Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

by Sharon Crawford (Author)
Key Phrases: active desktop, select recipients, shortcut menu, Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, Recycle Bin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Promising to help its readers master the corporate PC, Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual explains Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional (the OS that's meant to replace Microsoft Windows NT Workstation) to the people who use it. Author Sharon Crawford does a fine job of showing how to get Windows 2000 Professional to do what you want, and with the best performance possible. Buy and enjoy this book, if you want to understand your work computer as well as you know your home computer, or if you just want an easy-to-read reference to help you figure out new Windows challenges as they pop up.

Like most of its Pogue Press littermates, this book distinguishes itself by the way in which it deals with its subject software's deviations from common sense. In a model sidebar, Crawford explains why the Permissions window allows you to set both "Deny" and "Allow" permissions on a resource. She aptly explains why not allowing access isn't the same as denying access, and similarly focuses light on other confusing details of Windows 2000 Professional. This approach to software and its quirks is what makes this book different from the (many) other "How to Use Windows 2000 Professional" books that are on the market. Let's hope that Pogue Press continues to steer its writers away from ponderous documentation whose structure is dictated by menu contents. Books like this are fresh air, in a genre that invites drudgery. --David Wall

Topics covered: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional for the people who use it. Beginning with the barest of essentials (logging on and starting programs), this book proceeds through local area network (LAN) and Internet connectivity, hardware administration, and security. Mostly, this is an introductory text, but it covers the OS thoroughly at the user--as opposed to administrator or programmer--level.

Product Description
According to Microsoft, Windows 2000 Pro combines the friendly interface of Windows 98 with the famous stability of Windows NT. Windows 2000, the successor to NT, introduces many technologies that weren't available in NT, including Plug-and-Play, support for USB devices, power management features, and more. It's 25% faster than Windows 98 and three times as stable. Unfortunately, despite all the enhancements, Microsoft forgot to address one of NT's most glaring omissions: Windows 2000 doesn't include a printed user's manual. In Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual, bestselling Windows NT author Sharon Crawford provides the friendly, authoritative book that should have been in the box. It's the ideal (and desperately needed) user's guide for the world's most popular corporate operating system.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 444 pages
• Publisher: Pogue Press; 1 edition (November 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596000103
• ISBN-13: 978-0596000103
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #723,610 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As advertised - no more, no less, February 10, 2002

By	Bob Stout (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

Windows changes with each version - e.g. "Network neighborhood" becomes "My network places", etc. Even experienced users can get lost in the often non-intuitive cascade of menus if the features aren't where you expect them to be.

This book is exactly what it says - the missing complete user's manual. It doesn't claim to be overly technical, but it gets you past all of the essentials. It's well-written and well-organized with useful illustrations, so finding anything is a snap.

After using Win2k at work for years, I recently upgraded my primary home system to it. Rather than hunt my way through the menus, I picked up this book and had both my new system and home network set up in almost no time.

This is the sort of book I may only need to refer to once or twice in my life, but the time it has saved me so far more than compensates for the small investment. If your time costs less than mine or you're looking for something more technical, it might not be for you, but for me it was perfect.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Missing no longer, March 13, 2001

By A Customer

Sharon Crawford's book has all kinds of useful information for a Windows user. The functionality of the book rests in its ability to break down all the elements of Windows into meaningful components. It logically progresses from information about the different commands in the Start menu to the more intricate nuances of Windows and networking or adding hardware. The section in the back of the book about Maintenance and Troubleshooting, I found quite useful. I particularly appreciated the writing style -- it was entertaining and concise. Overall, I think it deserves its title.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice, basic, manual but no more, January 4, 2002

By	Dr. Eduard Van Kleef (Berlin, Germany) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very nice book for someone relatively unfamiliar with the windows operating systems. As such it is well-written, well laid-out and nicely illustrated. It will take every novice through just about everything he/she needs to know and even a little bit further. As such, its ambition to be the "missing manual" seems justified.

However, if you, as a great many of us have, have been through various incarnations of Microsoft Windows and are looking for all of the new and exiting aspects of Windows 2000 as opposed to e.g. Windows 98, you're likely to be disappointed. Vast parts of the book would have been exactly the same in a book for one of the older operating systems. The book stops where, in my opinion, things get interesting. Do not expect any clever "insider"-information.