Sebastopol, CA--In every PC user's life, there comes a time when desperate measures must be taken. Some push their PC off a pier or chuck it into a landfill. Others turn their former computing ally into a planter box. But don't give up yet--PC help is at hand. Just put down that hammer and pick up PC Annoyances (O'Reilly, Bass, US $19.95).
This easy-to-read, accessible book from PC World expert Steve Bass covers the waterfront of PC gripes and gremlins, with fixes for everything from Windows glitches to browsers that won't browse. These tips and tricks are served up in bite-sized portions, relieving that other PC-related annoyance--actually finding the right information to thwack the machine's irritating habits. Chapters are organized by the way people use their computers, each devoted solely to email, the Internet, MS Office, music and video, hardware, and more. Bass' straightforward, jocular style helps quell user aggravation, and quickly puts readers on the path to PC contentment. "I have a quirky sense of humor and want to share it," admits Bass in the book's preface.
Among the topics covered:
Learn to kick Windows in the rear. Get past glitches, take charge of the interface, live with the dreaded activation, and more.
Conquer email, from Outlook and AOL to Eudora and Hotmail. Beat back spam, avoid mailing lists, send big files, manage folders, and more, for a half dozen email programs.
Master Microsoft Office. From little-known right-click wonders to backing up the unbackable to automating data entry, Bass delves into workarounds for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Win the hardware battle. Discover how to wake up DSL, tame the notebook, quiet a PC's fan, save data, and save paper.
Untie Internet knots. Shake up IE, stop Flash, outsmart defaults, control Favorites, add the Google toolbar to Netscape, and more.
Fixing PC Annoyances doesn't stop with the book--resources are available on a special O'Reilly web page with links to articles and more than one hundred utilities to help squash bugs, enhance email, untangle a system snarl, and much more.
PC users of all ability levels will glean many a nugget from the pages of "PC Annoyances," learning to work faster, smarter, and frustration-free, even if it's just emailing family snapshots or keeping work organized. And at 20 bucks a pop, it's an economical substitution for an overworked--or nonexistent--IT staff. With the flip of a page or two, readers can fix that faux pas and have their PC purring again.
Advance praise for "PC Annoyances":
"If something bugs you (or, more to the point, your PC), check this book to see if there's a way out. Steve's light tone and spot-on analysis will set you straight, without putting you to sleep."--Woody Leonhard, Publisher, Woody's Watch e-zines; author, "Office Annoyances" and other "Annoyances" titles"'PC Annoyances' is packed with amazingly useful tips and tricks. Every flip through the book brings me to something useful that I'm glad to know and didn't before."--Steve Gibson, security expert and author of ShieldsUP! and SpinRite.
"By concentrating on the annoyances--and the fixes--Steve Bass cleverly exposes the underlying richness of Windows and your everyday applications. Beyond boosting your own productivity and reducing your blood pressure, you'll be a hero to everyone around you!"--Bill Machrone, columnist and contributing editor, PC Magazine
"Bass is the smartest and most entertaining technology writer covering personal computers today. This book is a guaranteed cure for whatever ails your PC, from the big errors that can bring a computer to its knees to the glitches that are more trivial but no less maddening."--Kevin McKean, CEO and editorial director, InfoWorld magazine
Additional Resources:
Bonus downloads from PC World and other helpful information is available at: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pcannoy/annoyance_download.csp
More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bio, and samples
PC Annoyances
How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer
Steve Bass
ISBN 0-596-00593-8, 176 pages, $19.95 US, $30.95 CA, 13.95 UK
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000
About O’Reilly
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