Book details of 'PC Magazine Windows XP Solutions'

Title	PC Magazine Windows XP Solutions
Author(s)	Neil Randall
ISBN	076456773X
Language	English
Published	April 2004
Publisher	John Wiley & Sons

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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'PC Magazine Windows XP Solutions':

Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Part one deals with user interface options and configuration. Chapter one reviews the login, desktop, and appearance options. The Start Menu and the Taskbar are covered in chapter two, while three is primarily concerned with folder alternatives. Special selections, such as accessibility factors, are in chapter four, along with the functions of TweakUI. Part two talks about installing and removing hardware and software. Chapter five; installing software; is nothing special, while seven; hardware; is nothing much. Removing software, in chapter six, details various methods and has a valuable section on getting rid of spyware. Troubleshooting hardware (mostly to do with driver updates) and some brief hard disk maintenance tips are in chapter eight. Users, permissions, and policies are the subject of part three. Chapter nine discusses creating user accounts, but does not mention the dangers of the defaults. Changing permissions, in chapter ten, explains the dialogue boxes. Chapter eleven's material on handling data files is not very useful. Chapter twelve lists some policy options, but doesn't deal with the implications. Part four reviews some aspects of security and recovery. Chapter thirteen retails run-of-the-mill backup advice. The dialogue boxes for the XP firewall and EFS (Encrypting File System) are in fourteen. There are errors in chapter fifteen's explanation of Windows Update, such as the fact that MS Office Update sometimes *does* involve the same files as Windows Update, and has a less sophisticated engine, which is why Windows Update should always be run after an Office Update. System Restore is covered poorly (there is no mention of the difficulties it can create when the user tries to customize the machine) in chapter sixteen, along with other recovery related activities. Part five deals with creative bits. Chapter seventeen lists included tools for modifying digital images, while eighteen and nineteen discuss video, and twenty talks about audio. Part six has an overview of Internet options. Chapter twenty one takes a vague look at Internet connections, twenty two examines choices in Outlook, twenty three deals with Internet Explorer, and twenty four discusses Remote Desktop and Remote Assistance. Part seven discusses home or small networks. Chapter twenty five tabulates network device basics, twenty six takes a terse look at small workgroup nets, and twenty seven provides just enough information about starting Internet services to be dangerous. This book does have some pointers, but (in a larger footprint) it has nowhere near the value of David Karp's "Windows XP Annoyances" (see reviews) or even Gralla's "Windows XP Hacks" (see reviews). copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004
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Book description:

* The practical, proven solutions Windows XP users have been looking for-from the source trusted by more than six million readers worldwide, PC Magazine * Written like the magazine's popular "Solutions" feature, the book helps experienced Windows users work faster and smarter by customizing the interface, circumventing annoying features, and fixing common glitches * Topics covered range from building a better Start Button and Task Bar, eliminating the new program notification on the Start menu, and cleaning up the Registry after an uninstall to safely removing old drivers, using the recover console after a crash, and dealing with DSL and other broadband connection problems * Well written and organized for easy reference, the book shows the sixty-seven million Windows XP users how to save time and frustration-and make their PCs work the way they want them to