I really like this book!

I really liked this book. I've come across a lot of these "cookbook" type books for Windows XP, and they've all seemed about the same. They all have a lot of good tips, but they all seem to be geared to the home user. While this book can certainly still be used by the home power user, it has a lot of great help for real system administrators. In fact, this is the only Windows XP book I've come across that actually has script examples for virtually every "recipe".

Like you would expect, there are many recipes for the home user. These include such tasks as speeding up your computer, ripping music, watching DVDs, etc. But where I felt this book really shined was in the realm of system administrators. Managing remote installations, troubleshooting hardware problems, managing services, and security are all covered in great detail. Again, I was very impressed by the inclusion of windows commands or VBScript files to accomplish nearly each task.

In some instances, a simple windows script command won't do the job. In those cases, the author has carefully researched tools that are available to accomplish the task. Case in point: recipe 6.9 shows you how to change your boot screen. This change can't be directly made through Windows XP, so the author provides a URL (and even price) for a tool that will do the job. The author notes where free software is available.

This is definitely the best book for managing Windows XP that I have come across. I felt it was easy to follow, well organized, and accessible to both experienced home users and network admins. I feel like I understand my computer a lot better after reading this book. I highly recommend this book to sys admins supporting Windows XP installations or home power users who just want more out of their XP computer.

Other Reviews

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• I really like this book!