Share
eBooks from Preston Gralla
All books and eBooks by Preston Gralla:
Galaxy Tab: The Missing ...
The Missing Credits About the Author Preston Gralla (author) is the author of 40 books that have been translated into 20 languages, including Droid X: The Missing Manual, Droid 2: The Missing Manual, Big Book of Windows Hacks, Windows Vista in a Nutshell, How the In- ternet Works, and How Wireless Works. He is a contributing editor to Computerworld, a founder and editor-in-chief of Case Study Forum, and was a founding editor and then edi- torial director of PC/Computing, executive editor for CNet/ZDNet, and the founding managing editor of PC Week. He has written about technology for many national newspapers and mag- azines, including USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News (for whom he wrote a technology column), PC World, and numerous others. As a widely recognized technology expert, he has made many television and radio appearances, including on the CBS Early Show, MSNBC, ABC World News Now, and
(2011)
Windows XP Hacks
Tips & Tools for Customizing and Optimizing Your OS
Credits About the Author Preston Gralla is the author of more than 30 books about computers and the Internet, which have been translated into 15 languages, including Internet Annoyances and Windows XP Power Hound. He has been writing about technology since the dawn of the PC age, and has been an editor and colum- nist for many national newspapers, magazines, and web sites. He was the founding editor of PC Week; a founding editor, then editor, then editorial director of PC/Computing; and executive editor for ZDNet/CNet. Preston has written about technology for numerous magazines and newspapers, including PC Magazine, Computerworld, CIO Magazine, Computer Shopper, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the Dallas Morning News (where he was a technology columnist), and many others. He has been a columnist for ZDNet/CNet and is currently a columnist for TechTarget.com. His com- mentaries about technology have been featured on National Public Radio’s “All
(2005)
Windows XP Power Hound
Teach Yourself New Tricks
chapter Chapter 1 1 Getting Started There’s more to getting started with Windows XP than just turning on your com- puter. With XP, the most stable and customizable version of Windows developed so far, you can tweak pretty much every aspect of how your computer looks, starts up, and shuts down—plus a whole lot in between. The hints in this chapter help you get more out of Windows XP’s most basic functions. Startup and Shutdown Start up and shut down faster, get yourself a new startup splash screen, and get rid of useless error messages. After you read the hints in this section, you’ll never again settle for sitting down at your PC and fumbling for the On button. 1-1 Instant Startup Windows XP seems to take a few light years to start up. Happily, you can change that. The secret? Don’t shut down your computer. Instead, put it on
(2007)
Droid X2: The Missing Ma...
The Missing Credits About the Author Preston Gralla (author) is the author of 40 books that have been translated into 20 languages, including Big Book of Windows Hacks, Windows Vista in a Nut- shell, How the Internet Works, and How Wireless Works. He is a contributing editor to Computerworld, a founder and editor-in-chief of Case Study Forum, and was a founding editor and then editorial director of PC/Computing, executive editor for CNet/ZDNet, and the founding managing editor of PC Week. He has written about technology for many national newspapers and mag- azines, including USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News (for which he wrote a technology column), PC World, and numerous others. As a widely recognized technology expert, he has made many television and radio appearances, including on the CBS Early Show, MSNBC, ABC World News Now, and National Public Radio. Under his editorship, PC/Computing was a finalist for
(2011)
Windows XP Cookbook
by Robbie Allen and Preston Gralla
Preface There are literally thousands of programs, tools, commands, screens, scripts, but- tons, tabs, applets, menus, and settings contained within Windows XP. And it has only been in the last couple of years that Microsoft’s documentation has actually been more of a help than a hindrance. But it still isn’t enough. What Windows XP users and administrators really need is a quick and easy way to find what they need to get done what they need to. There are plenty of books that will go into all sorts of detail about the theory behind a particular technology or application, but what if you don’t need that? What if you know the theory but just can’t remember the exact command-line or graphical sequence to customize the interface or check on the run- ning processes? There are very few books that cut through the fluff and provide you the essentials for getting
(2008)
Windows Vista in a Nutshell
A Desktop Quick Reference
Chapter 1The Lay of the Land The Lay of the Land 1 Microsoft spent far longer developing Windows Vista than it did any previous version of Windows, and the results show. Everything you see and use, from the desktop to networking, searching, using the Internet, and beyond, has been over- hauled. The interface includes transparent windows and windows animations; the operating system includes a series of Centers, such as the Network and Sharing Center and the Mobility Center, that make it easy to perform your most common tasks and customize how your PC works; and the search function has been baked so deep into the operating system that you need to type only a few letters of what you’re looking for and the results start to show up immediately—everything from files to programs to mail to web sites. And there are plenty of other major changes as well, such as
(2007)
Windows Vista Pocket Ref...
A Compact Guide to Windows Vista
CHAPTER 1: CHAPTER 1 A Crash Course in the Basics The following brief sections tell you what’s new in Windows Vista, illustrate the layout of the Windows Vista interface, and identify the important concepts and components. Con- tinue to Chapter 2 for tips and shortcuts for working with files, windows, and applications. What’s New in Windows Vista Windows Vista is a significant rework of Windows, and although the basics of Windows are the same, much has changed. Here are the most significant additions and changes in Windows Vista compared to Windows XP: Windows Aero interface The new interface is the first thing people will notice when they see Windows Vista on a Vista Premium-ready system. It sports customizable, translucent windows (called Aero Glass); live Taskbar thumbnails that show a live preview of an underlying window when a mouse is held over the tile; and Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D,
(2007)
Big Book of Windows Hacks
01 STARTUP AND SHUTDOWN How much do you think about the way you start up and shut down Windows? After all, what’s to think about—push a few buttons and you’re done, right? Wrong. As you’ll see in this chapter, starting up and shutting down Windows is absolutely hackable. Whether you want to be more productive or just have fun, there’s plenty to hack. Want to change the Windows Vista and Windows XP boot screen? You can do it. Tired of waiting for your PC to start up and shut down? You can speed it up. Want to boot into multiple operating systems, create a dual- boot Linux-Windows laptop, and customize your multiboot options? You can do that as well. In this chapter, you’ll even learn about hardware startup hacks that show you how to tweak your BIOS. HACK 01: Change Your Windows Vista Boot Screen Tired of seeing the same
(2008)
