Absolute Beginner's Guide to Upgrading and Fixing Your PC

For the "Geek" inside you. Well written and not overly technical. Every PC owner should have this as their personal System Administration manual.

As a teacher of computers at the community education level, I am often asked questions about the basics of computer use. Topics such as, "how can I speed up my computer?", "do I need more memory?", or "My computer isn't working right, what do I need to do to fix it?" If I have time, I will try to answer the question, but in most cases, I try to steer them to a resource that I think will give them the answer. Now, I know of a resource that will most likely give them an answer to any basic problem. Miller is quite explicit in drawing a line on do-it-yourself hardware repairs. His general criteria is that if it takes more than a screwdriver, then you should let a technical person handle it. This is of course very sensible and he covers most of the basic operations that a beginner can do. One glaring omission in this section is that there is no mention of the possible presence of a seller warranty sticker. While someone may be eager to fix it, you should always think twice before breaking the sticker and possibly voiding a warranty that could solve the problem at no cost. Other areas covered in the book are basic system maintenance that can be done using Windows utility software, how to troubleshoot basic problems such as no sound, boot failures, saving sound files to CDs and DVDs, installing basic hardware such as scanners, system freezes and other common problems. In all cases, he steps you through the most likely and simplest of causes, always advising the seeking of professional help if the problem seems to be beyond his advice. Students are always seeking free computer advice and assistance, now I can simplify my response down to the simple statement of telling them to look in this book.