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Editorial Review:
You know your way around a desktop so now dig into Windows XP and really put your PC to work. Fully revised for Windows XP Service Pack 2 and other recent updates, this supremely organized reference now packs even more timesaving solutions, troubleshootin
Ed Bott and Carl Siechert have combined their considerable talents for producing user-level documentation in creating Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out. One of the most carefully researched books on Windows XP to date, this large volume has all the information and procedures most everyday users of the operating system will want. With its nicely formatted how-to instructions, detailed documentation of command-line commands, intelligent explanatory text and broad scope, this book makes a great reference for a family or business that uses Windows XP extensively. Even the illustrations are more helpful than usual, largely because the publisher has gone to the trouble of annotating many of them with pointers and labels.
Bott and Siechert deal with the most controversial features of Windows XP, notably product activation, in a straightforward way. They simply explain what activation is for, tell how to go about it, and move on. If you're a power user interested in getting around activation and performing other unsanctioned hacks, look for your information in online newsletters. This book plays by Microsoft's rules, and that's fine. It's obvious that the authors have had access to Windows XP for some time, and spent a lot of time exploring its new features. Count on this book to explain the complete set of Windows XP's features--even the exciting networking stuff--in terms you can easily follow. --David Wall
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
A quality, useful resource - if not quite detailed enough This title is divided into nine parts, from an `Introduction & Installation' section (200+ pages) to such diverse topics as: Customising/Configuring Windows XP
Managing Files
Media Player & Image Editing
Internet Explorer/Outlook Express
System Maintenance & Recovery
Networking Each part starts with it's own very clear contents page before the chapter title page offers a neat, more detailed list of its contents in the left margin. Each chapter is clearly... more info
More Outside than In The sheer mass and size of this so called manual, published (hardcover) on paper flimsier than newsprint, belies the depth of its penetration. As a power-user of XP, I soon found that fifty percent of what it should cover is missing. Believe it or not, it might be BIG, but it is far from comprehensive. Instead it is padded with pretty screen prints of what you can see on your own monitor by clicking one button. I'll give just one example of an annoyance. I wanted to change the attribute of a folder -... more info
Excellent Value For Money I purchased the hardback 'Deluxe' version of this book and found it to be excellent. As a seasoned Unix developer and a long term Windows user I found myself trying to set up a home network of 2 XP & 1 Linux system. This book has all the inside information that I needed to get things up and running; plus many, many other eye openers that have greatly enhance my abilities to manage my XP systems.
My only gripe is that the Deluxe version states it includes service pack 1 on the CD (I need this for one... more info
THE manual that should come WITH XP Pro... Bin your silly 32 page pamphlet and save yourself XP aggro with this monster reference of a tome, it really has it all and shows how to strip out all the padding that XP comes ready fitted with, like the apple candy idiot mode.
If it wasn't for this manual, I wouldn't have found out about the speed sapping XP 'Services' (threads), of which there are over 30 of them, the majority unecessary.
Neither would I have been unable to disable Error reporting and auto update, two Microsoft boo-boos.
