The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide: (With CD-ROM)

The 2003 edition of the best-selling Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide is yet another milestone in the continuing evolution of a title recognized as the leader in its field. Written in Mark Minasi's friendly style, it shows you how to get the best performance from your computer system through upgrading and how to prevent disasters and fix them when they occur. Based upon the author's extremely popular world-wide PC upgrade and maintenance seminars (which cost $800 per person to attend), the 2003 Edition gives PC owners and support personnel all they need to know to deal with the most common PC problems. You'll find new chapters on troubleshooting scanners and flash memory, as well as updated networking coverage and new material on Windows XP, USB, Firewire, and data recovery. This book comes with two CDs: the first includes an hour of instructional video in which PC expert Mark Minasi teaches you his field-proven upgrade and repair techniques; the second CD includes over 30 system tune-up and diagnostic tools.

Rarely does one see a book written with authority and clarity the way this one is. Author Mark Minasi takes information from his experiences as a computer technician (among other things) and explains problems you may encounter. This book is full of sentences that begin, "I once saw ..." or "This happened to me ..." Rather than explain the differences among different kinds of screwdrivers in the beginning of the book, the author gets right to the point by showing how to disassemble a machine and see what's inside. Then, there's a sort of "hall of horrors" for PC components--a section that details how different parts can fail. Quickly, the book moves into explanations of general troubleshooting and problem-solving techniques. The bulk of this book is a series of chapters explaining how to install and fix various components, such as RAM, hard disks, modems, video-capture cards, and audio peripherals. There aren't a lot of illustrations, but most of the ones here are useful.

Minasi wraps up his book with a table of hard drive specifications, manufacturer contact information, and an excellent, lengthy glossary of computer and hardware terms. You'll also find two companion CD-ROMs, one containing video clips of Minasi's lectures and the other containing handy diagnostic software. Taken as a whole, The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide, Seventh Edition, is an excellent value. The author does an outstanding job of communicating his ample knowledge to the reader.