Windows XP can be a great tool, but it is all too easy to trip over Windows XP's annoying traits more often than you leverage its productivity. Windows XP power-users troll online resources, documentation, and the expertise (or lucky finds) of friends for valuable tips and tricks--a keyboard shortcut here, an undocumented double-click there--to eliminate annoyances, save time, and take control of their Windows XP. But what if there was an easier way? This new book presents literally hundreds of problems and solutions, amazing power tips, cool tricks, and clever workarounds in one clearly organized, easy to use, and portable resource. Truly insightful and amusing, Windows XP Power Hound gives Windows XP users practical hints for everything from the desktop to Office programs to the registry, and includes documented (but little-known) tips as well as previously undocumented tricks. Windows XP Power Hound moves far beyond mere productivity and explores what's possible with Windows XP--including cool things you probably never thought of doing. An understanding of Windows XP basics will get the job done. But discovering the most useful I didn't know that! tips and shortcuts will make using Windows XP a far richer and less frustrating experience. The practical, concise format of Windows XP Power Hound makes it easy to dip into for a quick tip from time to time; the warm, jargon-free tone makes it easy to read cover to cover. Anyone who wants to smooth out Windows XP's speed bumps and get some serious speed to accelerate through the bottlenecks will find that even a handful of these useful, to-the-point tips will make Windows XP Power Hound worth its weight in chocolate.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 5 Ratings

A Good Start - 2004-11-30
Reviewer Rating:
Every book has its target readers. Power Hound's target audience is beginner with little to no knowledge or experience with previous windows version. It also contains a lot of marketing material which may or may not relate directly to XP. For example, it recommends www.efax.com which is a web based fax service and is not tied to just XP.
That said, this book does provide some information that both experts and beginners will find useful
Positives:
1) A single source for all your windows XP tips and tricks
2) Contains examples and screen shots making it very easy to understand the topic.
3) It introduced Firefox, the best browser out there. I have now switched completely to firefox because it is faster, more user friendly and much more secured when compared to Microsoft IE.

Negatives:
1) Too Expensive.
2) Too wordy
3) Too many ads buried in the text.

CONCLUSION: Not worth $25 that I paid for it. Try to get it from a library or read it in a book store before you buy it.

bundles of hacks - 2004-10-30
Reviewer Rating:
Microsoft rules the desktop. And on that desktop, the most common of its operating systems is XP. Hence this book. Gralla offers a set of tricks, or hacks, as another O'Reilly series would term these, if you want to go deeper into your machine than most of your peers. As he points out in the introduction, the book is random access. Not necessary to read sequentially.

Instead, try perusing the detailed contents pages. From these, you may be able to find a brief title that addresses a need or concern of yours. Like smarter surfing of the Web, cleaning out your browser cache, or finding wireless hotspots.

Hence, if a trick uses Microsoft Word, say, you don't get a full description of all that Word can do. Instead, only enough for your situation. Even in principle, this is not a reference manual. Rather, it complements those.

Required reading for new to intermediate users - 2005-02-06
Reviewer Rating:
This book is well worth the price just for the section in the first chapter on how to speedup startup and shutdown and resolve problems with both of them. Most of this information is available on the Internet but why not have it at hand instead of spending hours looking for it?

For the novice to intermediate user this is an excellent way to get things Windows XP under control and operating the way it is supposed to. Well-written, easy to follow, with everything explained in plain English, Windows XP Power Hound is recommended for the average user who wants to learn more and customize their system but will contain little new information for someone who is already a power user.

Practical and helpful advice for Windows users - 2004-11-20
Reviewer Rating:
This is an excellent book. Well worth the money for Windows users. There are a wide variety of helpful hints that will help you get the most out of your machine, and tell you a little about the fundamentals along the way. In particular I found the explanation of how to get laptops to go to sleep very rewarding, probably worth the price of the book alone, because it saved me from reinstalling the OS on what was otherwise a well behaved machine. Other notable helpful hints included information on how to clean up your desktop, speed up networking, fix wireless problems and to block popups.

OK for a beginner... - 2009-03-06
Reviewer Rating:
I picked this up from the library thinking it was going to show me, well, what it claimed: "underused features and powerful tricks and shortcuts that few people have taken the time to probe". I guess I was seduced by the word "power". What I got was a beginner's guide to XP.

PROS:
-Easy to read and find information
-Includes screenshots for visual learners
-Decent start covering the basics for those who know little about XP or the Windows environment

CONS:
-Little information for those who are computer literate and have used XP
-Some of the information is outdated
-Full of plugs for pay-for web services/downloads [...]
The copy I read was copyrighted in 2005, a lot has changed since then...

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