Customer Reviews

Windows 98 Annoyances

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Who thought Windows 98 was going to eliminate all the annoyances of Windows 95? Hardly. If anything, there are more annoyances with Windows 98 than ever before!

This is an excellent book. Think you know Windows 98? Read this book, and I think you'll discover more than you think. If Windows 98 is giving you fits, or you'd simply like to change a few things that just annoy you (who doesn't?), pick this one up. It's very simply an excellent reference tool for both Windows 98 users and anyone who administrates Windows 98 computers.

Fortunately, this book should be good for both the novice and the professionals. However, if you are a novice, just make sure you understand the instructions that are carefully laid out in the book. There is nothing at all complicated, but there are many examples of simple registry changes that could be bad news if you just rip through it. Take it line by line (few examples have more than 5-6 simple steps), and you'll have no trouble at all.

O'Reilly is truly an amazing book publisher. It's very uncommon to pick up one of their books and find even one error or lack of coverage. This book is NO EXCEPTION. O'Reilly makes a durable book with a clever binding called a RepKover. That's very important, something you'll discover after referring to O'Reilly books over & over & over again. These books are kept on the desktop or very nearby and used continuously.

This book really gets down to the essence of Windows 98. I wasn't expecting a regurgitated manual. I wanted a reference that provided information I couldn't get from the 1000+ page "bible" books, and without having to dig through hundreds of magazines and user-groups... and that's what I got.

The tone of this book is honest, but positive. The author acknowledges the problems with the software, which is refreshing, but it's not a dig at Microsoft! It focused on fixing the problems, and not just complaining or glossing over them. It's more than just problems, too... there substantial networking information and tips for improving performance, and (finally) documentation on the windows scripting host.

It's one of the most useful computer books I've ever bought.

In the several years since I switched from Mac OS to Windows 98 I've spent quite a lot of time on the phone with Dell tech support. Sometimes it's the hardware, occasionally it's the software, but often it's the operating system, Windows 98, that is giving me a problem. The Dell employee recommended this book to me, asserting that in his view and the view of his cohorts "Windows 98 Annoyances" is the best reference available for the wide variety of little problems, bigger puzzles, and flat-out mysteries that Windows 98 is so devilishly capable of posing to its zillions of users.

I like to read a book from start to finish, which you obviously do not need to do with this one. On the other hand Karp has explained and provided straightforward solutions to at least twenty obstacles, glitches, or difficulties I've encountered with Windows 98. There is a wealth of conceptual information here, too. In addition to responding awfully well to niggling problems, Karp also supplies the demystifying know-how that enables you to modify aspects of your set-up. It's terrific, there's a CD ROM with it, the index is a real index that is a tool and not a token - and I wish that I could personally thank that Dell tech support guy for giving me such great advice by recommending that I buy this book.

This book contains a lot of useful information arranged in a practical fashion, so that you can look up whatever problem you are having and find out how to fix it. It certainly does not contain everything, but it does contain a lot of valuable information. Despite the title, it should be clear that it is for all Win 98 users, not just for Microsoft-haters. This is one of three books that I keep handy for solving Windows problems. The O'Reilly web site has samples (and corrections!) for this book, so check it out if you are interested. I am very glad that I bought this book!

This book, a newer edition of the previous _Windows 95 Annoyances_, is an essential tool for anybody supporting W 95/98 operating systems and applications and it continues the publisher's category of Microsoft software annoyances.

It is a close up view of just what the Man Behind the Curtain does to keep the Emerald City (Windows 95/98) running. For example, it explains many of those cryptic messages that we see on the screen when the system has tanked. Since the book does not come out of the maw of the Microsoft publishing and adoration machine, the view is realistic, tilted slighty towards the jaundiced. It is oriented towards practical explanations and solutions. In fact, the author often offers more than one solution and explains the consequences of each one. The book is well organized and has an adequate index.

While _Windows 98 Annoyances_ is, for the most part, applicable to both Windows 95 and 98, the accompanying CD will only install in W98 systems. If you are thinking of upgrading to W98 be sure to throughly read Chapter 8, Taking Control of Web Integration.

In general, the book assumes a better than average knowledge of computing hardware and software. This book will join the other D&D (Dirty and Dog Eared from constant use) books on my quick reference shelf.

This book is GREAT. It has to be one of the best Windows 98 books out there. You'll learn things you never thought possible. As a computer support professional, and an MCP, A+ certified technician, I recommend it for novices and professionals alike.

This is the first "Tech manual" that I have read from cover to cover. It is jammed packed with helpful hints and fixes for Windows 98. Whenever the people at work have a question about Windows 98 we delve into Windows 98 Annoyances and lo-and-behold there is the answer. I have also recommended it to the ZDU SmartPlanet Class I am currently enrolled in. Windows 98 Installation and Support Part I. This book is a must for the beginner and even the intermediate Windows user.

This book is a must have for all Windows98 users. It clearly defines the problems and offers easy fixes. It gives advice on tweaking Windows to get maximum performance. It offers time saving tips and is very easy to understand no matter what your computer experience level is. I plan to puchase the Win2000 book as soon as they publish it.

I really loved this book, it really tells you how to get around each and every limitation that's present in Windows. Some of these limitations are just plain bad design, while others are attempts to hide "confusing" concepts from the precious, fragile user. Also, like most O'Reilly books it is very entertaining and easy to read. It's not dry or overly technical, despite being very detailed and advanced.

In response to "A reader" from Ann Arbor, Michigan: I definitely agree that the anti-microsoft potshots wore very thin after a few pages, but I *definitely* don't think that makes it deserve a piddly two-stars.

As far as your other complaints, first of all, Windows is a very popular operating system, so you'd have to expect that some of his solutions might have been mentioned elsewhere, and they were probably discovered independently. Second of all, if you actually read anything other than the table of contents, you might have noticed that his suggestion to use DOS was only an alternative. He said that if you want to avoid the delete confirmation box, you can by right clicking Recycle Bin, properties, then unchecking the option for the confirmation box. But, he also said, that if you like the confirmation dialog, but don't want to go through 700 of them when deleting a directory, you can use the deltree command.

Besides, why do you look at DOS as separate from windows? DOS is just the windows command line, and that's what Karp was trying to say. Sometimes it's more appropriate to use the command line.

Well this book is the best reference I've ever read on Windows, and I've read almost all of them. :) One of the absolute best tips was that you can download the free X-Setup from Xteq Systems. This gem is truly treasure, it's saved me so much time and helped so much I must recommend it along with the book. Great book, great tool. Great job. :)