Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Imagine the perfect Windows XP Home manual. Thorough, but no wasted words. Well organized. Fun to read. Practical. Up-to-date. Full of shortcuts. Focused on what you really need to know. On a scale of 10, David Pogue￯﾿ﾽs Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual, Second Edition easily hits 9.9.

Pogue covers everything from finding files to uploading digital camera photos, from playing Internet radio stations to controlling notebook power settings. He offers efficient techniques most Windows users simply haven￯﾿ﾽt explored (from right-click shortcuts to, occasionally, the command line). And he covers pretty much all of Windows XP￯﾿ﾽs sprawling set of components: Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, MSN Messenger, Windows Media Player 10, Movie Maker 2, Windows Firewall, you name it. He￯﾿ﾽs hit the sweet spot -- in content, usability, and even price. Bill Camarda, from the March 2005 Read Only

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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 photos 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 you can 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.