Troubleshooting, Maintaining & Repairing PCs - Hardcover

Bigelow, Stephen J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0072132728 ISBN 13: 9780072132724

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media, 2001

Synopsis

The #1 author in PC hardware, Stephen J. Bigelow, once again brings you the ultimate PC reference! With this authoritative resource on hand, you'll be able to solve all of your PC problems, including conflicts, power supply issues, error codes, virus aftermath, and much more. Inside, you'll find a convenient "Symptoms-at-a-Glance" section containing solutions for more than 2,000 PC problems. In addition, all the material covered on the A+ and CST certification exams is included. The bonus CD-ROM is loaded with loads of ready-to-use tools and utilities.

About this title

Review

Troubleshooting, Maintaining & Repairing PCs combines authoritative reference material on IBM-standard personal computers with condition-specific troubleshooting advice. Author Stephen Bigelow provides loads of technical reference information but combines it with how-to advice that clearly derives from experience in the hardware repair and upgrade industry. An update to popular earlier editions, this book includes new information about the latest processors and peripherals. As he always has, Bigelow distinguishes his work with coverage of hardware jobs others shun, such as the safe disassembly of a video monitor.

The most intriguing feature of this book is its "Symptoms at a Glance" section, in which Bigelow lists hundreds of conditions with references to the pages on which he discusses them. The descriptions of the symptoms are good--"A device driver small enough for the available UMA fails to load there" and "A 096xxxx error code appears" are two examples--but finding your problem in the list can prove challenging because the symptoms are grouped by the chapters in which they appear. Your best bet is to scan the table of contents for the chapters that discuss the likely sources of your problem, and then scan the symptoms listed for those chapters one by one. Once you've found the reference to the appropriate page, you'll be impressed by Bigelow's tight prose and the depth of the experience he shares. --David Wall

Topics covered: The boot process, BIOS variations, motherboards, processors, persistent storage (including magnetic hard disks, CD-ROM drives, and DVD drives), buses, ports, input devices, monitors, and multimedia peripherals.

From the Back Cover

Fix all of your PC and peripheral problems before the screen goes black

When it won't just plug-and-play, turn to the hands-on, authoritative information contained in this comprehensive troubleshooting resource. Fully revised and updated, Troubleshooting, Maintaining & Repairing PCs contains all you need to know about administering and the latest Windows, Linux, and OS/2 systems and peripheral devices. This fifth edition provides full coverage of cutting-edge technologies--from DVD drives, cable, and DSL modems to Ultra360 SCSI devices, AGP accelerators, USB, IEEE 1284, and Infrared ports. This essential volume also contains a valuable CD-ROM with over 120 diagnostic and maintenance utilities. PC expert Stephen Bigelow provides real-world examples and condition-specific troubleshooting advice that will have you fixing common and little-known PC problems in no time.

• Identify, de-assemble, and replace each subassembly, expansion board, and connector in the latest Intel-based, AMD, Cyrix, Athlon, Duron, and Via desktops and towers
• Fix hardware conflicts and configuration errors in Windows 3x/95/98/Me/NT/2000, Linux, and OS/2 systems
• Avoid data loss by implementing sound backup and power management strategies
• Correct interface problems in system, expansion, option, and adapter BIOS
• Isolate and repair faults in ISA, PCI, and AGP busses, power supplies, motherboards, and chipsets
• Recover data lost from corrupt files, accidental deletions, and hard drive failures
• Deploy USB, FireWire, Infrared, serial, parallel, and AGP ports
• Get optimal performance from state-of-the-art DSL and cable modems, 3D video accelerators, mice, trackballs, joysticks, network devices, fax, and sound cards

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0072132728
• ISBN 13: 9780072132724
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 1547