This book provides everything you need to manage and maintain Windows 7. You'll learn all of the features and enhancements in complete detail, along with specifics for configuring the operating system to put you in full control. Bestselling author and Windows expert William Stanek doesn't just show you the steps you need to follow, he also tells you how features work, why they work, and how you can customize them to meet your needs. Learn how to squeeze every bit of power out of Windows 7 to take full advantage of its features and programs.

• Set up, customize, and tune Windows 7 -Optimize its appearance and performance, install and manage software, customize your hardware, and install printers, scanners, and faxes

• Manage your files and data -Search your computer more efficiently, secure your data, share and collaborate, and get the most out of optional programs such as Windows Live Mail

• Master your digital media -Create media libraries, manage digital pictures and videos, make DVDs, and create movies

• Get connected and start networking -Set up a home or small-office network, conquer Internet Explorer, and master on-the-go networking

• Protect your computer -Keep your family safe while on the Internet, navigate the computer security maze, and configure Windows 7's protection features

• Manage and support Windows 7 systems -Configure user accounts, disks and drives, troubleshoot and handle routine maintenance, and resolve advanced support and recovery issues

• Learn advanced tips & techniques -Manage the Windows boot environment, explore Group Policy, and much more

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 5 Ratings

Essential for anyone who truly wants to master Windows 7 - 2009-11-01
Reviewer Rating:
Stanek is well known for succintly detailing the most advanced topics. The guy can say in 2 pages what many other authors spend 10 pages beating around at but never really say anything about. When he writes a 900-plus page Windows book you know it's gonna be great and it's gonna cover more ground than any other books out there and it's gonna have hundreds of insights and tips that no other book has and it's gonna be exceptional. Period. That's a given.

Normally if I see Stanek has a book coming out on something I wait to get it even if I have to wait a few weeks or so to get it. This time I just couldn't wait I went ahead and bought Windows 7 Secrets (a rather mediocre book) and then I went and bought Windows 7 Inside Out (a rather great book). Having done that I STILL bought Stanek's Windows 7: The Definitive Guide when it came out (which unfortunately wasn't until recently).

Wondering why? Here's why.

Windows 7 Inside Out is 975 pages, not including indexes. It is a rather great book but here's what Windows 7 Definitive Guide has that Windows 7 Inside Out doesn't:

More on customizing your computer's hardware --- excellent btw
Advanced indexing tips to optimize searches -- v. good
Windows live photo gallery -- v. good
Windows dvd maker and windows live movie maker --- excellent
Windows live mail, windows live contacts, windows live calender --- good
More details on file, drive and folder security and permissions --- excellent
Printers, scanners and faxes --- v. good
More of accessories for laptops and tablet pcs and accessibility -- v. good
More of wired/wireless networking -- v. good
More of user/group account management --- excellent
More of managing disk drives especially RAID options and recovery --- excellent
More of resolving problems and recovery options --- excellent
Windows boot environments and BCD --- excellent

Windows 7 Secrets is 1011 pages, not including index. It is a rather mediocre book but one people seem to like. I used it before I got this and Win7 Inside Out and it got me through the basics. Here's what Windows 7 Definitive Guide has that windows Secrets doesn't:

Installing and maintaining software --- excellent btw
Installing and customizing your computer's hardware --- excellent
File, folder and drive security --- excellent
User and group accounts and related security --- excellent
More of computer security, windows firewall, windows defender --- v. good
Printers, scanners and faxes --- excellent
More of file and folder sharing --- v. good
Setting up and configuring networking --- v. good
More of mobile, wireless networking --- v. good
Installing, configuring and managing disk drives --- excellent
More of advanced support and troubleshooting --- excellent
More of resolving problems and recovery options --- excellent
Windows boot environments and BCD --- excellent

In summary, I recommend Windows 7 Definitive Guide to anyone who has purchased either or both of the other books I mentioned. I recommend Windows 7 Definitive Guide to anyone who has purchased a dummy or getting started Windows 7 book. I recommend Windows 7 Definitive Guide to anyone looking for their first really good Windows 7 book.

Finally and importantly, I'm not saying this book is the be all, end all or that this has everything you'll ever want to know. Windows 7 Definitive Guide is, however, exceptional and in my opinion THE best.

HUGE and great resource - 2009-11-01
Reviewer Rating:
It's 961 pages and all about Windows 7, not something you'd think to sit down and read cover to cover but that's what I ended up doing. The reason is because William Stanek's always has so many insights, tips, tricks, work arounds, and the like and this one has even more than usual. The book covers virtually everything in Windows 7 and truly is the definitive guide to the OS. This is an excellent book for advanced beginners and intermediates and IT pros. There's enough extras to satisfy even the most picky PC veterans too, especially as compared to what I found in other Windows 7 books. This book has more of everything and particularly in troubleshooting and problem resolution which is in just about every chapter in the book.

As another review pointed out, this book covers a lot of areas some other books don't even talk about. But I don't agree though that you need a beginner book before this one. If you're looking for one book and one book only, this should be your choice. You don't need the "dummys" or the "idiots" books. This one's got your back. If you're like me and looking to get a good Windows 7 library, you definitely want this book no matter how many others you have. This book is a great buy!

A must even if you already have another Win7 book - 2009-10-26
Reviewer Rating:
William Stanek is one of the leading authorities on all things Microsoft for a reason--he knows his stuff better than just about anyone else and his books are always chock full of useful advice. The book covers almost everything in Windows 7. Not only is it the ultimate resource for the OS but its one of the most complete out there designed for real people. Well done william this book deserves to be on every bookshelf. This is a great buy and a great addition for home or work. Put this with his other Windows 7 book for a complete library.

A Valuable & Necessary Guide To Customization & Problem Solving In Windows 7 - 2009-11-19
Reviewer Rating:
O'Reilly Publishers has recognized the need for at least two types of guides to this important Operating System and one of the major software releases of 2009. While their Up and Running Guide by Wei-Meng Lee is succinct and valuable, those of us who advise others on technology; want to solve perplexing problems involving networking, security, systems customization or unusual hardware environments need a reference of this sort to rapidly and efficiently solve the unique problems involved in making an OS work with an unusual systems configuration or application. Modern operating systems in general consisting of literally millions of lines of software which must interact with a variety of hardware and virtual devices in an amazing variety of applications require an excellent well-indexed and illustrated guide to system customization and knotty problem solving. William R. Stank and O'Reilly have not shrunk from this duty and have provided a clear, comprehensive and well-explained guide to these difficult tasks. While there are oldsters who yearn for the days of Unix System 7 where the entire software structure of an operating system could be comprehended in source code, those were also the days of OS 360 (which required extensive debugging and customization). Clearly modern operating systems which provide a beautiful interaction environment and which must contend with a variety of hardware quirks and application environments require a clear and extensive guide to tuning, customization and debugging. This is an excellent, easily understood and complete reference guide that addresses the needs of a user or consultant who must exercise the advanced features and distract the Demon's (not Daemon's) of Microsoft Windows 7.

--Ira Laefsky

Painfully Pedestrian - 2009-11-17
Reviewer Rating:

You know those plodding online Help documentation efforts -- the ones that brightly inform you that a Submit button is "a button that submits"? Well, flatten it out over 950 pages and you have this book.

I am tempted to insert into this short review examples of the author's prose to back my assertion. However, spreading the pain is not my style.

The author has made no attempt to step back and evaluate why a person would pick up this modestly subtitled "Essential Resource for Professionals and Power Users" in order to focus on features of interest for those very individuals. Even when the author's shovel hits something interesting, he continues to work away until it is safely hidden again. For instance, he might mention something that sounds intriguing, like (p. 59) Windows PowerShell. "Ah" I say, "I'll just go to the index and learn more about this mysterious thing." The index refers my to...page 59. That was it. Excitement over.

This book is definitely not for people who know a bit about Windows and would like to know a bit more of the good stuff quickly. I recommend another book by the same publisher, O'Reilly, that is much shorter but leaves off the shovel: "Windows 7: Up and Running: A Quick, Hands-On Introduction (Animal Guide)".

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