Reviews for Windows XP Inside Out Book/CD Package 2nd Edition (Bpg-Inside Out)

1. Microsoft® Windows® XP Inside Out, Second Edition (Bpg-Inside Out)

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, September 12th, 2009

   A really Good book. If your looking for an Microsof Xp operating system Technical manual, this is the book for you.
   There are very few on the market if non at all that are good as this one, idea for an IT Technician or a serious computer enthusiast who requires an Xp Tech manual.
   Its very in depth, and informative.

2. A quality, useful resource - if not quite detailed enough

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, August 12th, 2006

   This title is divided into nine parts, from an `Introduction & Installation' section (200+ pages) to such diverse topics as:
   
   Customising/Configuring Windows XP
   Managing Files
   Media Player & Image Editing
   Internet Explorer/Outlook Express
   System Maintenance & Recovery
   Networking
   
   Each part starts with it's own very clear contents page before the chapter title page offers a neat, more detailed list of its contents in the left margin. Each chapter is clearly separated into titles, and further subdivided by many sub-headings. The use of differing but always consistent type faces & styles (bold, italic, indented text, etc.) and switching between black for main text, blue for `tips' or black-on-blue for special sections like `Troubleshooting' mean that complex information is parcelled up neatly and conveniently. The many tables, charts and figures are all clear and helpful.
   
   While it is easy to criticise this title for not being comprehensive enough, once any book reaches 1200+ pages, you simply have to stop writing! What we are left with is a useful volume covering many topics in reasonable depth. A good example might be Chapter 3: `Controlling Access to Your Computer', which introduces us to Windows XP User Accounts. There is much essential and useful help here, including some differences between the XP Home and Professional Editions, as well as a section on using Net User (a Command Prompt feature). But (like the next reviewer down says) sometimes there is no help with a specific problem. For instance: a corrupted account - how do you copy account information from one account to another? And I imagine that many of us would appreciate more information on using Windows registry; however to expect a detailed account of command-line syntax or even editing registry keys would be too much (there are other Microsoft Press titles available for these).
   
   Microsoft Press also offer a CD with all their Inside Out titles - essential in this day and age. The CD contains the book exactly as it appears in print as well as some add-ins and templates for Windows XP. It also adds a search feature and other aids like figures which will load to full-screen size (or near), and links for easy jumping to different chapters.
   
   As with any textbook, it is not possible to cover every single topic but this title does cover the most useful. It's not as well balanced as Word 2002 Inside Out, for instance, but it's still a beautifully presented, well written title.

3. More Outside than In

   Rated 1 out of 5 stars, February 12nd, 2004

   The sheer mass and size of this so called manual, published (hardcover) on paper flimsier than newsprint, belies the depth of its penetration. As a power-user of XP, I soon found that fifty percent of what it should cover is missing. Believe it or not, it might be BIG, but it is far from comprehensive. Instead it is padded with pretty screen prints of what you can see on your own monitor by clicking one button. I'll give just one example of an annoyance. I wanted to change the attribute of a folder - obvious - clear or check a green, square radio button. But if that doesn't work? Not everything does what it is supposed to do, every time.
   There is very little "Troubleshooting" to help you, as you will soon find out for yourself, as this booked is aimed at the beginner seeing things for the first time, or covers ground that is hardly ever usefully traversed in practice, ground seen for the first time by advanced users. It forgets about the Command line all of the time and what can best be productively achieved outside the GUI. I'm sorry but my expectations were not met when I read this book. I agree with the previous reviewer that it wastes a lot of time on XP Pro, which contains a lot of stuff for networks specifically, to which it is biased. People use Pro (or a tiny fraction of it) because they think "Pro" must be better than "Home", but the Home version excludes all the server stuff for company use. So what? That means the two could have been separated, and the core version covered in depth, comprehensively, to the nth degree.

4. Excellent Value For Money

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, January 12st, 2004

   I purchased the hardback 'Deluxe' version of this book and found it to be excellent. As a seasoned Unix developer and a long term Windows user I found myself trying to set up a home network of 2 XP & 1 Linux system. This book has all the inside information that I needed to get things up and running; plus many, many other eye openers that have greatly enhance my abilities to manage my XP systems.

   My only gripe is that the Deluxe version states it includes service pack 1 on the CD (I need this for one of my systems). However on launching the CD I read that it's not available on the CD and has to be downloaded from the Internet (6+ hours at 33.2Kbs :( )

   Despite this I still rate it a very good buy.

5. THE manual that should come WITH XP Pro...

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, March 12th, 2003

   Bin your silly 32 page pamphlet and save yourself XP aggro with this monster reference of a tome, it really has it all and shows how to strip out all the padding that XP comes ready fitted with, like the apple candy idiot mode.

   If it wasn't for this manual, I wouldn't have found out about the speed sapping XP 'Services' (threads), of which there are over 30 of them, the majority unecessary.

   Neither would I have been unable to disable Error reporting and auto update, two Microsoft boo-boos.

   Yes its a Microsoft press book, but is free of toeing the party line presentation.

   Beginners will be fine with this volume as u just start on chapter 1.