Fix Your Own PC (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Welcome to anatomy class..." (more)
Key Phrases: system bus speed, current modern machines, consult your instruction manual, Pentium Pro, Intel Pentium, Microsoft Corporation (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Do you have the urge to take the casing off your Windows-based PC and tinker around, but you're a little intimidated? If so, get this book first. The text is clear and well-indexed, and this book will give you the information, and then, confidence, that you need. (It would also be a great book for anyone who wants to help recycle old computers for schools or non-profits). Two Torx blades up! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Recommended  “…does a good job…a very handy reference tool when it comes to fixing those inevitable problems with your little beige chum…”  (PC Utilities, May 2003)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 752 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 7 edition (July 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764549448
• ISBN-13: 978-0764549441
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,148,910 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extremely Helpful, Informative Book, January 24, 2000

By	Sylvia Whittum (farmington, n. h., usa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fix Your Own PC (Paperback)

This book covers everything you need to repair, maintain or upgrade a personal computer. The text covers legacy and more recent hardware. It's informative and is enhanced with plenty of photos and charts to make computer repair/upgrading easier for both veteran and novice. I built my computer using this book. The appendices include trouble-shooting flow charts, lists of companies selling what you need and lists of valuable software utilities available, amoung other items. It even covers all you need to know about peripherals. In the four months since I've purchased it, it's proven to be an invailuable reference.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It worked for me!, January 11, 2002

By	Kenneth Walker (Virginia Beach, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fix Your Own PC (Paperback)

This book as is good as it's title: I did manage to fix my own (Pentium II) PC by reading it! It gave me the knowledge to find the problem (a bad motherboard) and the courage to replace it. Operations that at first glance looked intimidating, were made relatively simple by the book's clear discussions, explanations and photos. It's range covers the inner workings of old PC's up through the Pentium II (as well as a little bit of info on the Pentium III.) Not a perfect book, though: the photo printing could be better; and the section on power supplies isn't complete or accurate, particularly when it comes to ATX-type supplies--oddly, the type found in most Pentium machines, for which the book is otherwise a good repair guide. (The power supply is a vital component in a PC, and is oftentimes the first gizmo to go bad.) I had to go outside the book to find that critical info. But criticism aside, I wouldn't have been able to repair my computer without this book, period, so I would recommend it. Perhaps a newer edition will correct the minor shortcomings.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Its a good starting point but it doesn't cover everything, April 12, 2006

By	T. Golisch "justanothergeek" (Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is great for beginners. It covers nearly every kind of hardware that has ever gone in a standard PC. It does a great job of explaining old/obsolete/outdated hardware as well. However, information on new stuff, like PCIe, SATA and DDR2, is pretty scarce.
The troubleshooting charts and techniques are a little thin and there is very little coverage of troubleshooting techniques for the operating system.
If you want to learn about computer hardware, this book is everything you are looking for and more. If you are looking for a complete book on troubleshooting & fixing computers, it is a good starting point, but you will need another book to help you with OS problems.