PC Annoyances

Rating:
Summary: The Best Help Yet
Review: No matter how computer literate (or illiterate) you are, sometimes your computer seems to have a mind of it's own.

Often it is a little thing that nags you. You wish that you could find a way to tweak a program so that you could work faster or easier. Or you want to find a way to make a program behave in a certain way. But try as you might, your computer simply refuses to do what you want it to.

I like to thumb through books like this one before I actually sit down to read it. When I got PC Annoyances by Steve Bass, I started thumbing through and within 5 minutes saw a tip that told me how to do something that I'd been trying to do for a long time.

I ran over to my computer and followed the easy steps. Voila! Just one tip was worth more to me than the price of the book.

This book is packed full of useful tips and tricks that will make every day easier. It helps you take charge of your computer.

Email tips, Windows tips, Internet browsing tips and much more.

This book is a must have for everyone who uses a computer.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone should read this book...
Review: OK, I bought the book at that great price. I sat down and read it from beginning to end...and what a cool book! I've been servicing home PC's for a number of years, and the info in the book is *exactly* what the average consumer needs to know. I'm gonna recommend one copy for each of my clients.

Hell, I might start giving a copy to each client.......hoping it will slow down those late night phone calls!!

On top of that, I wrote to Bass and he mailed me an autographed book plate I stuck in the book. Cool!

Rating:
Summary: Great solutions, great humor
Review: PC talks are too often dry and techie. Steve Bass changes all that, he is the master at writing technical material while offering his fantastic sense of humor. His PC World articles and reviews are my favorites. His new book about PC Annoyances is now a reference I keep close by.

This book helps you fix the many annoyances you encounter with computers and it does it while entertaining you at the same time. What a treat, and on top of that, the price is right.

I read the book cover to cover and recommend it highly for beginners to advanced users. It has helped me fix all kinds of annoyances, from repairing printing problems to fixing dialog boxes that won't go away. It is my immediate reference for all these "what the heck?!" moments.

Rating:
Summary: Great deal for the money
Review: Since I bought this book I have marked up many pages for solutions to my pc problems. It is one of the most useful computer books I have ever read. Many of these tips or suggestions of free or low-cost software solutions are worth the cost of the book.

In addition, the casual writing style is a refreshing change from the more typical tech-speak.

Rating:
Summary: PC Annoyances a great book. The 5 is not high enough.
Review: Steve I just want to let you know that I have gotten back on the book. I'm only on page 83 or so. I think I told you that I'm treating this like a text book. You have so many ideas and I will put most of them that would pertain to us in effect when I finish. I can tell that you have put a lot though and time in this book. Your writing is so easy to read too. It's like reading you in PCWorld Magazine only longer. I love that part. When I stopped I can't wait to get back to it but when I wasn't feeling good I didn't want to read it either because I didn't want to miss anything.

Thanks again.

Tom

Rating:
Summary: Great Computer Help Book
Review: Steve,
Received your book yesterday and thought I would sit down and read a few pages. Well, a few hours later I was still reading. Thank you for all the good information you have given us (those who know just enough to get into trouble). My problem has always been I have no fear of the computer or what may happen to it. You have already helped me fix many problems.
Thanks Again

Rating:
Summary: A book that will appeal to all levels of users
Review: Target Audience
Windows and PC users who want to stop living with minor irritations on their systems.

Contents
This is useful guide to solve PC and Windows annoyances, as well as tips on how to get the most out of your computer use.

The book is divided into seven sections:

Section 1 - Email - General Email Annoyances; Outlook And Outlook Express 5 And 6; AOL; Eudora; Hotmail
Section 2 - Windows
Section 3 - Internet - Browsing; Google; Instant Messaging
Section 4 - Microsoft Office - Word; Excel; PowerPoint; Outlook And Outlook Express
Section 5 - Windows Explorer
Section 6 - Music, Video, And CDs - Music And Video; CDs And DVDs
Section 7 - Hardware

Review
I generally have a pretty high pain and annoyance tolerance when it comes to computers. For whatever reason, I tend to live with things rather than try and figure out how to get around them. Reading through a book like this makes me realize that I don't have to put up with irritants. Steve Bass does a great job in PC Annoyances in showing you the way.

Each chapter has a series of "The Annoyance - The Fix" pairs that will outline a common annoyance on your PC, and then show you how to make the necessary change to solve that problem. The author liberally sprinkles a number of sidebar tips throughout the book with titles like clutter reduction, technical tips, and helpful hints. The writing has a light and humorous flavor to it, but the instructions are clear, concise, and easy to follow. If the problem or annoyance can't be resolved from within Windows or the particular software package, Steve will recommend low cost (or free!) software you can find on the web that will give you the power you need. The book does focus a lot on Windows XP, but many of the tips will work (or can be adapted) for other Window platforms.

This book should appeal to a wide range of user types. Newbies will learn how to do things they didn't know existed. Power users will find a number of tips to make them more productive than they already are. Gurus will discover a few software packages that will make them say "hey, that's cool!" My favorite tip was on opening IE windows and the sizing of them. I occasionally get into a situation where new IE windows open up in quirky sizes that I don't like. I couldn't figure out why it happened and how to get it set back to normal. With this book, I will no longer struggle with that. Thanks, Steve!

Conclusion
Regardless of whether you're a relatively new computer user, a power user, or a longtime guru, you'll find something you didn't know in this book. And you'll probably have fun doing it.

Rating:
Summary: PC Annoyances
Review: The book is excellent. It deals with many irritating problems that you can't easily find answer for,in a book from library or on Internet. You have it all in one place; PC Annoyances!

Rating:
Summary: Show your PC who the BOSS really is
Review: The style of writing used by the author is light humor, which is a helpful, since if you are looking for a solution to a pc annoyance, you are more than likely seconds away from snapping, or running for governor of California.

PC Annoyances, does not focus on Windows alone, Windows and other Microsoft programs are in there, but this book offers fixes for everything from email, Virus, Netscape, downloading numbers to your cell phone, to how to get rid of telemarketers? The latter is "very clever" and works!

What I liked best about PC Annoyances are the links to fixes such as; http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm this site has a lot of really neat solutions to PC Annoyances, and there are many more listed in the book. I downloaded several utilities myself. One I discovered by reading the book was AM-DeadLink, this "freebie" went through my 2590 web addresses, yes you read correctly, in MS Internet Explorer, and found all the outdated, non working and duplicate ones, quickly and easily.

Got to love the Annoyance family/series of books, and in my opinion PC Annoyances at the current LOW Amazon.com price is not only the best of the litter, but an absolute must buy.

Rating:
Summary: A must have reference
Review: This book explains how to solve a plethora of computer annoyances. Steve Bass uses much appreciated humour to assist us in our quest for the perfect computer experience.His explanations are easy to understand as he walks us through a STEP-by-STEP process. He does not re-invent the wheel and is able to refer us to the appropriate url for answer to our annoyances.