Troubleshooting Your PC [Paperback]

M. David Stone (Author), Alfred Poor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Eu-Undefined | Publication Date: December 6, 2000

Trouble with your PC? What do you do if your hard disk crashes or all you see are black lines on your monitor? With this handy "Troubleshooting" guide, it's easy to pinpoint -- and solve -- your own hardware and software problems. Fast! Each section opens with a troubleshooting chart to help quickly diagnose the source of the problem. It offers clear, step-by-step solutions to try right away, plus a full chapter of things to do to stay out of trouble or learn a new trick. Continuous support via the Troubleshooting "Latest Solutions" Web site provides monthly updates on additional problem solving information. Books in the "Troubleshooting" series are colorful, superbly organized, and easy to read, giving even novice users the confidence to fix it themselves -- without sending their PCs to the shop or wasting time on futile trial and error.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anyone who's ever used a service manual to identify and correct a flaw in an automobile will find the format of Troubleshooting Your PC familiar. This book, which aims to show its readers how to fix problems related to the hardware components of their Intel-compatible personal computers, relies on troubleshooting trees similar to those that have long appeared in automotive handbooks. To find the page that explains how to solve your particular problem, you work your way through a sort of flow diagram, answering yes-and-no questions and taking different paths through the diagram based on your answers. The flow diagrams are more like tables of contents than real aids to troubleshooting themselves, but they are effective in guiding the reader to the appropriate page.

Each problem or condition gets its own spread of a page or two. On those pages, readers find a section called "Source of the problem" that explains, in prose, what's going on and what strategy is appropriate for fixing the trouble. A second section, called "How to fix it," is a step-by-step procedure that walks the reader through the recommended fix. Both of these sections would be stronger if they relied more heavily on diagrams, since not everyone can visualize mechanical procedures that are described in words. Nonetheless, the material here should help you straighten out most consumer-fixable hardware difficulties on post-1997 personal computers. --David Wall

Topics covered: Personal computer hardware troubleshooting for people who aren't experienced in the area. The authors address the resolution of critical problems--blank screens at startup, ominous noises, that kind of thing--and hardware upgrade procedures, such as installing hard drives and DVD-ROM drives.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (December 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8120320239
• ISBN-13: 978-8120320239
• ASIN: 0735611637
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,251,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to use at a great price!, January 8, 2001

By 

GreenMan (Shoreline, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Troubleshooting Your PC (Paperback)

Without a doubt, the best type of troubleshooting book I've seen. Colorful, easy to use, and has great tips on all kinds of PC disasters, major and minor. I have never seen a book quite like this -- there are flow charts so that you can work your way through a problem yourself, and there are also tips which give you great ideas on how to understand and fix other PC problems. Great value for less than $20.

This is apparently part of a new series -- I've ordered the books on Excel and Access. Really great idea for a book series, I hope there will be more of them to come. If you're looking to become more computer savvy these books will help you quickly!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book, December 29, 2002

By 

WilliamD (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Troubleshooting Your PC, Second Edition (Paperback)

Given that this book is listed here as out of print, it many not matter much, but this is a great book. I'm prompted to write this review because of the two highly misleading negative reviews below. (Give me a break. Am I really to believe that two people from Chicago decided to write two reviews in two days with negative reviews, without the two being related? Sounds like the same guy wrote the two negative reviews, for I don't know what reason.)

I bought this book originally in its first edition, and found it extremely helpful, not just in solving specific problems covered in the book, but for a disuccsions that gives a highly useful approach for solving problems in general. This book is well written, easy to understand, and solves a whole bunch of specific problems that go way beyond "is it plugged it." (Yes, it covers the importance of checking basics too, but it goes way beyond that. I was looking it up here to buy copies for two friends who I thought could benefit from it, and am disappointed that it's out of print. If you can get your hands on it, it's well worth having.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste you time, April 27, 2005

By 

Snick (CA IFORNA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Troubleshooting Your PC (Paperback)

Hi

This book was a waste of time. I had seen articles from one of
the authors in PC mags and thought his advice was good.
This book was very disapointing.
I got rid of it. It was not worth donating to a thrift store,
I did not want to waste some one else's time.
I put in the paper recycling....