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Editorial Review:
Ounce for ounce and pound for pound, the Pocket Consultant series from Microsoft Press is one of the best-value guides around. The editors do a good job of recruiting competent authors and having them comply with well thought-out style and formatting rules. Microsoft Windows XP Professional Administrator's Pocket Consultant is one of the gems of the series. Author William Stanek has spent time working with his subject--this book wasn't rushed to market to match the Windows XP release date--and he's good at revealing its administrative procedures clearly and concisely. The book is nicely indexed, so locating the section you need takes very little effort. This book--slightly larger than a paperback novel--is ideal for a harried administrator responsible for many different software products, as well as for consultants who need to learn how to use Windows XP Professional in a hurry.
A particularly nice characteristic of Stanek's style: his skill at combining straight procedures ("Just follow these steps and it'll work") with supplementary information about options ("On the other hand, if you're doing something unusual, you might need to modify the standard procedure a bit"). As no real-life installation of Windows XP ever seems to match authors' ideas of normalcy, the supplementary information is critical. Screen shots are nicely handled as well. Their presence helps clarify what the text means, but they're not so large as to waste space. --David Wall
Topics covered: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, as system administrators need to understand it. The author explains hardware installation, permissions setting, network security zones and several kinds of network connectivity. Coverage of the particular requirements of mobile users--including VPNs and dial-up--is particularly welcome.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Detailed, thorough, and well organized. I found this book incredibly useful. Usually when a book is release a new edition, the publisher is just updating the content to reflect the new features or releases of the software. This book is that and lots more.
It takes apart the XP operating system and covers everything you need to manage the operating system. Adds over 200 pages on networking and security. Throughout the book there are step by step procedures to show you hoe to configure, manage or administrate different parts of the OS.
Nice overview but lack of detail for recovery The thing that I found most disappointing is the lack of information for any kind of disaster recovery. I would expect an 'Administrator Consultant' book to provide further details on that.
Unfortunately there only a few pages about what to do in that kind of emergency. And even these pages I found too general to really help.
If you want an overview of what you can do with XP, go ahead and buy it. If you want detailed advice for emergencies, not recommended at all.
Well worth having This little book is a superb buy for anyone with a good knowledge of computers who wants a handy reference for the more complex issues that are often difficult to remember. Don't buy it if you are a novice as it will be too high a level and will simply bore you. Well worth having for the techies in life.
Does exactly what it says on the book . A well written book , covering all aspects of XP . Every to hand , use it when you just need to know a particular item . Used together with an MCSE Training Book for Windows XP it should prove invaluable if like me your going for MCSE in XP.
