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Rating: 
Summary: Filled with redundant information
Review: First off, the book starts with "This book is not for amateurs." I fully agree, as modifying the Windows registry can have a huge effect (good or bad) on your server. However, I would venture a guess that most users already know how to launch Regedt32. And for those that don't, you would only need to explain it once or twice in the entire text. From then on, "Launch Regedt32" would suffice in the text... But in this case, almost EVERY page in the text has detailed explanations on HOW to launch Regedt32, such that it accounts for about 25% of every page! Overall, that's about 25% of about 440 pages filled with redundant information! Second, I would estimate that 30-50% of the registry tweaks described can be accomplished without modifying the registry directly. Any NT or Windows 2000 administrator worth his / her salt will probably know this, and would prefer to accomplish the "tweak" without modifying the registry directly. So overall, 55-75% (25% + 30-50%) of the text is not going to be useful to the typical reader! Disappointing. There are several aspects of the text that I do like... If you have a specific problem (like how to implement automatic logons without user input), the book has a very simple step-by-step approach to solving these effectively. It also explains the registry layout a bit, and what some of the subkeys are used for.
Rating: 
Summary: Roots of the Windows 2000 registry.
Review: Hm, well i unlike most of the people with their "reviews" find this book very interesting and well written, this book can take you deep into windows 2000 registry, starting from changing settings of your keyboard and finishing with resolving networking problems through regedit. I got this book from a friend, now i think i'm gonna buy one for myself.
Rating:
Summary: Roots of the Windows 2000 registry.
Review: Hm, well i unlike most of the people with their "reviews" find this book very interesting and well written, this book can take you deep into windows 2000 registry, starting from changing settings of your keyboard and finishing with resolving networking problems through regedit. I got this book from a friend, now i think i'm gonna buy one for myself.
Rating: 
Summary: Padded to make it look interesting.
Review: I feel I have to add my voice to this book, to reduce the average rating for this book, because it does not deserve 4 stars. The fact that every single entry for a registry change has a 6 line entry that is IDENTICAL for each entry and the rest of the explanation is only useful if you are the village simpleton, takes away all merits this book may have in its coverage of the subject. There is no reason for the obvious contempt that both the Author and the publisher obviously hold any possible reader in. If there was a way to return this book to the shop as unfit for the purpose it was sold, I would return it. This book does not deserve to sell anymore copies.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Reference For IT Implementer
Review: If you are a typical system administrator, and need more control / automation over a Windows 2000 computer than the provided GUI will give you, you will find this reference book useful. The format of the book leaves a little to be desired in that the goal was to be a reference book, but the target audience is from novice to advanced, so much of the references are padded with "how to get there" information. This style will annoy the advanced administrator right off - a feeling quickly shared by the novice who spends even a small amount of time in the book. However, once you get past the formatting, you will find a great amount of information from Administrative tools and General Networking, to IIS, Transaction Server and Microsoft Office. Some of the data is a little out-dated; an entire chapter is dedicated to Internet Explorer 4..... They provide a well organized Table of Contents, an extensive Index and external visible page formatting for quick scanning and searching of sections. Overall, a handy registry info guide.
Rating:
Summary: Problem Solver
Review: These "Little Black Books" are published by the same people as the Exam Cram books and they are very useful. I've got this one along with the Reducing TCO book. Both have come in handy for me. I recently got this Registry book out to figure out an authentication problem we are having on our network. I didn't find anything to fix our problem, but I ended up reading the Sys Admin and TCP/IP section and found a lot of good useful info in there. These books are set up for ease of use. The chapters are tabbed in black so you can find what you are looking for real fast. The Index is very comprehensive and it is easy to look stuff up. It has a quick reference pull-out sheet like the Exam Cram books have. The second edition has some updated information and an expanded index. We should probably be seeing a third edition soon. A third edition or a new one for Windows 2003. This is a useful tool for 2k Sys Admin types and OS power users.
Rating:
Summary: could have fit on 20 pages
Review: This book could have fit on the front and back of a single page, laminated pamphlet. Each entry in the book contains the exact step-by-step instructions on how to open regedit, how to reboot your computer after you've completed editing, etc etc. That wouldn't be bad had these instructions not consumed a whole page each. We're talking about 200 - 250 pages of paper in this book CONTAINING THE EXACT SAME INFORMATION (word for word).
Rating:
Summary: BEST REFERENCE BOOK ON REGISTRY
Review: This was the first book that I read concerning the Windows 98 Registry and could have stopped after finishing this book. The other books lacked the concise detail provided by this book. This book provides what every computer reference book should but doesn't. Readable informative prose combined with detailed instructions clearly outlining how to accomplish any type of editing possible. I am the caretaker for a computer lab at work and used this book on a daily basis at work and home. I finally purchased a second copy to cut down on wear and tear of the original. The book is a valuable tool and anyone working with Windows 98 on a daily basis should include this book in their library.
Rating:
Summary: We need more of these!
Review: Well, if you trust the opinion of one guy that issued a mere one star for the material, then you certainly aren't ready for the information in this book! However, if you're a genuine system administrator that needs to have easy access to detailed registry information without having to crawl the web, then this book is very well worth having. The whole point of the book is to delve deeper than GUI utilities like TweakUI and actually get to the meat of HOW things are done. Whether making registry changes from remote, via scripts, or locally, knowing where the right information is located is much more educational than shined up utilities. While the book does go to some extremes in repeating some non-essential information, the overall value of the book is not badly diminished. I've been dealing with the Windows registry for years now, and I can't say that I have it all memorized. Grabbing a quick reference like this Little Black Book is a time saver... period.
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