Upgrading and Repairing PCs (16th Edition) 16th Edition

I purchased the 21st Edition of Upgrading and Repairing PCs, based upon reviews of previous editions of the book. I have built a few desktop PCs (reading other books and materials online to do so) and have replaced internal parts including memory, hard drives, video and sound cards, over the past 12 years. I consider myself an advanced intermediate in terms of upgrading and repairing PCs, with a desire to learn more.

Getting a book with the latest information on this subject was important to me. This 21st edition, is the first I've seen from this author, is impressive and fit my needs perfectly!

Who should buy this book?

I think this book would be useful to anyone from a beginner to a strong intermediate PC user who is interested in building and repairing PCs.

Those preparing to take specific IT related tests like the A+ Certification Exam, would also find it helpful and undoubtedly it is or will be used as a textbook for either high school or college students.

What is included?

You get this comprehensive hardbound book along with 45 days of FREE online access to the online edition of this book (code at back of the book) and a 2 hour DVD in which the author shows the components of a PC build and how they go together. His hands on approach is easy to understand and pleasant to watch.

What will I learn with this book?

Twenty chapters cover everything from the Development of the PC to PC Diagnostics, Testing and Maintenance. Networking, hardware types and functions, and building and upgrading systems are also covered.

Basically anything hardware related - not software - for PCs is comprehensively covered by this 1000+ page book.

Is it overly technical?

Some parts of the book, by the nature of the subject, are technical. The author, Scott Mueller, does his best (and succeeds) at writing clear, concise technical information without making it overly boring - which is tough!

Unlike some other books I've seen on this subject, I could pick it up and read a bit - absorbing the info - and not have to go back over it to try and understand what I'd just read. Something those who are new to PC upgrading and repair will appreciate.

The book also has clear diagrams regarding each subject, cautions and tips which are all very helpful.

Why this book over all the others?

There are very few books on the subject of upgrading and repairing PCs that are not either too simplified like Upgrading and Fixing Computers Do-it-Yourself For Dummies or too technical and frankly only good for those who are intermediate to advanced PC users who are unafraid of a challenge.

This book is useful to a spectrum of users from beginner to advanced, and sets the bar for what other writers should aspire to create with their technical writing.

The book can be read from start to finish, or used as a handy reference. The DVD is a nice supplement to the book, but not a regurgitation of all that is in the book.

You won't be wasting your money on this one - I highly recommend it!

I've been buying these books for years now ever since the 18th edition. I am an IT professional and I give these books an Scott Mueller every bit of credit for the knowledge I have in the field. I strongly recommend watching the DVD's that come with the books as they are very informative and give you a lot of practical knowledge from experience.

At first I was put off by the density of technical detail in Mueller's book, but as I began to read individual chapters, I grew to appreciate that this is an extremely useful, well written and interesting text on PC hardware. I bought this book as a companion to "Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC" by Andrews which was a textbook required for my A+ certification class. Both are 1000+ page books: Andrews' is an expensive carefully constructed textbook with glossy pages, lots of illustrations, exercises, projects. It covers both hardware and software. Mueller's book, is devoted strictly to hardware, and here's my comments:
1. Historical Information: Mueller gives complete history of each of the components of a PC, such as the evolution of the processor or disk drives.
2. Technical Reference: This book has dozens and dozens of comprehensive tables that deliniates the details of each successive release/update/upgrade/replacement for each component and sub-components of the PC, such as BIOS or diskdrive technology or whatever. Detailed and useful information is provided.
3. Hardware: As mentioned above, this book is only for hardware, look elsewhere if you want to learn about operating systems, programs, etc...
4. Troubleshooting: Not a whole lot about troubleshooting...though there are some useful items. Andrew's book has a couple of chapters of troubleshooting. It's hard to teach trouble-shooting. Mueller's approach, I would state, is that if you have a really good understanding of how the PC works, you're in a much better shape to understand how to fix it.
5. Quality writing: this is one of the best written reference works I've ever encountered. So once I got over my reluctance to dig in, and actually started reading, I was very pleased at how well the information is presented. At first I just jumped into a few topics that were of interest. But once I got going, I realized that I would enjoy reading the whole story from the beginning, which I'm now doing. This is not an afternoon's project, but as technical reading goes, this is one of the best.

A technical book for everyone
Mr. Mueller always give us a good and technically understandable narration within the reach of anyone interested in the field. One does not have to be a pro to learn a myriad of things about computer hardware that is why the book has been so useful to me.
I highly recommend it!!

I am 40 years old and do not have the time or money to go back to school, but I wanted very much to learn more about computers than simply how to type on one. This book is great, using the appendix I can search for and find answers to all the questions I have about computers from the beginning of the PC to taking one apart and putting it back together again.

Mueller is usually my primary source for information, but immediately before I noticed I had not written a review for this reference, I discovered this 21st edition lacks much coverage of SCSI. Of course, an encyclopedic scope of reference is why I routinely buy Mueller, so I was somewhat surprised, consoled by the fact I have his earlier versions which do have ample coverage. And that difference probably explains why SCSI was substantially underrepresented in this edition-- the technology changes, and to write a volume which is fewer than 1,500 pages requires older (SCSI) technology be tossed overboard. Of course, I plan to keep all the editions, just in case.

Rather than a perfect 5, I give a 4.576898.