Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Windows 95

The authors got me up and running very fast. I didn't care all that much about details at first and this book avoided those details until later. The best thing it did at first was get me on the Internet with few hassles.The power primers helped get my overloaded and underpowered system running better. I don't have the money to upgrade my system every few months, so getting the most out of what I have now is very important.Once I did run into problems with my machine, the various theory and troubleshooting sections helped a lot. I found Chapter 15 especially helpful when I couldn't get games to run properly. The material on DirectX was great, even if it is a little out of date.So, if you're looking for a book that's going to give you everything you need, try this one. I found that it really helped me when I needed it.

John Mueller and this book have saved me more hours of grief with Windows 95 than I could have imagined any one book would do. For example, when I needed some recommendation about how to keep my machine running correctly, I found everything I needed. There are sections on backup, regular maintenance like diagnostics and disk optimization, and some simple troubleshooting. I also found sections on the use of various files that other books don't even hint at. One such example appears in Chapter 9 where the author explains what the various compatibility files like Autoexec.bat are used for.This book is a tad theory heavy, but even here the author excels. I now know how various parts of Windows 95 operate, making it much easier for me to diagnose problems with my system. The clear and easy to understand diagrams are a real plus. Again, the author lists filenames in the theory section. These file listings recently helped me fix a problem DLL (also known as DLL hell) by simply copying a new version of the DLL over the old one.One of the authors, John Mueller, thoughtfully left his email address as part of the About the Author. I contacted him and found him extremely helpful and thoughtful of my concerns. Even though Windows 95 is old news, the author spent considerable time helping me use his book more effectively and even helped me around some problems areas within the book.About the only two problems with this book are the index (not the author's fault since the publisher puts this together for him) and the lack of new hardware information. However, considering this book was put out before much of the modern hardware appeared on the scene, I can hardly blame the author for this oversight. My only thought is that he should keep the book up-to-date better for those of us who are still using Windows 95 and not filling Microsoft's pockets by buying Windows 98.

The book is very complete in detail. it's convienient to use as a reference. LOTS of info and LOTS of references to Peter Norton and his computer habits. It's a bit scary to read how many times a day Peter runs scan disk. He rules his PC's and this book with an Iron Glove.

While totally dissecting Windows 95, Norton and Meuller have managed to make this book an enjoyable read. It dives deep into every aspect of Windows without resorting to a lot of techno-speak. Plain English is used throughout and everyday examples are given in order to make subjects easier to understand. Not just a complete reference dictionary, but a valuable learning guide for the novice user to the professional administrator.

I looked at many Windows 95 books when I first bought my PC and none came close to Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Windows 95. I used the book at the bookstore a few times, then I decided I needed to buy a copy. It is thorough and covers the enhanced Service Pack 1 and OSR2 features. It tells you where to download these from the Web if you don't already have them. I like the fact that it is not a watered down Windows 95 book and contains everything you would ever need to know about Windows 95