Book Description
The 15th edition of Mark Minasi's Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide is another milestone in the evolution of a title recognized as the market leader. With over 1.5 million copies of previous editions sold, this masterwork was completely updated to cover new and emerging PC and networking technologies, and reorganized for easier navigation. Written in Mark Minasi's friendly style and based on his world-renowned seminars, it shows you how to get the best performance from your systems through upgrading and how to prevent disasters and fix them when they occur. The companion CD includes instructional video of critical hands-on PC upgrade & maintenance tasks.
From the Back Cover
The World's Leading PC Guide—Updated, Expanded, Reorganized The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide continues its reign as the PC world's great problem-solving wonder. In simple, easy-to-follow language, it shows you how to prevent disasters, fix the ones that occur, and maximize your PC’s power and longevity. Based on author Mark Minasi’s popular seminars, this book is an unbeatable value. It teaches you everything you need to know to meet all your PC challenges, present and future. Coverage includes: Preventing hardware disasters Upgrading memory Replacing power supplies Installing EIDE and Serial ATA hard drives Adding SCSI ports Partitioning drives using NTFS and FAT32 Protecting your PC from viruses, worms, and spyware Solving data backup challenges Adding and repairing DVDs and CD-ROMs Installing and troubleshooting scanners Troubleshooting printers Installing communications devices Resolving mouse and keyboard problems Installing video and sound cards Tackling networking issues Installing a wireless network Troubleshooting Internet connectivity Solving laptop problems
About the Author
Mark Minasi is a noted educator and author in the fields of PC computing, data communications, and operating systems. His best-selling books include Mastering Windows XP Professional, Mastering Windows 2000 Server, The Hard Disk Survival Kit, and Troubleshooting Windows, all from Sybex. Mark is CNN’s resident computer expert.
Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide, 15th Edition FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
Mark Minasi is CNNﾽs resident PC expert: a master at explaining complicated stuff in plain English, without jargon, oversimplification, or condescension. Thatﾽs what you want in a book on PC upgrades and maintenance. And thatﾽs what Minasi delivers in his.
The Complete PC Upgrade & Maintenance Guide, 15th Edition is fully updated and as comprehensive as ever. Youﾽll find new coverage of Opteron, Centrino, Pentium 4, and Itanium processors. Flash memory. Serial ATA drives. Video capture cards. The whole menagerie of confusing DVD recordable technologies. And plenty more.
You name it, itﾽs here. Wired and wireless networking. Scanners. Printers. FireWire connections. Data recovery. Windows XP.
Minasiﾽs determined to give you all the help youﾽll need to get the job done. Thereﾽs a complete chapter on taking PCs apart without frying them. Dynamic visual layouts walk you through many upgrades. This edition adds ﾽQuickStepsﾽ sections throughout: rapid-fire, step-by-step instructions for common tasks such as installing hard drives and DVDs, replacing power supplies, adding memory, and replacing CPUs. Want to see even more? Thereﾽs a complete video PC maintenance course on CD-ROM.
Why isnﾽt that 160 MB hard drive working with Windows XP? Why is your laser printer leaving vertical white streaks on the page? Why canﾽt you get enough sound from your speakers? Minasi shines when it comes to issues like these. There are problem-solving sections in almost every chapter. Better yet, he introduces a systematic approach to troubleshooting, one thatﾽll help you track down practically any problem, quickly.
Bill Camarda
Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2003 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide is a problem-solving wonder. In simple, easy-to-follow language, it shows you how to prevent disasters, fix the ones that occur, and maximize your PC's power and longevity. Based on author Mark Minasi's popular seminars, this book is an unbelievable value—for only $59.99 U.S., it teaches you everything you need to know to meet your PC challenges.
Coverage includes:
Preventing hardware disasters
Installing new components
Upgrading memory
Replacing power supplies
Installing EIDE hard drives
Adding SCSI ports and devices
Partitioning and formatting EIDE and SCSI drives
Protecting your PC from viruses
Solving data backup challenges
Adding and repairing removable media devices CD-ROMs, floppies, and others
Troubleshooting printers
Installing communications devices
Upgrading mice and keyboards
Installing video and sound cards
Tackling networking issues
Choosing a new PC
Troubleshooting Internet connectivity problems
Building your own PC
Solving special laptop problems
Featured on the CDs
On the first CD, you'll find over one hour of instructional video in which PC expert Mark Minasi teaches you his field-proven upgrade and repair techniques. Based on his popular $800 seminars, these videos are a great resource and an unbeatable value. On the second CD, you get over 20 system tune-up and diagnostic tools—utilities that help you monitor and fine-tune your PC's performance, restrict access to important data, and recover quickly when disaster strikes.
SYNOPSIS
The 15th edition of Mark Minasi's Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide is another milestone in the evolution of a title recognized as the market leader. With over 1.5 million copies of previous editions sold, this masterwork was completely updated to cover new and emerging PC and networking technologies, and reorganized for easier navigation. Written in Mark Minasi's friendly style and based on his world-renowned seminars, it shows you how to get the best performance from your systems through upgrading and how to prevent disasters and fix them when they occur. The companion CD includes instructional video of critical hands-on PC upgrade & maintenance tasks.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
On the cover of this book, a headline reads "Get valuable information worth more than $800 for the price of this book." I could easily argue that this book might save someone the cost of a new computer. In any case, Minasi's handbook to personal computers fills 22 chapters and three appendixes with solutions to problems with virtually everything under the PC sun. Like any good repair book, it starts off by telling you the kinds of tools you'll need and explains how to open your computer and study its innards. Following these opening chapters, there's help on preventive maintenance and troubleshooting. If none of these ideas and suggestions work, the last two chapters describe how to buy a new system and how to look for a multimedia system. This book contains lots of excellent information of utility to almost anyone using a personal computer.
Art & Photography
Book Info
