Windows XP Power Hound: Teach Yourself New Tricks [Paperback]

Preston Gralla (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 2004

Windows XP can be a great tool, but it is all too easy to trip over Windows XP's annoying traits more often than you leverage its productivity. Windows XP power-users troll online resources, documentation, and the expertise (or lucky finds) of friends for valuable tips and tricks--a keyboard shortcut here, an undocumented double-click there--to eliminate annoyances, save time, and take control of their Windows XP. But what if there was an easier way?

This new book presents literally hundreds of problems and solutions, amazing power tips, cool tricks, and clever workarounds in one clearly organized, easy to use, and portable resource. Truly insightful and amusing, Windows XP Power Hound gives Windows XP users practical hints for everything from the desktop to Office programs to the registry, and includes documented (but little-known) tips as well as previously undocumented tricks. Windows XP Power Hound moves far beyond mere productivity and explores what's possible with Windows XP--including cool things you probably never thought of doing.

An understanding of Windows XP basics will get the job done. But discovering the most useful I didn't know that! tips and shortcuts will make using Windows XP a far richer and less frustrating experience. The practical, concise format of Windows XP Power Hound makes it easy to dip into for a quick tip from time to time; the warm, jargon-free tone makes it easy to read cover to cover.

Anyone who wants to smooth out Windows XP's speed bumps and get some serious speed to accelerate through the bottlenecks will find that even a handful of these useful, to-the-point tips will make Windows XP Power Hound worth its weight in chocolate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

There is a lot to Windows XP, but Windows XP Power Hound will help make sure you soon understand it. It covers both the Home and Pro editions and is full of tips, tricks and tweaks to get you going. provides expert guidance on everything from the desktop to the registry, and also covers Microsoft Office programs.? ? Tom McKay, Scottish Sunday Post, Jan 9 2005

About the Author

Preston Gralla, the author of more than 20 books, is also a freelance journalist and columnist. He has written for major national newspapers and magazines, including PC Magazine, Computerworld, the Los Angeles Times, the Dallas Morning News (where he was the technology columnist), USA Today and several others. A well-known technology expert, Preston has also appeared on many TV and radio programs and networks, including CNN, MSNBC and NPR. In addition, he's won a number of awards for his writing, including for "Best Feature in a Computer Magazine" from the Computer Press Association. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pogue Press; 1 edition (October 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596006195
• ISBN-13: 978-0596006198
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,612,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Spreadsheets

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Start, November 29, 2004

By 

AA (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windows XP Power Hound: Teach Yourself New Tricks (Paperback)

Every book has its target readers. Power Hound's target audience is beginner with little to no knowledge or experience with previous windows version. It also contains a lot of marketing material which may or may not relate directly to XP. For example, it recommends www.efax.com which is a web based fax service and is not tied to just XP.
That said, this book does provide some information that both experts and beginners will find useful
Positives:
1) A single source for all your windows XP tips and tricks
2) Contains examples and screen shots making it very easy to understand the topic.
3) It introduced Firefox, the best browser out there. I have now switched completely to firefox because it is faster, more user friendly and much more secured when compared to Microsoft IE.

Negatives:
1) Too Expensive.
2) Too wordy
3) Too many ads buried in the text.

CONCLUSION: Not worth $25 that I paid for it. Try to get it from a library or read it in a book store before you buy it.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars bundles of hacks, October 30, 2004

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Windows XP Power Hound: Teach Yourself New Tricks (Paperback)

Microsoft rules the desktop. And on that desktop, the most common of its operating systems is XP. Hence this book. Gralla offers a set of tricks, or hacks, as another O'Reilly series would term these, if you want to go deeper into your machine than most of your peers. As he points out in the introduction, the book is random access. Not necessary to read sequentially.

Instead, try perusing the detailed contents pages. From these, you may be able to find a brief title that addresses a need or concern of yours. Like smarter surfing of the Web, cleaning out your browser cache, or finding wireless hotspots.

Hence, if a trick uses Microsoft Word, say, you don't get a full description of all that Word can do. Instead, only enough for your situation. Even in principle, this is not a reference manual. Rather, it complements those.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for new to intermediate users, February 5, 2005

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Windows XP Power Hound: Teach Yourself New Tricks (Paperback)

This book is well worth the price just for the section in the first chapter on how to speedup startup and shutdown and resolve problems with both of them. Most of this information is available on the Internet but why not have it at hand instead of spending hours looking for it?

For the novice to intermediate user this is an excellent way to get things Windows XP under control and operating the way it is supposed to. Well-written, easy to follow, with everything explained in plain English, Windows XP Power Hound is recommended for the average user who wants to learn more and customize their system but will contain little new information for someone who is already a power user.