The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide (Complete PC Upgrade & Maintenance Guide) [Hardcover]

Mark Minasi (Author)

Book Description

Series: Complete PC Upgrade & Maintenance Guide | Publication Date: September 1997

This newly revised and updated eighth edition of the best-selling The Complete PC Upgrade & Maintenance Guide is now a massive 1520-page hardcover reference that belongs on every computer owner's bookshelf. In addition to its detailed yet easy-to-understand explanations, the book includes 2 multimedia CD-ROMs that actually show you how to work inside your computer and improve performance! The first CD has 500MB of video clips from Minasi's renowned "PC Troubleshooting" seminars - plus hard disk utilities and Internet tools. The second CD features PC Tuning, an exclusive commercial hypertext/multimedia tune-up and maintenance course - a $50 value!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Rarely does one see a book written with authority and clarity the way this one is. Author Mark Minasi takes information from his experiences as a computer technician (among other things) and explains problems you may encounter. This book is full of sentences that begin, "I once saw ..." or "This happened to me ..." Rather than explain the differences among different kinds of screwdrivers in the beginning of the book, the author gets right to the point by showing how to disassemble a machine and see what's inside. Then, there's a sort of "hall of horrors" for PC components--a section that details how different parts can fail. Quickly, the book moves into explanations of general troubleshooting and problem-solving techniques. The bulk of this book is a series of chapters explaining how to install and fix various components, such as RAM, hard disks, modems, video-capture cards, and audio peripherals. There aren't a lot of illustrations, but most of the ones here are useful.

Minasi wraps up his book with a table of hard drive specifications, manufacturer contact information, and an excellent, lengthy glossary of computer and hardware terms. You'll also find two companion CD-ROMs, one containing video clips of Minasi's lectures and the other containing handy diagnostic software. Taken as a whole, The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide, Seventh Edition, is an excellent value. The author does an outstanding job of communicating his ample knowledge to the reader. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

On the cover of this book, a headline reads "Get valuable information worth more than $800 for the price of this book." I could easily argue that this book might save someone the cost of a new computer. In any case, Minasi's handbook to personal computers fills 22 chapters and three appendixes with solutions to problems with virtually everything under the PC sun. Like any good repair book, it starts off by telling you the kinds of tools you'll need and explains how to open your computer and study its innards. Following these opening chapters, there's help on preventive maintenance and troubleshooting. If none of these ideas and suggestions work, the last two chapters describe how to buy a new system and how to look for a multimedia system. This book contains lots of excellent information of utility to almost anyone using a personal computer.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1479 pages
• Publisher: Sybex Inc (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0782121519
• ISBN-13: 978-0782121513
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.7 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,390,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Minasi, CS Directory Services MVP, is one of the world's leading Windows authorities. He teaches classes in two dozen countries and is a much sought-after speaker at conferences and industry gathering keynotes. His firm, MR&D, has taught tens of thousands of people to design and run Windows networks. Mark has written over 15 books for Sybex, including the market-leading Mastering Windows Server 2003 and The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Minasi or Mueller?, June 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide: (With CD-ROM) (Hardcover)

I have both Mueller's 14th edition and Minasi's 3rd edition and consider them to be superb. If you are going for an engineering degree in computers and like thick technical explanations interspersed with great useable information get Mueller. But, with Mueller don't expect an enjoyable, easy read. But, if you want an enjoyable easy read with great information, get Minasi.

Some complain that Minasi's information is not up-to-date. Well, neither is Mueller's. (In all fairness, Mueller is more current than Minasi.) If you want cutting edge information in any technology field, you are not going to get it in a static book. For that go online to Tom's Hardware and the like. So, bottom line, if you need highly technical information about computer systems (i.e., pin outs, electrical diagrams, etc.) get Mueller. But, if you just want to learn how to upgrade and repair computer systems or get (and maintain) the background necessary for your A+ certification, get Minasi. Better yet, do like I did and get both!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Know your past in order to understand your future..., January 17, 2003

By 

J.C.P. (Alaska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide: (With CD-ROM) (Hardcover)

Although I hadn't read all of the review on this particular book, I've read enough to post my opinion. I see that there is a lot of complaints on this book because it provides a lot of information on older PCs.

From my experience at tech support, I can say that knowing your way around legacy systems is still a very important. If you can understand memory management from back in the 8086 CPU days, then you have enough knowlege to apply to todays computers. Maybe you will never run into an ISA bus in your life, but at least you'll know the origins of todays expansion buses. The PC is a total integrated system comprised of seperate entities which act as one. Knowing how they all co-operate is integral in understanding the complexities of hardware support.

An excellant analogy to this reasoning is this. If you are not mechanically inclined, would you want to go out there and start doing engine work on todays high-tech autos? How about if you first learned how to work on a simple two-stroke, or an old four-cylindar engine. Afterwards, you would then have the confidense to apply your knowledge on the newer technologies, meanwhile you'd be adapting to the new stuff. Similarly, understanding older computer technologies and seeing how it in many ways is still applicable to todays systems is prudent.

If you don't like this book, then get Upgrading and Repairing PCs (14th Edition) by Scott Mueller. I understand that Mark Minasi does make his book easy reading, but Mueller's book is definately for the tech who wants a dependable bench-top reference.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revision/updating was done in inconsistent manner., March 23, 1998

By 

Nelson A. Logan (Petaluma, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide (Complete PC Upgrade & Maintenance Guide) (Hardcover)

This book is marred by the fact that the author did a very uneven job of the revision and updating of previous editions. Most of the time the narrative is obviously dated. Other authors also to the 8th edition of their books revised the text to reflect the current states of computers. Too freqnently, Minasi talks as if the average system "today" is a 486. In one place he even has left in the text his remarks of years ago about preparing the book on an IBM-XT computer. I think people learning from this book are going to be confused by the excessive details on MFM hard drives and 286 and earlier computers. I would like to suggest that when the next revision (edition) is prepared, that most of the material dealing with computers prior to 1991 be removed and included on the CD-ROM. One method to do this would be to include the 8th edition on the CD-ROM. There is no sufficient details on new concepts such as why/when one wants use IEEE 1284 printer cables, the differences to be found in motherboards for classic Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium MMX, and Pentium II. The chips sets VX, TX, and FX should be discussed. The various voltage requirements for the newer processors, etc. There is no warning in the book about the fact that there are at least 2 wirings used for the ribbon cables that connect the motherboard serial ports to the 9-pin and 25-pin D-connectors. I get the definite impression that the author had a great deal of hands-on bench work up until perhaps 6 years ago and that in the years since he was been too busy lecturing and revising the various editions. I teach people to recycle older computers for K-12 classroom use. But, even here, most schools will not permit teachers to accept donations that are older than 486. I have taught people how to find $5 used 386 and $20 used 486 boards and insert these in IBM XT-cases. Nowhere does Minasi touch on the vital point that the original IBM-PC cases have different cut-out for keyboard and slots that are at spacing that were changed with the introduction of the IBM-XT. Therefore, IBM-PC cases are only good for the junk-pile, whereas IBM-XT cases can even hold a Pentium motherboard.