Upgrading and Repairing PCs: Technician's Portable Reference is a vastly abridged version of Scott Mueller's excellent (and generally definitive) Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 12th Edition. The idea is that because this book is small you'll be better able to carry it to job sites, without having to invest in a forklift. Mueller cut out most of the material on old hardware, and focuses on motherboards, processors, memory, and other subsystems that have been state of the art since about 1998. This probably means that this book will come in handiest in organizational environments, which are more likely than home users to have reasonably current computing gear.

Murphy's Law dictates, however excellent this book is, that the bit of information you need will appear only in the mother book. On the other hand, the same infamous law also dictates--if you have the mother book at hand--that the information you need will be so obscure as to not appear there. In reality, you probably will be able to solve a fair number of problems with this volume, and rely on Web access at the job site to provide the rest of the information you need. Mueller has done a good job of condensing his encyclopedic work into a more portable format. --David Wall

Topics covered: Wintel PC hardware, documented and explained for technicians who have to diagnose, repair, and upgrade it. All of the major subsystems (including LAN) are covered. Diagnostic trees help locate trouble, and procedures explain, for example, how to recover from a failed BIOS flash. Charts document beep codes, some jumper settings, and variations among SCSI device types.

From Book News, Inc.
A pocket (4.5x8) reference based on the 12th edition of Upgrading and Repairing PCs, for PC technicians, technical support professionals, and students. Contains vital processor, motherboard, and memory settings, as well as tables that compare similar technologies and hardware. Includes detailed b&w illustrations identifying common connectors, tables and charts organizing technical documentation, and schematics and diagrams for diagnosing and repairing common and uncommon PC problems. Mueller is president of a research and corporate training firm.Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR

Book Description
The best of the best--all the essential reference tables and configuration settings without the bulk of the full version of Upgrading and Repairing PCs. This edition includes tables and charts on everything from BIOS settings to monitor sizing to jumper settings for corner peripherals IDE Drives to SCSI data-transfer rates and more! Troubleshooting and Error-code coverage includes AMI, Award, Phoenix, IBM and BIOS error codes, nonfatal system board errors, and personal computer Error Codes. This logically organized reference lets you spend less time searching and more time finding solutions. Information is broken up by component and listed alphabetically. Connector and port visual ID charts help identify a variety of input/output ports, such as serial, parallel, video and SCSI connectors.

Book Info
A pocket-sized, portable reference for PC repair technicians, with detailed instructions for the diagnosis of computer problems, tables and charts that organize technical documentation, and extensive pinouts, schematics, and specifications for hardware. Softcover.

From the Back Cover
The best of the best--all the essential reference tables and configuration settings without the bulk of the full version of Upgrading and Repairing PCs. This edition includes tables and charts on everything from BIOS settings to monitor sizing to jumper settings for corner peripherals IDE Drives to SCSI data-transfer rates and more! Troubleshooting and Error-code coverage includes AMI, Award, Phoenix, IBM and BIOS error codes, nonfatal system board errors, and personal computer Error Codes. This logically organized reference lets you spend less time searching and more time finding solutions. Information is broken up by component and listed alphabetically. Connector and port visual ID charts help identify a variety of input/output ports, such as serial, parallel, video and SCSI connectors.

FROM OUR EDITORS

This handy, dandy pocket guide summarizes the best of Scott Mueller's gigantic Upgrading and Repairing PCs, in a form technicians can take anywhere! More than 300 pages hit all the high points of troubleshooting, fixing and/or swapping out power supplies, memory, BIOSes, floppies, hard drives, modems, ports, keyboards, mice, video, audio, networking, and more.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Upgrading and Repairing PCs: Technician's Portable Reference is a portable, "essentials" version of Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 12th Edition. it contains the information you shouldn't leave home without, especially if you're a professional PC technician, technical support professional, or student. This reference contains vital processor, motherboard, and memory settings, as well as tables that compare similar technologies and hardware, helping you find answers - fast."--BOOK JACKET.

SYNOPSIS

Thoroughly covers key technologies and adds new coverage of Intel processor families, chipsets, motherboards, printer upgrades, repairs, and maintenance, file systems, and data recovery.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booknews

A pocket (4.5x8) reference based on the 12th edition of , for PC technicians, technical support professionals, and students. Contains vital processor, motherboard, and memory settings, as well as tables that compare similar technologies and hardware. Includes detailed b&w illustrations identifying common connectors, tables and charts organizing technical documentation, and schematics and diagrams for diagnosing and repairing common and uncommon PC problems. Mueller is president of a research and corporate training firm. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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