Customer Reviews

Windows XP Cookbook (Cookbooks)

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

 

 

Generally speaking, I don't like to mess with my operating system. I want to use stuff *that runs on* my OS, but I just want the OS to be there and work. But of course, that's an unlikely situation for an IT professional. O'Reilly has released another title in the Cookbook series that I really like... Windows XP Cookbook by Robbie Allen and Preston Gralla. This is the type of book that may not be needed every day, but when you do need it, it's something that must happen NOW.

Contents: Introduction; Operating System Installation and Maintenance; Managing Hardware and Devices; Installing, Uninstalling, and Working with Applications; Customizing the Interface; System Properties, Startup, and Shutdown; Disks, Drives, and Volumes; Files, Folders, and Shares; The Registry; Processes, Tasks, and Services; Digital Media; Network Configuration; The Internet; Wireless Networking; User, Group, and Computer Accounts; Event Logs and Log Files; Security and Auditing; Performance Tuning; Backup and Recovery; Crashes and Errors; Summary of Windows XP Versions and Service Packs; Index

Windows XP Cookbook follows the traditional format for an O'Reilly Cookbook title. There's the problem, followed by a solution and discussion of the problem. There's also a "see also" paragraph that points you to more information related to the particular issue being discussed. Allen and Gralla have done some nice things with this title that definitely enhance its usefulness to a wider range of readers. First off, they realized that not everyone likes to perform a task the same way. Some want to use the graphical user interface (GUI), some want to show off their command line skills (CLI), and some want to script the whole process so that they can run it automatically. Whenever possible and wherever applicable, the authors provide all three methods for each recipe. All the script examples use VBScript since we *are* dealing with Windows. But in a great concession to the Perl junkies, there's a companion website that has all the VBScript examples done in Perl. What more can you ask for? You even get pointers to third-party software that fills a particular niche better than Windows XP does by itself.

I was a little concerned that the book would spend most of its time catering to the sysadmin crowd, leaving us "power users" wishing for more. Nope... There's a very nice mix of admin and desktop recipes, enough that both groups can feel like they've gotten their money's worth even if they don't cross over between the two. Just during my initial review, I finally found how to set the properties on a particular feature that I used in Windows 2000 but that eluded me in Windows XP. That definitely gained my attention and trust in short order...

Since I normally don't get to tweak a lot of stuff on my work computer in terms of the operating system (nor do I want to), this book will stay at home within arm's reach of my desktop machine. I have a sneaking suspicion that this book and I are going to become close friends over time...

First things first, this is NOT a 'Cookbook' when compared to all the other O'Reilly titles with the same name. When you open up another O'Reilly Cookbook title, you are presented with a myriad of different "recipes" for the topic in question and that's not how this book is presented to the reader. Instead, this 600+ page reference manual is broken up in the normal matter of separating things out by chapter (20 in total) and then telling you bit by bit everything you would need to know as it relates to the particular issue being discussed. Keeping the .1, .2, .3, .4 format that the O'Reilly Cookbook series uses, each topic is clearly broken up into manageable chunks, and this probably why it was labeled 'Cookbook' because it's so easy to read.

This book is so thorough and exhaustive, it should be included with every copy of Windows XP (too bad that will never happen). Any level (and I mean ANY) of Windows XP user will be able to get something out of this book, from the greenest novice to the most experienced super user, there is a vast spread of knowledge to be shared by the authors, and there is so much it's hard to break it down into a short overview.

Chapters

01. Introduction
02. Operating System Installation and Maintenance
03. Managing Hardware and Devices
04. Installing, Uninstalling, and Working with Applications
05. Customizing the Interface
06. System Properties, Startup, and Shutdown
07. Disks, Drives, and Volumes
08. Files, Folders, and Shares
09. The Registry
10. Processes, Tasks, and Services
11. Digital Media
12. Network Configuration
13. The Internet
14. Wireless Networking
15. User, Group, and Computer Accounts
16. Event Logs and Log Files
17. Security and Auditing
18. Performance Tuning
19. Backup and Recovery
20. Crashes and Errors

Want to speed up your Internet surfing experience? Go to chapter 13 and learn how to edit/create a HOSTS file. Want to learn how to run an application as a service? Go to chapter 10 and follow the steps indicated. Want to learn how to run older windows/dos applications ideally under Windows XP? Go to chapter 4 to get this up and running.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, as the authors cover over 325 different topics and you'll keep learning over and over again.

For anyone that wants to take the kid gloves off and go towards getting your black belt in Windows XP administration, I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of 'Windows XP Cookbook'. It's extremely well-written, broken up in a clear, concise manner, and it's useful for all sorts of purposes.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Are you involved in deploying, administering or automating Windows XP? If you are, this book is for you. Authors Robbie Allen and Preston Gralla, have written an outstanding end user book that covers the spectrum of topics involved with running Windows XP in both small and large environments.

Allen and Gralla, begin by setting the stage for the rest of the book by covering their approach on where you can find the software tools used in this book; as well as, where to find additional information. Next, the authors cover tasks related to installing and upgrading Windows XP, installing hotfixes and service packs, and performing initial system configuration. Then, they cover adding and managing hardware, troubleshooting hardware related problems, resolving device conflicts, and dealing with USB devices and printers. The authors continue by showing you how to remotely install, uninstall and redeploy applications using Group Policy; deal with installation and uninstallation problems; change the default location for installing applications; customizing application launches; and resolve compatibility problems between applications and XP. In addition, they cover customizing the desktop, controlling and customizing the Start menu, and customizing the Control Panel and Windows Explorer. The authors also focus on creating a multiboot menu, running multiple operating systems in addition to XP, performing a clean boot, halting services that run at startup, changing your boot screen, speeding up startup and shutdown times, disabling error reporting, and customizing reboots. Then, the authors cover disk quotas, converting between disk types, creating drives, mapping drives, and managing volumes. They continue by showing you how to manipulate files and folders, create shortcuts and links, modify file properties, and manage share points. The authors also cover basic Registry administration. Next, they discuss both basic and advanced process and task management, including how to create, suspend, and kill processes, and schedule tasks. Then the authors look at ripping and burning digital music, using Windows Media Player, playing Internet radio stations, using media metadata, converting images between graphics formats, capturing video, and making DVDs.
They continue by looking at tasks related to configuring network adapters, viewing network configuration, viewing network traffic, and installing IPv6 support. The authors also show you how to speed up web access, trouble shoot DNS problems and Internet connections, work with Internet Information Services (IIS) and Telenet servers, customizing Internet Explorer, blocking pop ups, handling cookies protecting yourself against spy ware, and using firewalls. Then, they cover working with XPs wireless client, installing a wireless router, wireless security, troubleshooting wireless networking, and using hotspots. The authors continue by discussing how to create and administer local and domain user, group, and computer accounts. In addition, you'll also learn how to create and view events, create and manage event logs, search event logs, and enable various system logging. The authors also cover several tasks related to securing Windows XP, including auditing, screen saver locking, enabling string passwords, and disabling unused accounts. Then they cover tracking and speeding up speeding up system performance, using RAM more effectively, optimizing pagefile size, cleaning your hard disk, and converting a hard disk to NTFS. Finally, the authors examine how to use Safe Mode and the Last Known Good Configuration, using a boot log to trace problems, using the Recovery Console, repairing Autoexec.nt or Config.nt errors, fixing a wide variety of XP errors, configuring error reporting, and using Dr. Watson to troubleshoot errors.

This excellent book covers hundreds of tasks you'll need to do at one point or another with Windows XP. As a result, IT professionals and system administrators will get the most out of this book and find it a great day-to-day reference.

I really liked this book. I've come across a lot of these "cookbook" type books for Windows XP, and they've all seemed about the same. They all have a lot of good tips, but they all seem to be geared to the home user. While this book can certainly still be used by the home power user, it has a lot of great help for real system administrators. In fact, this is the only Windows XP book I've come across that actually has script examples for virtually every "recipe".

Like you would expect, there are many recipes for the home user. These include such tasks as speeding up your computer, ripping music, watching DVDs, etc. But where I felt this book really shined was in the realm of system administrators. Managing remote installations, troubleshooting hardware problems, managing services, and security are all covered in great detail. Again, I was very impressed by the inclusion of windows commands or VBScript files to accomplish nearly each task.

In some instances, a simple windows script command won't do the job. In those cases, the author has carefully researched tools that are available to accomplish the task. Case in point: recipe 6.9 shows you how to change your boot screen. This change can't be directly made through Windows XP, so the author provides a URL (and even price) for a tool that will do the job. The author notes where free software is available.

This is definitely the best book for managing Windows XP that I have come across. I felt it was easy to follow, well organized, and accessible to both experienced home users and network admins. I feel like I understand my computer a lot better after reading this book. I highly recommend this book to sys admins supporting Windows XP installations or home power users who just want more out of their XP computer.

Since implementing my first Windows 2003 Server system I have maintained a notebook of commonly needed procedures. I have replaced the notebook with this book. From one professional to another ,"Thanks".

Unlike other Cookbooks from O'Reilly that I love to own, this window XP cookbook does NOT always give you in depth discussion that you would expect of how to cook the window XP yourself. Instead,its advice using 'Adware' or buy other 3rd party software to do it. That is a no brain since I can go to google and do a search with tons of solution from 3rd party adwares. I scan through most of the chapters after own it for a week and really disappointed. E.G. I wanted to change the XP boot logo and it tells me to use 3rd party adware to do it - jeez - what I want to see is a cooking recipe 'doing it yourself'.

I expected far more insights and tricks than this book provided. It provides basic scripting for what are typically basic tasks. There are a few gems in this book, but they are few and far between.

The foreword assures you that the authors have posted scripts in http:\\www.rallenhome.com\books
Well, don't hold your breath. It says "coming soon" ( since mid 95) .If you expect the authors to answer your email seeking clarification you'll be disappointed.

Julio Kuplinsky