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Rating: 
Summary: Having it my Way
Review: Excellent Book! Neil Randall is obviously well versed in all Windows platforms as well as Mac. Extolls Windows XP virtues and points to it's weaknesses. The premise of this book is: "Having it my Way". He steps through Windows explaining how to do things, many of which are deeply hidden. Not a novice book, certainly, but filled with step by step instruction with pictures for a clear and precise understanding.
In my years working in computers, studying operating systems, including Mac, I found this book to be the simplest to understand while delving deep into what Windows XP has to offer and how to use all the options. In addition safety measures are recommended, third party software is discussed and web links provided.
Highly recommend this book to learn Windows XP.
Rating:
Summary: Learning lots of new tricks
Review: I've had the book for a couple of weeks now, and I keep learning new tricks. Most recently the book taught me how to create screen capture movies that I can e-mail to others. I'm using this trick mostly to create "here's how you do this" videos for my parents, which is a lot easier than trying to talk them through the computer challenge du jour over the phone.Probably the next most useful sections of the book for me have been the parts covering User Profile managment. I've never found those tasks to be intuitive in WinXP, and the book does a great job of showing me how I can finally get some benefit out of Profiles, rather than the headaches they've been giving me since I got WinXP. The book has other chapters on these topics, too:
*Working With Digital Cameras
*Making Videos
*Recording & Ripping Music
*Remote Control of Windows XP via the internet
*Using Windows XP as an Internet Server Plus, of course, chapters on security, backups, installing hardware/software, and the other sorts of topics you'd expect from PC Magazine.
Rating:
Summary: Learning lots of new tricks
Review: I've had the book for a couple of weeks now, and I keep learning new tricks. Most recently the book taught me how to create screen capture movies that I can e-mail to others. I'm using this trick mostly to create "here's how you do this" videos for my parents, which is a lot easier than trying to talk them through the computer challenge du jour over the phone. Probably the next most useful sections of the book for me have been the parts covering User Profile managment. I've never found those tasks to be intuitive in WinXP, and the book does a great job of showing me how I can finally get some benefit out of Profiles, rather than the headaches they've been giving me since I got WinXP. The book has other chapters on these topics, too:
*Working With Digital Cameras
*Making Videos
*Recording & Ripping Music
*Remote Control of Windows XP via the internet
*Using Windows XP as an Internet Server Plus, of course, chapters on security, backups, installing hardware/software, and the other sorts of topics you'd expect from PC Magazine.
Rating: 
Summary: Well suited for sysadmins
Review: Microsoft's Windows XP is indeed a considerable improvement over its predecessors. But to the chagrin of many users, it is certainly not bug free. In response, Randall offers you many ways to improve the security and user experience.
Of course, he assumes that you are already fairly familiar with your machine. This book is not meant for the total novice. But going through it can turn you into a power user. He starts by showing how to better control the user interface. There are things you can do with the control panel that are neat and often ignored in simpler texts.
Actually, most if not all of the book can also be used by a system administrator. Very useful in answering those tricky questions from inquisitive users that want to push the envelope of the machine. The book helps you stay ahead of them.
Rating:
Summary: Chapter 11 saved me a headache
Review: One of my Windows XP machines got completely corrupted and would not boot - even in safe mode. Normally I would wipe the drive and move on with a fresh install, but in this case, I needed to recover several files - including my recent honeymoon photos. I had visions of booting with a recovery floppy and drilling down DOS directories - copying one file at a time to the floppy disk. Chapter 11 had exactly the solution I needed - create a new partition, install Win XP fresh, and recover the files from the old partition. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Chapter 11 saved me a headache
Review: One of my Windows XP machines got completely corrupted and would not boot - even in safe mode. Normally I would wipe the drive and move on with a fresh install, but in this case, I needed to recover several files - including my recent honeymoon photos. I had visions of booting with a recovery floppy and drilling down DOS directories - copying one file at a time to the floppy disk. Chapter 11 had exactly the solution I needed - create a new partition, install Win XP fresh, and recover the files from the old partition. Highly recommended.
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