Read more
With the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Microsoft latest and most reliable corporate desktop operating system now provides better protection against viruses, worms, and malicious hackers. SP2 includes Windows Firewall, Pop-up Blocker for Internet Explorer, and the new Windows Security Center. But it still comes without a single page of printed instructions.
This superbly written guide fills the gap. Coauthored by David Pogue, New York Times technology columnist and Missing Manuals creator, Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual uses wit, technical insight, and scrupulous objectivity to light the way for first-time and intermediate network and standalone PC users. In fact, this jargon-free book explains XP's features so clearly revealing which work well and which don't that it should have been in the box in the first place.
The book reveals which features work well and which don't, such as the Remote Desktop software that enables people to connect to the office from home, the encryption file system that protects sensitive information, and the Windows Messenger that enables real-time text, voice and video communication. Contents include:
- Getting started. The book's early chapters cover using menus, finding lost files, reducing window clutter, and taming the new, multi-column Start menu.
- Mastering the network. Special chapters help you navigate the corporate network, dial in from the road, and even set up your own small-office (peer-to-peer) network, step by step.
- Understanding security. User accounts, file encryption, and the NTFS file system keep your private files private, while still offering network access to coworkers you specify.
- Flying the Net. This book demystifies Outlook Express 6 for email, Internet Explorer 6 for Web browsing, and the new Windows Messenger for voice, chat, and video conferencing.
Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual isn't for system administrators or OS theory geeks; it's for the novice or budding power user who wants to master the machine and get down to work. Yet, anyone who uses XP Pro (including hardcore techies) will find this new system much easier-- and more fun--to digest with this new Missing Manual.
List of contents
What the Reviewers Said
The Missing Credits
Introduction
The Windows XP Desktop
Chapter 1: The Desktop and Start Menu
Chapter 2: Windows, Folders, and the Taskbar
Chapter 3: Organizing Your Stuff
Chapter 4: Getting Help
The Components of Windows XP
Chapter 5: Programs and Documents
Chapter 6: The Freebie Software
Chapter 7: Pictures, Sound, and Movies
Chapter 8: The Control Panel
Windows Online
Chapter 9: Hooking Up to the Internet
Chapter 10: Security, Firewalls, and Service Pack 2
Chapter 11: Web, Chat, and Videoconferencing
Chapter 12: Outlook Express 6
Plugging into Windows XP
Chapter 13: Printing, Fonts, and Faxing
Chapter 14: Hardware
Chapter 15: Joining, Compressing, and Encrypting Disks
Chapter 16: Maintenance, Backups, and Troubleshooting
Life on the Network
Chapter 17: Accounts, Permissions, and Logging On
Chapter 18: Setting Up a Workgroup Network
Chapter 19: Introducing Network Domains
Chapter 20: Sharing Network Files
Chapter 21: Three Ways to Dial In from the Road
Appendixes
Installing Windows XP Pro
Windows XP, Menu by Menu
Fun with the Registry
Colophon
About the author
David Pogue, Yale '85, is the weekly personal-technology columnist for the New York Times and an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News. His funny tech videos appear weekly on CNBC. And with 3 million books in print, he is also one of the world's bestselling how- to authors. He wrote or co-wrote seven books in the "For Dummies" series (including Macs, Magic, Opera, and Classical Music). In 1999, he launched his own series of amusing, practical, and user-friendly computer books called Missing Manuals, which now includes 100 titles.David and his wife Jennifer Pogue, MD, live in Connecticut with their three young children.
Craig Zacker is a writer, editor, and educator who has written or contributed to dozens of books on operating systems, networking, and PC hardware, as well as several college texts and online training courses. Craig is the author of the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, and co-authored the MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-686): Windows 7 Desktop Administrator.
Summary
Completely refreshed and updated for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), this publication is for the novice or budding power user who wants to master this Microsoft operating system and get down to work.
