I was lucky to find the book 1,001 Computer Hints & Tips at a yard sale for .50. I knew I had found a steal and quickly bought it. I thought this book would be beneficial to me and I was right. The Reader’s Digest Project Staff put it out. This of course is not a book that you would want to sit down and read cover to cover. It is to be used as a reference guide that is much like a textbook to be used when you need help with particular computer problems.
1,001 Computer Hints & Tips is actually four books in one. The four major categories are:
1. Windows
2. Software
3. Internet
4. Hardware
Now I will go into detail about what is included in each chapter. In each of the four major categories it is broken down into sub-categories. The subcategories go into much more detail and explain things out thoroughly.
In the Windows section you will learn about backing up, desktop, hard drive, optimize your PC, viruses, and Windows to me.
The Software section will teach you about: accessories, charts and graphs, contact managers, databases, desktop publishing, drawing programs, educational CD-ROMs, games, graphics, home and garden, macros, photo editing, publisher, spreadsheets, templates, and works 6.0.
The Internet section will teach you about: auction sites, banking, chatrooms, children sites, education sites, email, ethnic interests, genealogy sites, health sites, html, investing online, mailing lists, mp3, newsgroups, outlook express, search engines, security on the net, shopping online, sports, travel planning, website creation, and women’s interests.
The Hardware section will teach you about digital cameras, handheld computers, laptops, printers, and scanners.
Final Thoughts:
This book has become so valuable to me. I find myself using it often. When I have a computer-related question this book is the first place I turn to. There is so much information cram packed into the 351 pages. The book was published in 2001. It states that it “assumes that you’re using a PC with either the latest edition of the Windows operating system – Windows Millennium – or Windows 98.” This book would be beneficial to those who either use Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator.
I feel that this book would be beneficial to a new computer user as well as by someone who has used computers for years like myself. I know an average amount about computers, but this book covers much more than I already know. However, it may be too basic for an expert computer user. This book is written in a very simple, easy to understand way. It does not use jargon. It is written in a way that my nine-year-old son can understand. The book is great about not only telling you how to do something, but why you should do it a certain way. Many times it will give you a variety of ways to complete a task. The examples and illustrations are also helpful to me.
There is an index and a glossary in the back of the book. Both of these have been helpful to me. Using the index helps me quickly find the area I need to go to for my specific problem. The glossary is a list of computer related terms along with the meaning. I have been able to find out what some technical terms mean that I did not previously know.
I will share a few of the ways the book has personally helped me. When I had trouble getting my viewed links to change colors I found out how to fix that. I have also used the book for helping me to figure out why I kept getting an Explorer error message when I would try to look at items at Ebay. It has also helped me to know how to clean out things from that I no longer needed to restore more memory. I also plan to use the book as a guide when I decide to install more RAM on my computer.
Throughout the book there are little boxes that have helpful hints or tips for the subject being covered. This book covers so much. It is a great book to have around the house for reference. I never know when I may need to use it. It is always helpful to me in fixing my problem or learning how to do something that I need to do.
1,001 Computer Hints & Tips is an excellent step-by-step guide for performing many different computer related tasks.
Recommended:
