I don't know about you folks out there, but  I would never even dream of opening up the computer case.  Frankly, I wouldn?t even know where to  begin.  And I am not a novice at  fixing stuff.  I could change a  washer, and simple electrical things like changing a light bulb (grin), but  certainly not anything within the CPU.  I was so timid about it and I became so anxious that I had to leave the  room when anything had to be done to my  computer.

Thank the good Lord,-- O’Reilly Press,  Publisher, and  Andy Rathbone,  collaborated and has finally put together a book that I can read and  understand.  My normal instincts are  to dive straight into a new application and play with it, and it is only when I  get stuck that I finally get down to brass tacks and read the instructions and/or the manual.  When it comes to  my CPU, I decided that I had to have some better information before I attempt  anything, and this book is what gave me the courage to do battle on my  own.

What an eye opener !!  Before I tell you about the book and why  I believe it is so great, I have to tell you that I just got a new  computer.  I was in the midst of  trying out all the goodies that I had ordered.  Yes, the CD reader/writer and the DVD  reader/writer worked just fine.  I  had ordered a floppy disc drive, and Lo! and Behold!  - the darn thing just wouldn’t  work.  The light on the drive didn?t  go on.

I scoured PCs ? The Missing Manual and  decided that with the information contained in the book, together with the  diagrams I would conquer the problem.  The book showed me how to open the case, and where to look to find the solution.   In no time at all I  found that the floppy drive was not connected. With the confidence that I had after  reading only part of the manual I was able to connect the power wire to the  drive and it worked.  To me, it was amazing.  Curiously, I did poke  around a little more and identified the memory, the CPU, the cables connecting  all the drives to the motherboard.  I identified the firewire card , the USB’s and the fans.  I was able to trace the cables to the  drives.  I felt powerful!   I know that many people could do this in a blink of the eye, - but I also know that many people, women  especially, feel real fear when it comes to opening the  case.

In addition to the simple example that I  gave with the A drive, it gave me insight into troubleshooting my printer and  scanner.  It also gave me an  understanding of the interchange between the music player and my computer.  In addition the book tells you chapter  and verse about everything that connects to your computer.  Your mouse, keyboard, monitor.  He discusses in language that I could  understand about video cards and sound cards.  He also went into great detail about  burning a disc and how to purchase the correct blank disk for DVD and/or  CD’s.  Of course, I had already  purchased the CD and DVD with my computer, but Mr. Rathbone went into great  detail on how put these drives in your older computer, should you choose to do  so.  In many cases, I would guess  that consumers would swap out various drives for one reason or another, and the  detailed photographs and diagrams are  invaluable.

One of the things that is discussed in  length is networking your computers. I, for instance, have a computer and a laptop.  I wanted to use the laptop in a  different part of my home.  Everyone that I talked to said that this would be a formidable task, and perhaps that  since my husband and I were novices at fixing we really shouldn’t try to do  such a complex project.  I had many  doubts and discussion with myself and finally decided that with the instructions  we should be able to accomplish this task.  Mr. Rathbone explained in his opening chapter of Networking that that one time setting up a network was about as much fun as going to the  dentist.  He went on to assure us  that since Windows XP, that is no longer the case.  After one or two missteps on our part,  the outcome of our project was successful.

I would urge anyone that is fearful or just plain curious about the innards of the computer, to get this Missing Manual,  read it, and you, too, will feel the power and pride that it gives you when your project, whatever it is, finally works!

User group members do get a 30% discount from OReilly Publishing, in addition to all the fantastic  information.