Customer Reviews

Tune Up Your PC In a Weekend, 2nd Edition (In a Weekend (Premier Press))

She also gives you a variety of other possibilities when the step-by-step procedures may not work in your particular case. It's as if she has 'every base covered'.

I think a person, especially a beginner like myself, will definitely understand how to work on a PC after studying this book. It's also a very good reference book for beginners as well as those who are very knowledgeable about computers. This is a "MUST HAVE" book for any computer user.

- good explanations of what goes on in the PC
- good walk-throughs for doing basic hardware/Windows stuff
- nice hand-holding for the techno-phobe who needs PC help

Otherwise, I'd steer clear of this one. Here's my very short summary:

If your PC doesn't work the way you want it to:

- try diddling all the Windows stuff on it
- if (when) that doesn't work, re-install everything from scratch
- if (when) that doesn't work, upgrade something (CPU, RAM, etc)
- if (when) that doesn't work, go out and buy a new PC

If you're a total newbie/computerphobe, this book might help (though I can't see too many computerphobes donning anti-static straps and cracking open their cases after reading this book). But it really is oriented to an audience with minimal tech skill or interest--which limits things significantly.

I was disappointed to see no mention at all of any alternatives to Windows, particularly in discussing options for older systems. It would have been nice to see Linux/BSD offered as an option for keeping these perfectly functional systems functioning, rather than junking them and spending another $600-1,000 for a new PC with the latest version of Windows.

But most disappointing was the lack of any significant non-OS related tuning tips beyond RAM/CPU/hard drive upgrades. For example, one I got just last week from a local service tech was to install PCI video cards in a lower-numbered slot because the higher-numbered slots get lower priority. There was nothing like that here; I wonder too about tips on RAM placement, issues of cooling and power, stuff like that.

So, basically, this book is worth it only if:

- you use Windows
- you don't know anything about Windows or your PC
- you want to try a bunch of things with a "stale" Windows installation before you start fresh
- you want to try a bunch of things with an "obsolete" PC before you go out and buy a new one
- you've got plenty of time to fool around with Windows and don't mind killing a weekend (at least--I've wasted much more than that when Windows has gone kerflooey on me)

...The price is OK, but personally, I'd rather switch to Red Hat Linux and spend [more] on a serious hardware book like Scott Mueller's "Upgrading and Repairing PCs".