Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual (2nd Edition)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 624 pages
• Published by: Pogue Press
• Edition: 2nd Edition December 16, 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 059600897X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0596008970
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 1.6 inches
• Weighs: 2.2 pounds

From Library Journal
As the installed base of Microsoft's newest operating system, XP, grows, guides to its use will continue to proliferate (see also Computer Media, LJ 3/1/02). Upgraders with little previous experience will be drawn to ten Minute Guide, which highlights changes from earlier versions and explains common tasks step by step. Small and leaving no room for background or troubleshooting assistance, this should be purchased in conjunction with more comprehensive guides, such as The Missing Manual. It provides enough background to allow new home users and upgraders to get up and running, while leaving them feeling as if they have a handle on why and how things work. Ample screen shots and sidebars further this process; recommended for all libraries. Headaches, for beginning to intermediate users, focuses on troubleshooting common XP problems and annoyances, like a too-rapid cursor blink rate. Nutshell is a reference for advanced users of home and professional editions, with an alphabetical format that allows quick lookup of functions and features within greater sections (e.g., networking, the registry, etc.). Each is useful and appropriate for greater libraries.'
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Windows XP Home Edition offers dozens of new features for consumers: an elegant user interface, drag-and-drop CD burning, and powerful ways to view and manage digital photographs and music, among other features. With the release of Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows XP now provides better protection against viruses, worms, and malicious hackers. But it still comes without a single page of printed instructions.

Fortunately, the new edition of "Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual" fills the void. With its wealth of tips, instructions, and expert advice, this comprehensive resource is your ticket to making your time at the computer safer, easier, and more fun. And best of all, it's been updated to include detailed coverage of Service Pack 2.

Written in easy-to-follow, jargon-free language, "Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual," Second Edition is perfectly suited for both first-time PC fans and budding power users. And like the rest of the Missing Manual series, it also relies on technical insight, crystal-clear objectivity, and a sense of humor--meaning no one will be left behind.

The book begins with a tour of the Desktop and instructions for customizing the Taskbar and toolbars. It also includes a primer on how to organize files, folders, and windows for maximum efficiency. More advanced chapters explore control panels and built-in applications; walk through configurations like how to set up a PC for Internet use; and address the standard Windows rituals of troubleshooting, installation, and upgrading.

For the height of manageability and control, the book also conveys all the need-to-know information about the security technologies featured in Windows XP SP2, so youcan better defend yourself against viruses, worms, and hackers. Readers even receive guidelines and instructions for installing SP2 on their PC, or across a network of computers.

Co-authored by David Pogue, "New York Times" computer columnist and Missing Manuals creator, this updated guide is the friendly, authoritative book that should have been in the box. It's sure to become your preferred guide whenever you sit down to Windows XP.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual (O'Reilly Windows) (Paperback) In reviewing David Pogue's latest iteration of The Missing Manual series for Windows XP Home Edition you have to keep in mind it's the Home Edition, in other words it's for the vast majority of us plodders who don't know squat about the amazing depth of functionality of Microsoft's new operating system. It is a marvelous book that I rate as a definite "Just Shut Up and Buy It". Your personal computer experience will take a change for the better. My personal digital experience didn't ask the question, "Where do you want to go today?" but rather, "just how deep do I really want to get in to this mess today?" David Pogue's book will answer the second question so you can ask the first one with a straight face. Then you can proudly button up your properly configured and operating computer, and go get a life. If we gave a quiz to a random sample of 1000 XP Home Edition users, how many would know off the top of their heads, for example, how to add ® for a trademark or © for a copyright? Or, that they may or may not be received properly in an e-mail such as the one I'm writing right now? I'm guessing less than 5% of us, and that's probably generous. Most of us just eke out a meager existence of typing e-mails and printing photos without knowing that Ctrl+Enter will surround a web address with `http:www.' and a `.com'. And where exactly was I supposed to learn that, without The Missing Manual? These may sound trivial, but when you multiply them by the dozens of great tips The Missing Manual provides, life in Windows XP becomes a far richer and less frustrating experience. But The Missing Manual isn't just a compendium of slick tips; it's a step-by-step, function-by-function guide for all of us that are too proud to admit in public that we don't really know how to make the best of XP. This book will even teach you how to be the system administrator of your home network, if your family's computer usage has driven you to this precipice. You'll even look like you know what you're doing, because you will. My experience is that The Missing Manual will become a well-thumbed volume, sitting next to your new friend: Your computer. Just shut up and buy it.