file gets mentioned, but not the fact that most machines nowadays will have 256 megabytes of main memory or above, and, at that level, users can probably improve both security and performance by shutting virtual memory off: it simply should not be necessary in most situations. The advice to check out services.msc for disabling services is good, but not much additional assistance is provided. The discussion of the user interface, in chapter two, has odd and careless duplications of material, such as hiding desktop icons (on page 27), deleting desktop icons (on page 28), and yet again in hack #13 on page 44. A great many of the hacks require or advertise shareware. The Briefcase gets the usual inadequate explanation and there is almost no mention of the extensive customization that can be performed on Windows Explorer, in chapter three. (And, yes, you *can* put access to the command line on the desktop: it's simple.) Chapter four provides pretty basic information on the Web (and a very poor explanation of cookies). Networking, in chapter five, is random and disorganized. There are good tips, but some give just enough information to be dangerous. A few items that would be extremely useful (like how to have multiple LAN setups for laptops with netsh) are not discussed. Chapter six retails pedestrian anti-spam advice and shows how to look at headers, but not how to interpret what you see. The content on the Registry, in chapter seven, is good, but the level of information is not consistent throughout. Chapter eight is supposed to be about basic utilities, such as backup and defragmentation, but why is instant messaging considered basic? Other than replacements for Microsoft Office, chapter nine's material on applications offers little of use. Multimedia, in chapter ten, is mostly about copying CDs. Chapter eleven's coverage of system performance is probably going to be confusing to the average reader, and is of questionable utility. Hardware tuning shareware and some suggestions for connecting two computers on the cheap makes up chapter twelve. There is a good deal of interesting and useful content in the book, but the quality is inconsistent. This is a random collection of tips that is going to have something for pretty much everyone, but also probably will not answer the question you want. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003
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Book description:

Windows XP is the latest, most reliable, and best-looking version of the Windows operating system to emerge yet. As the result of the unification of Microsoft's corporate series (Windows NT and 200) with the home series (Windows 95, 98, and Me), Windows XP offers much that is pleasing to its users: rock-solid stability and a fresh new look. But power users who want to take command of their operating systems will find the same old frustrations: it's never been easy to get under the hood of a Windows system and Windows XP is no exception. Now power users can rejoice! Windows XP Hacks offers tips, tools, and know-how to bend Windows XP to your will. The book delves into XP topics such as controlling the control panel, changing unchangeable icons, removing uninstallable XP components, stopping pop-up ads, taking a bite out of cookies, speeding up file downloads, protecting yourself with firewalls and proxy servers, and more. Users of both Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Pro Edition will find smart, timesaving, fun, and useful hacks for virtually every feature in their operating system. Even if you're not a power user yet, this book will have you well on your way.