Special Edition Using Microsoft(R) Windows XP, Home Edition [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Robert Cowart (Author), Brian Knittel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

**An updated version of this book is available! Click on "All Editions" on this product page, or search for Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Bestseller Edition by entering the book's ISBN, 0789728516 in the search bar!

Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition is the only book you need to help you get your Windows XP Home system configured and optimized for maximum performance.

Written for humans by humans! While many authors spend time trying to overwhelm you with their technical expertise, Bob and Brian drive right to the point with the clear, natural language that you have come to love and expect.

Hands on, roll-up-your-shirtsleeves advice! Bob and Brian don't just tell you how to use the Windows features and point you elsewhere for networking or hardware advice. Instead, they help you choose, install and configure hardware and software that work in concert with Windows.

Build your own network at home! Turn two PCs and a ball of cable into the ultimate network for high-powered gaming, sharing files, and backing up essential data! Use XP's simple and reliable networking features to network your home for gameplay, sharing files and printers, as well as sharing broadband Internet connections.

CD-ROM Includes: 45 minutes of video from Brainsville.com. This unique video package is a new, innovative feature in computer books and video courseware, which brings Bob and Brian right to your desktop. This personal seminar flattens your learning curve, introduces you to Windows XP and demonstrates how to use it while you watch. Topics covered range from mastering the new XP user interface to setting up and fine-tuning your local area network.

From the Back Cover

Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition is the only book you need to help you get your Windows XP Home system configured and optimized for maximum performance.

* 95/98/Me and NT/2000 users unite! With the long-awaited release of Windows XP, Windows 95/98, and Me will become obsolete, along with all that old code and problematic DOS legacy support, to be replaced by Windows XP. Based on the NT kernel, XP finally marries the two worlds in a stable, non-crashing operating system for the rest of us.
* Written for humans by humans! While many authors spend time trying to overwhelm you with their technical expertise, Bob and Brian drive right to the point with the clear, natural language that you have come to love and expect.
* Hands on, roll-up-your-shirtsleeves advice! Bob and Brian don't just tell you how to use the Windows features and point you elsewhere for networking or hardware advice. Instead, the help you choose, install and configure hardware and software that work in concert with Windows.
* Build Your Own Network at Home!Turn two PCs and a bail of cable into the ultimate network for high-powered gaming, sharing files, and backing up essential data! Use XP's simple and reliable networking features to network your home for gameplay, sharing files and printers, as well as sharing broadband Internet connections.
* CD-ROM Includes: 45 minutes of video from Brainsville. This unique video package is a new, innovative feature in computer books and video courseware, which brings Bob and Brian right to your desktop. This personal seminar flattens your learning curve, introduces you to Windows XP and demonstrates how to use it while you watch. Topics covered range from mastering the new XP user interface to setting up and fine-tuning your local area network.


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Product Details

• Paperback: 1056 pages
• Publisher: Que (October 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789726270
• ISBN-13: 978-0789726278
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,184,129 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A REALLY useful and practical book!, November 29, 2001

By	Russell Archer (London, UK) - See all my reviews

I was VERY pleasantly suprised by this book: it actually tells you things you NEED to know and HOW to do it (in *detail*)!

I've been a professional in the computer industry for 20 years and buy all kinds of technical books on a regular basis (although I'd don't believe I've bought a Que book before). Normally I end up getting poor value - two or three useful bits of information for an entire book. I think this is due to the fact that authors generally just rehash the manual and have little genuine insight into the technology they're writing about. This is most definitely not the case with Robert Cowart and Brian Knittel. I found the book packed with really useful practical information that I haven't seen elsewhere. For example, the sections in the book dealing with Hone Networking, Internet Connection Sharing and network Security are brilliant!!

Using the detailed information in this book I've been able to get my home network, cable modem and gateway router internet connection sharing set up working (securely) with no problems at all. Other books I've purchased tell you only in the vaguest of terms to "install network hubs and cabling" without providing the real details (probably because they've never done it themselves). Robert and Brian's book tell you EXACTLY what to do. For instance, how to wire-up an RJ-45 plug (which colour wires go into which holes - I've not seen this described anywhere else and without this information I'd have been completely stumped!). The book also saved me plenty of problems with its excellent coverage on security. In fact, I took the book into work and spoke to our network administrator about a couple of points in the book and he obviously found it an eye opener as he borrowed it for a day!

I very strongly recommend this book.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable XP resource, November 29, 2001

By A Customer

When you upgrade to Windows XP, you can learn the new features by fumbling through the miniscule manual that comes with the software, struggle with the software's non-intuitive help menu, or read a good third party book. If you opt for the latter, Que's Special Edition Using Windows XP will quickly get you up and running with XP. The book is written in easy to understand language, well organized, and tells you everything you need to know about XP, including customizing the XP interface and setting up a network. You'll also learn how to optimize your system's performance and use XP on the Internet.

The book itself is an excellent well written resource and comes with a bonus CD where the authors lead you through a series of video presentations that show you how to get the most out of XP. It's like having your own personal XP tutors, but at a fraction of the cost. I can highly recommend this book and CD ROM combo to anyone who wants to cut to the chase and learn XP quickly and thoroughly.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A complete and detailed book, January 22, 2002

By	Carlos Santiago (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book covers just about everything you need to know when using XP Home Edition. The level of information contained surpassed my expectations. It covers topics ranging from the history and evolution of Windows to choosing a network and cabling system, to multi-booting with Linux.

For first-time users the new XP features are explained in detail. For experienced users, these new features are compared with features from previous operating systems, bringing a smooth transition to this powerful operating system. If you have not made the jump to XP yet, I assure you will be convinced to move after reading the first chapter of this book.

The book is not intended to be read from chapter 1 to the end in sequence. Basic XP interface usage is explained from Ch.4 through Ch.7, but then there's a whole bunch of additional Graphical User Interface (GUI) information covered in Ch. 21. I would have grouped all these chapters together before getting into more advanced topics, but I guess the authors had a purpose for that.

The Bob and Brian's Signature Tips are a plus in this book. Together with the Notes and Cautions the reader obtains valuable real-world information and is also encouraged to experiment with the software.

What I enjoyed most about this book was that the authors did not limit coverage to simply the XP OS, they also wrote about useful 3rd party utilities such as Tweak UI, Partition Magic and Virtual PC that provide additional functionality to the XP system.

This book is highly recommended for everyone new to Windows XP, and for experienced users of previous OS's that made or are planning to make the upgrade. Windows XP Home is an entirely different OS and you should have this book handy so you don't miss the many new features it provides.

5 stars and 100% recommended.