Each year, thousands of harmless PCs suffer the pain and humiliation of buggy Windows installations, bad cable connections, mismanaged system resources, viruses, and slow Internet connections. All too often, these downtrodden PCs end up being scrapped before their time by owners who just can't care for them any longer. The real travesty is that with a little love, these wounded PCs could become useful members of society. That's where PC HelpDesk in a Book comes in. Using a unique, medical dictionary approach, this book walks users through the symptoms to diagnose and treat the problem. End-users will be armed to perform cost-effective upgrades, repair fouled Windows installations, and squeeze out a little more performance from a slow Internet connection in lieu of purchasing a new computer.
I've always been interested in things that go fast, like airplanes and trains. However, it took me until my late 20's to discover that the world's fastest ' and most versatile ' devices didn't have wheels.
My background in English, history, and French makes me somewhat unusual in the technology writing field, but it gives me a big advantage when it comes to helping ordinary people understand how the Internet, PCs, servers, and digital cameras work. I stay up to date by reading technology blogs, newsletters and websites, and experimenting on 'FrankenPC' and my office network.
Although I've been contributing to books since 1999, I cut my technology writing teeth in the mid-1980's. Do you remember the Commodore 64 and its inscrutable 1541 floppy disk drive manual? My first piece of tech writing crunched down the essentials an ordinary user needed to know to get programs running to a single page. A few years later, exasperated with salespeople who kept selling PC clone configurations the techs in the back room could never get to work right, I wrote a compatibility handbook for my then-employer, a computer store. In the meantime, I spent a lot of time talking users through configuring startup files with DOS's ghastly Edlin line editor and discovering the brave new world of desktop publishing and scalable fonts.
I turned that expertise into a new part-time career as a magazine writer, first for WordPerfect Magazine (1989-1995), and later for Sandhills Publishing (1991-2001). In the meantime, I provided consulting and training services to area businesses, and, starting in 1992, spent most of the rest of the decade traveling the US and teaching classes on computer troubleshooting, workgroup networking, and other subjects. I also wrote three book-length training manuals in 1992-1993.
Before email was common, I often submitted magazine stories by bringing my laptop computer and portable printer to the nearest UPS or FedEx drop box, hand-feeding the printer and hoping that the pick-up time shown on the box was accurate!
Beginning in early 1999, I made the decision to become a full-time writer, cheering my wife and children (who area also big technology users) by getting off the road. I teamed up with Scott Mueller, dean of computer hardware books, to help get Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 11th Edition, wrapped up on schedule. I've contributed to every edition since, and have also co-authored many books with Scott.
I've also teamed up with TechTV to write two books on computer upgrades, paired up with radio and TV tech guru Leo Laporte for two books on computer troubleshooting, and written several other books on the Internet, home networking, Windows Vista, troubleshooting, and digital photography. Right now, I'm wrapping up work on a new A+ Certification guide and a new book on Windows 7.
I'm also a freelance author for MaximumPC magazine (since 2004) and a frequent blogger on the MaximumPC.com website, with some of my articles finding a second life in the books The Maximum PC Guide to Building a Dream PC and The MaximumPC Ultimate PC Performance Guide. To keep my finger on the pulse of PC users, I also teach classes on digital photography, digital imaging, and specialized training for the Evansville campus of IvyTech Community College of Indiana (www.ivytech.edu/evansville/). I attend Grace Church of the Nazarene (www.nazarene.org). If you have questions about my books or other projects, please drop me a line.
