PC Technician's Troubleshooting Pocket Reference [Paperback]

Stephen Bigelow (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hardware | Publication Date: October 13, 2000

*Fully revised updated edition. first edition was strong seller - over 30,000 sold. *Ties into the booming A+ Certification market. A+ technicians specialize in PC hardware troubleshooting. *Follows success of Pocket Reference Series by Bigelow, which has sold over 70,000 copies. *Handy format - designed for technicians, in a convenient, portable, pocket-sized edition. *Leading author - Bigelow's last three books have sold well over 250,000 copies.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

I don't know where the folks at Osborne buy their clothes, but on my planet a pocket is only slightly larger than a hand. I can put my wallet in my pocket. I can carry three or so Zip disks. But I've tried and tried, and I just can't jam in all 600+ pages of Bigelow's PC Technician's Troubleshooting Pocket Reference into any pocket I have. The thing is an inch and a half thick--definitely not pocket-sized. It's satchel-sized. It's put-it-under-the-tire-to-keep-the-trailer-from-rolling-downhill-sized.

Form factors aside, Bigelow's book lives up to its title; it's all troubleshooting information. Wonderful! This book assuredly was not meant to be read front to back. It works like this: start with a problem, and then look up the solution. Bigelow divided the book into sections for various parts of the PC or devices that are connected to it. You look up the device, read about it, heed some general maintenance wisdom, and then peruse the various "symptoms" and cures. Very nice, and just about the best information on troubleshooting that I've seen.

There are two problems. The first (again) is the book's size. Simply put, it's not a pocket-sized book. Osborne should forget that aspect, and publish the book in a size that easily lies flat. Trust me, the information is valuable enough to sell the book; don't get cute with the size. The second is that I'd like to see the symptoms summarized before they're presented. That would make finding specific information easier, and I wouldn't have to thumb through several dozen symptoms/solutions before finding what I want.

On the key subject of disk partitioning, this book fits the bill--but only in troubleshooting partitioning problems. On that subject, Bigelow does a fine job, and even suggests third-party solutions. In fact, the book does contain many third-party solutions, as well as advice on what to do in Windows for troubleshooting.

This book is not for everyone. Most of the introduction is aimed at computer technicians or troubleshooting professionals. But at $19.99 it's a good investment. At the very least, it'll make you the hero on your block, when it comes to troubleshooting PCs. --Dan Gookin

From the Back Cover

A quick reference for on-the-job PC repair and maintenance!

Get essential PC troubleshooting and diagnostic information from this handy pocket reference. Packed with code tables, commands, symptom summaries, solutions, and other key details, this easy-access guide gives you just the facts you need - at your fingertips. Slip it into your toolbox and take advantage of the concise advice, tables, and charts inside. The book covers virtually every major PC component, including drives, input devices, modems, motherboards, and peripherals. Diagnose - and fix - PC problems on the job with help from this easy-to-use pocket guide.

• Prepare a PC for service - manage static, check power, inspect cooling devices, scan for viruses, and more
• Troubleshoot floppy drives, hard drives, and CD-ROM/CDR/CD-RW drives
• Manage input devices, including keyboards, mice, and joysticks
• Diagnose motherboard problems, such as beep codes, POST codes, and CMOS setup/battery issues
• Troubleshoot video systems
• Install and maintain peripherals

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 2nd edition (October 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007212945X
• ISBN-13: 978-0072129458
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Maintenance, Repair & Upgrading

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference but not intended for novices, October 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Bigelow's PC Technician's Troubleshooting Pocket Reference (Paperback)

As a person who seems to be called upon more and more to fix someone's computer, and as one who's learned by doing in several years of owning these machines (my first was a humble 8088 with a then-huge 20 megabyte hard drive, way before today's Pentiums), I've found this book to be an invaluable reference for assistance in diagnosing computer problems. This is NOT the book for the computer neophyte who knows pretty much how to turn the machine off and on, and who can type a letter and get on the Internet but not much else; it assumes a level of familiarity with computer processes considerably higher than that. However, if you know how to take the cover off, if you're not afraid to remove and replace cards, and you have a basic understanding of interrupts, COM ports and the like, this book is DEFINITELY for you. I heartily recommend this book for the tinkerer, the unofficial neighborhood computer guru, and the professional technician. Two more of his titles that I've purchased and have found just as indispensable is Bigelow's Build Your Own PC Pocket Reference, and his PC Hardware Fat Faqs: Troubleshooting, Upgrading, Maintaining and Repairing. This man KNOWS computers.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I don't recommend it, September 3, 2003

By 

entity3sf "entity3sf" (Western New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PC Technician's Troubleshooting Pocket Reference (Paperback)

Poorly organized. Useful neither as a field reference nor study manual. Don't waste your money. Much better investments are: (1) Upgrading And Repairing PCs, Field Guide, by Scott Mueller, and (2) Pocket PCRef, by Thomas J. Glover & Millie M. Young.

If you're studying for the A+ Exam, check out 'A+ Certification', by Michael Meyers. Another excellent book which goes into greater depth, is 'Upgrading And Repairing PCs', by Scott Mueller.

35 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, July 20, 2001

By 

Atlanta Network Guy (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: PC Technician's Troubleshooting Pocket Reference (Paperback)

I purchased this book because of the several glowing reviews of it on Amazon. Now that I have a copy (which I will be returning shortly) I can only guess that those reviews were written by friends of the author. This book is little more but a long and rambling antidotal collection of PC repair stories roughly organized into general failing areas. No symptom analysis, no error code explanations, no organized flowcharts of logical procedures, no tables of settings and types. Just paragraph after paragraph of "if you notice this, try that". In my mind this should be called something like the "Jeff Foxworthy you might be a redneck PC repair tech manual". However, if you are new to PC repair and have no idea where to start looking for the resolution of a problem, this MIGHT be just the book you need - because you can sit and thumb through it and look like you are doing something useful while you await the arrival of the guy who knows what he's doing. You might even stumble on an antidote that actually applies to the problem you are currently experiencing.