Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Windows XP [Paperback]

Peter Norton (Author), John Paul Mueller (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0672322919 | ISBN-13: 978-0672322914 | Publication Date: November 8, 2001 | Edition: 1

Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Microsoft Windows XP is a comprehensive, user-friendly guide written in the highly acclaimed Norton style. This unique approach teaches the features of Windows XP with clear explanations of the many new technologies designed to improve your system performance. The book demonstrates all of the newest features available for increasing your OS performance. You will find Peter's Principles, communications, networking, printing, performance, troubleshooting, and compatibility tips throughout the book. Whether you're just starting out or have years of experience, Peter Norton's Guide to Microsoft Windows XP has the answers, explanations, and examples you need.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These four guides approach Microsoft's newest operating system (which may or may not be generating requests at your library) from different perspectives. TechTV focuses only on Windows XP Home Edition yet assumes some familiarity with previous Windows versions and is more appropriate for upgraders or those buying an additional PC than for first-time Windows users. A valuable addition to XP collections, it will supplement more basic guides. On the other hand, Teach Yourself, Norton's, and Unleashed clearly target intermediate to advanced users and include information on both XP Home and Professional editions. A self-study resource for patrons who quickly need to get up to speed with XP, Teach Yourself is a solid series addition, with helpful summaries, Q&As, quizzes, and exercises. Norton's is a characteristically thorough reference packed with tips for power users and resources for further information. Unleashed mostly covers Windows XP Professional and features useful appendixes on related topics such as TCP/IP, but it is less clear and less detailed than Norton's. All three will suit larger public libraries with a business and technical population. [For more reviews of XP titles, see Computer Media, LJ 11/1/01. Ed.]
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

@Headline = The book will introduce and discuss all of the new XP features in a style that is both conceptual and informative. * @Bullet1 = Why and when to upgrade to XP and if so, how to do it* @Bullet2 = Understanding services and their configurations* @Bullet3 = Explanation of the new internet options, such as 3rd party cookie alert, firewalls, and web publishing wizard,* @Bullet4 = Registry configurations and why the configurations work as they do* @Bullet5 = Networking topics and integration ideas for home networks as well as explanations about using the networking wizards.@Headline = Understanding how XP works with software and hardware

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 752 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1 edition (November 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672322919
• ISBN-13: 978-0672322914
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,472,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Mueller is a freelance author and technical editor. He has writing in his blood, having produced 87 books and over 300 articles to date. The topics range from networking to artificial intelligence and from database management to heads down programming. His most recent book is "Windows Command Line Administration Instant Reference" (Sybex, ISBN: 978-0-470-65046-2). His technical editing skills have helped over 52 authors refine the content of their manuscripts. You can reach John on the Internet at [e-mail] and his Web site at: http://www.mwt.net/~jmueller/.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not just another "Newbie" book, March 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Windows XP (Paperback)

The thing that struck me about this book, as I compared it to others in the local chain bookstore, is that it's not just another "Here's how you launch programs. Now here's how you copy files. Ooooh-- and here's how you play music!" kind of beginner books. Like Norton's "Inside the IBM PC" from years ago, this book actually takes you into some of the technical details and architecture of Windows XP. The authors give you a grounding in how XP is put together "under the hood," so that you'll actually *understand* something about the OS, rather than just learning how to accomplish basic tasks. The text stays readable, though -- you don't need to be a computer science or engineering major to understand it. If you just want to learn to *use* Windows XP, you'll probably want to look at another title. But if you want to *learn about* Windows XP, this could be an excellent choice.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comments from a user of Windows XP home edition, September 30, 2002

By 

Jim Cownie (Repton, Derby, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Windows XP (Paperback)

I am a home computer user of long standing but with little experience beyond my limited use of wordprocessing, a small spreadsheet and a newsletter using Microsoft Publisher. I also use email and occasionally the internet.

Recently I bought a new computer with Windows XP installed. Wanting to be nice to me, my wife bought me the 'Complete Guide to Microsoft Windows XP'. Although much more high-powered and abstruse than I normally need, I have found it very useful in answering a number of questions which have arisen as well as giving detailed descriptions and advice on the many tabs and selections available as you delve further into Tools, Options etc.

In addition I have found a couple of problems, one caused by my own foolishness, which I could not resolve. I therefore emailed Peter Mueller, doubting that I would get any response from a busy author other than a curt instruction telling me where to go. But he was helpfulness itself and has sent me three emails which have been most useful - thank you Peter.

Jim Cownie

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars uneven, January 3, 2004

By 

Shannon Gaw (Roswell, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Windows XP (Paperback)

I have used this book as my only XP reference for the past year and it is absolutely terrible. I bought it because of the Peter Norton name and remembering the "Inside the PC" book in the late 80s. I found myself constantly supplementing it's information with extended sessions in the bookstore and on the web. There are even some subjects that this "complete guide" does not even touch on (e..g remote desktop). Get another book, probably any book, for an XP reference.

That said, there are about 200 pages in the middle of the book that make the purchase worthwhile. Part IV: Anatomy gives an excellent presentation of XP architecture, the Registry and file system. Buy it for this section.