The Complete Idiot's Guide to Upgrading and Repairing PCs (5th Edition) (Complete Idiot's Guides) [Paperback]

Jennifer Fulton (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Complete Idiot's Guide | Publication Date: January 1, 2002

The Compelete Idiot's GuideA (R) to Upgrading and Repairing PCs strikes a good balance as a substantial yet readable guide to your PC's hardware and the peripherals and software that depend on it. It covers, for instance, when and how it is best to upgrade various memory and data storage, motherboards, CPUs or replace a troublesome keyboard or mouse. There's global treatment of the most used Microsoft OSs (Win 98, Me, 2000, some XP) and how to get then to work more efficiently. Even new peripherals and applications get their spotlight, as the author suggests how to prepare your PC for the latest in PDAs, Web cams, gaming devices, all the way to considering the ins and outs of watching TV on your PC. The author covers all this with a sharp eye on teaching the reader how to keep a system running quickly, efficiently and with stability.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Upgrading and Repairing PCs, Fourth Edition, teaches you how to upgrade your PC peripherals to increase productivity on your PC, without intimidating or offending you. A straight-forward, conversational tone provides basic information in purchasing and installing the newest technology for multimedia and more. You will learn how various software applications and operating systems upgrades can help you use or not use your PC more efficiently. This book gives you the foundation on what a PC is and how to upgrade it in everyday language. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jennifer Fulton is the co-owner of Ingenus Communications, a consulting firm started with her husband in Indianapolis, IN. She has authored more than 75 books covering many areas of computing including DOS, Windows Me/98/95/3.11, and Office XP/2000/97/95. Her most recent titles include How to Use Office XP, Easy Microsoft Outlook 2000, How to Use Publisher 2000, and Teach Yourself Excel 2000 in Ten Minutes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 497 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 5 Sub edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028642392
• ISBN-13: 978-0028642390
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 7.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,119,475 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The easiest book I've ever read on computers., May 21, 2000

By 

Stephen M. Krieger "Stephen" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Idiot's Guide to Upgrading and Repairing PCs (Paperback)

Ms. Fulton writes a superb book for newbies and techies alike. Newbies will appreciate the easy to understand language; and the techies will appreciate the thoroughness. With a Jan 2000 release date, the technology within is as current as of about late summer 1999. I appreciated that she gave each component it's own chapter. There is an excellent section on home networking as well. The book is mostly on Pentium class computers but she does give an honorable mention to the x86's. Overall, this is the finest computer book I've ever read.. almost riveting! Buy this book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive grasp of what an average tinkerer needs to know!, July 25, 2004

By 

A. Crusty Tinkerer (Fairmont, West Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Upgrading and Repairing PCs (5th Edition) (Complete Idiot's Guides) (Paperback)

My review relates to the fifth edition of this book.

I am the sort of person who likes to work on old stuff and make it new, or newer, again. In that spirit, I thought that I could gain the knowledge I needed to upgrade my computer by merely visiting a few websites. No need to get a formal education in computers, I thought.

Wow, was I wrong. My old proprietary system turned out to be a real pain to upgrade. Lots of obsure knowledge needed. And very few manufacturers wish for you to know very much about their old stuff, it seems, lest you be content to not buy their new stuff.

I had already begun to buy some used, but newer, stuff for my ancient computer when sheer aggravation caused me to buy some books about the subject. I bought three books covering computers and parts which were current in 2001-2002, since that is when most of my parts were current. One book was too simplistic; covering the sort of thing that you can learn by yourself pretty easily. The next was Scott Mueller's 14th edition, which is an awesome work, but it is written for those who want a career in computers (meaning those who need to know all the dreary details). Then I picked up this book by Jennifer Fulton. Ah, this porridge is just right!

I used this book and my box of parts to build a new (newer) computer devoid of proprietary controls and restrictions. The most important thing I gained is a knowledge of how to control my computing destiny. Being able to fix things that go wrong now? No dollars. Not being intimidated by proprietary warranty violations? No dollars. Not having to deal with product support in order to get my computer running again? (Let me be specific: Not waiting on the phone for an hour just to obtain the right to teach English to a foreign national in order to communicate with product support so I can get my computer running again?) PRICELESS! Believe me, you cannot place a price on that! If that sounds good to you, then this is the book for you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ancient, July 4, 2006

By 

P. Palmer "P. Palmer" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Upgrading and Repairing PCs (5th Edition) (Complete Idiot's Guides) (Paperback)

I am so sorry that I bought this book. i found it to be old and outdated. Majority of the stuff did not apply to me as my OS is Windows XP and this book's most recent OS seems to be Windows ME. I am so sorry I did not realize this before I bought it. I think that this book is for people still running the older operating systems.