Windows XP Home Edition offers dozens of new features for consumers: an elegant user interface, drag-and-drop CD burning, and powerful ways to view and manage digital photos and music, among other features. With the release of Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows XP now provides better protection against viruses, worms, and malicious hackers. But it still comes without a single page of printed instructions. Fortunately, the new edition of Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual fills the void. With its wealth of tips, instructions, and expert advice, this comprehensive resource is your ticket to making your time at the computer safer, easier, and more fun. And best of all, it's been updated to include detailed coverage of Service Pack 2. Written in easy-to-follow, jargon-free language, Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual, Second Edition is perfectly suited for both first-time PC fans and budding power users. And like the rest of the Missing Manual series, it also relies on technical insight, crystal-clear objectivity, and a sense of humor--meaning no one will be left behind. The book begins with a tour of the Desktop and instructions for customizing the Taskbar and toolbars. It also includes a primer on how to organize files, folders, and windows for maximum efficiency. More advanced chapters explore control panels and built-in applications; walk through configurations like how to set up a PC for Internet use; and address the standard Windows rituals of troubleshooting, installation, and upgrading. For the height of manageability and control, the book also conveys all the need-to-know information about the security technologies featured in Windows XP SP2, so you can better defend yourself against viruses, worms, and hackers. Readers even receive guidelines and instructions for installing SP2 on their PC, or across a network of computers. Co-authored by David Pogue, New York Times computer columnist and Missing Manuals creator, this updated guide is the friendly, authoritative book that should have been in the box. It's sure to become your preferred guide whenever you sit down to Windows XP.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 30 Ratings

good book - 2008-01-19
Reviewer Rating:
I recommend this book.

It is well organized, and informative, without being too informative. The author strikes a good balance between skipping important stuff, and getting the reader stuck in excessive detail. After reading the book, I felt comfortable in the new OS.

Another thing I liked about this book was its style. Manuals such as this can be so dull your eyes glaze over. The author uses a light-hearted style which makes you chuckle a few times. It is an easy read.

I liked the book so much that I actually went to the publisher's website to see if they had any other books I would be interested in.

If you are getting started in XP, this is a good book to read.

A useful and well layered owner's manual - 2007-12-05
Reviewer Rating:
This very well composed book is up to the mark set by the consistently excellent O'Reilly Publishing Co. to which Mr. Pogue's company is affiliated.

The book is written in a companionable, informal style; one is listening to a friend, not an instructor. There are numerous side bars and screen shots to add variety to the graphic presentation and all the internal cross references are correct.

Whether just starting out with a personal computer or an experienced user, there is ample material, presented in an intelligent manner, to earn a space for this manual on your bookshelf.

Windows XP Home Edition - 2009-02-06
Reviewer Rating:
Excellent manual ... keep on my desk all the time. Has saved me some headaches that for sure.

Wonderful Series - Missing Manuals! - 2009-01-21
Reviewer Rating:
Pogue's idea of the Missing Manual series keeps rolling along. This is another of the great issues from the MM notion. Pogue has contributed something to the computer world that few can do - the idea of the Missing Manual.

This selection is just as good as the others. Pogue's Windows XP Home Edition is just as good as the others. No one, and I mean no one, can go wrong with a Missing Manual title - especially this one. Buy it!!!

Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual (2nd EDition) - 2008-08-31
Reviewer Rating:
Now, this is a must have for anyone with XP. It is well written, well researched, and totally understandable.Written in plain English with a humorous style,plenty of illustrations and easy to follow instructions.A 'newbie' like me, needs all the help he can get and this fills the bill.I have the Windows Vista Edition by the same author, have only had a quick look through it, but it should be just as enlightening.

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