| Acknowledgments | xi |
| Introduction | xiii |
| PART I: PRESENTING YOUR COMPUTER | |
| Once you understand how a PC is put together and how it functions, you'll be able to tell whether your computer meets your needs. This part of the book gives a brief history of the PC and discusses the hardware components that make up a PC. | |
| CHAPTER 1: The Personal Computer | 3 |
| Not Your Father's Computer | 3 |
| What Business Do You Have With a Computer? | 4 |
| Writing a Few Standards | 5 |
| I Like How You Operate | 6 |
| The PC: A Team Effort | 7 |
| It's All About You: The User Interface | 8 |
| Looking Behind to Look Ahead | 10 |
| CHAPTER 2: The Sum of Its Parts | 13 |
| Balanced Integration | 13 |
| The Parts Inside Your PC | 14 |
| The Motherboard: Backbone for the Bare Bones | 14 |
| Brains: The CPU | 17 |
| Storage Devices | 20 |
| Adapter Cards | 22 |
| The Parts Outside Your PC | 23 |
| The Keyboard | 23 |
| The Mouse | 24 |
| PART II: WHAT MAKES A PC? | |
| Now that you are familiar with what makes a PC a PC, it's time to delve deeper into the box. This part of the book explores such important subjects as monitors, hard and floppy disks, the difference between memory and storage, the PC's visual and audio components, and networking hardware and software. | |
| CHAPTER 3: Working with Memory | 29 |
| What Is Memory? | 29 |
| How a PC Uses Memory | 30 |
| Bits and Bytes | 30 |
| Memory Types for Every Need | 32 |
| How Much Memory Is Enough? | 38 |
| Windows XP Memory Management | 40 |
| Virtual Memory | 41 |
| Selecting a Hard Disk | 42 |
| CHAPTER 4: Results You Can See | 45 |
| Monitors: A Window on the PC | 45 |
| How Monitors Work | 46 |
| Feature Differentiation | 55 |
| Resolution: Dot's What It's About! | 56 |
| Color Deep as the Ocean | 58 |
| Video Adapters: What They Are, What They Do | 61 |
| Feature That! | 63 |
| CHAPTER 5: Saving What's Important | 67 |
| Storage vs. Memory | 67 |
| Hard Disks: Magnetic Storage for Everyone | 70 |
| How They Work | 71 |
| Feature Primer | 73 |
| Optical Discs | 75 |
| How CDs and DVDs Work | 76 |
| Rewritable and Recordable Discs | 78 |
| CHAPTER 6: Increasing the Volume | 83 |
| Speaking of Digital | 84 |
| The Trouble with Digital | 85 |
| How Digital Sound Works | 86 |
| What's a Sound Card? | 91 |
| Digital Audio | 92 |
| MIDI | 94 |
| Quality Concerns and Compression | 96 |
| Lossy Compression Is Key | 97 |
| Windows Media Player | 99 |
| Ripping CDs and a Replacement for MP3 | 103 |
| CHAPTER 7: From Your Vision to Your Product | 107 |
| Your Vision: Introducing Digital Imaging | 107 |
| Digital Revolution | 108 |
| Digital Cameras | 108 |
| How Digital Photography Works | 108 |
| How Digital Images Are Stored | 112 |
| Digital Video: A Special Case | 115 |
| Scanners | 118 |
| Interpolated Scanner Resolution | 119 |
| Scanner Color Depth | 120 |
| Printing Your Vision, Producing Your Product | 122 |
| Basic Printer Types | 122 |
| CHAPTER 8: Reaching Out | 129 |
| Modems and Telephone Connections | 129 |
| How Modems Work: And What's a Modem, Anyway? | 129 |
| DSL and High-Speed Modems, Which Aren't Modems | 132 |
| Windows XP and Modems | 136 |
| Connecting to a Connection: Ports | 144 |
| Parallel and Serial: But Mostly Parallel | 144 |
| Serial Ports: A Little Bit at a Time | 145 |
| CHAPTER 9: Works Well with Others | 151 |
| Networking Hardware and Protocols | 151 |
| Wired Fast Ethernet | 152 |
| Wireless Networks | 153 |
| Popular Protocols | 154 |
| Introducing Microsoft Networking for Windows XP | 156 |
| The Network Setup Wizard | 157 |
| The New Connection Wizard | 157 |
| Sharing Resources | 158 |
| Internet Connection Sharing | 158 |
| File and Device Sharing | 159 |
| PART III: PRESENTING YOUR OS: WINDOWS XP | |
| Hardware is only half the story of what makes up a PC. The other half is software—in particular, the operating system, which functions continuously behind the scenes of your PC. This part describes the Microsoft Windows XP operating system and how you can customize it so it can work faster and smarter for you. | |
| CHAPTER 10: Between You and Your PC | 165 |
| What the Operating System Is—And What It Does | 165 |
| System Tasks | 167 |
| User Interface | 168 |
| Windows XP Manages Devices | 170 |
| What Are Hardware Resources? | 172 |
| The Power of the Windows XP GUI | 175 |
| Benefits of the Windows API | 176 |
| CHAPTER 11: Your Personal Personal Computer | 179 |
| Customizing Windows XP | 179 |
| The Start Menu: Access to Work | 180 |
| Personalizing the Appearance of Windows | 187 |
| Personalizing a PC for Several People | 191 |
| Tailoring Windows to Your Personal Needs | 193 |
| Personalizing Accessibility | 193 |
| Personalizing Regional Options | 194 |
| CHAPTER 12: (Disk) Integrity Is Important | 197 |
| Windows XP File Systems | 197 |
| FAT32 | 199 |
| NTFS | 200 |
| File System Maintenance: Best Practices | 202 |
| Disk Defragmenter | 203 |
| Check Disk | 203 |
| CHAPTER 13: Performance Perfection | 207 |
| What Affects PC Performance? | 207 |
| Running Processes | 209 |
| Memory Issues | 213 |
| Disk Issues | 214 |
| CHAPTER 14: Watching Your PC with the Device Manager | 219 |
| The Device Manager Manages Devices | 219 |
| Managing the Manager | 222 |
| Discovering the Device Manager | 222 |
| Understanding the Device Manager Icons | 224 |
| Reviewing Device Settings | 226 |
| Disabling or Enabling a Device | 227 |
| Hardware Profiles | 228 |
| PART IV: NO TIME FOR TROUBLES | |
| Although PCs work well most of the time, things do go wrong sometimes, and you have to be prepared. This part of the book focuses on the most common problems and issues you'll encounter, including resolving hardware conflicts and protecting your computer from unauthorized access from outsiders via the Internet. | |
| CHAPTER 15: Everybody Needs a Little Help and Support | 235 |
| Get Help: It's Simple When You Know How | 236 |
| Getting Help | 236 |
| Searching Help | 240 |
| Using Troubleshooters | 241 |
| Remote Assistance | 243 |
| A Little Help from Your Friends | 243 |
| Microsoft Assisted Support | 244 |
| Calling a Complete Stranger | 245 |
| CHAPTER 16: The Good and Bad of Adding Peripherals | 249 |
| Understanding Plug and Play | 250 |
| Almost Everything You Need to Know About Drivers | 252 |
| When New Hardware Doesn't Work | 256 |
| Diagnosing Simple Hardware Problems | 257 |
| Device Driver Rollback | 260 |
| Your BIOS | 261 |
| CHAPTER 17: Safe at Home and Abroad | 263 |
| Basic Hardware Security | 263 |
| The Three P's: Profiles, Passwords, and Permissions | 265 |
| Profiles | 265 |
| Passwords | 266 |
| Permissions | 271 |
| Protecting Your Computer from Outsiders | 279 |
| Network Security | 279 |
| Internet Security | 280 |
| INDEX | 291 |
