Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24103 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 113 pages

Synopsis
The updated edition of the classic visual manual for troubleshooting PC hardware problems. Morris Rosenthal creates a visual expert system for diagnosing component failure and identifying conflicts. The seventeen diagnostic flowcharts at the core of this book are intended for the intermediate to advanced hobbyist, or the beginning technician. Following a structured approach to troubleshooting hardware reduces the false diagnoses and parts wastage typical of the "swap 'till you drop" school of thought. Flowcharts include: Power Supply Failure, Video Failure, Video Performance, Motherboard, CPU, RAM Failure, Motherboard, CPU, RAM Performance, IDE Drive Failure, Hard Drive Boot and Performance, CD or DVD Playback, CD or DVD Recording Problem, Modem Failure, Modem Performance, Sound Failure, Sound and Game Controller Performance, Network Failure, Peripheral Failure, SCSI Failure and Conflict Resolution

Customer Reviews

Clearly structured and very useful
When things go wrong with your PC it can be difficult to see "The wood for the trees" in order to successfully isolate and resolve the problem. The charts in this book provide a structured approach to solving most common PC problems - although it does assume a basic knowledge of the componant modules that make up a PC. Each flow chart is preceeded by a couple of pages of text that allows for an overview of the system that is proving problematic. The top to bottom flow charts provide a clear structured approach and ensure that obvious solutions (e.g is it plugged in?)are not ommited before proceeding to examine the system itself.
A useful addition to any computing bookshelf that will probably pay for itself the first time that you refer to it.Very useful.

Not comprehensive enough
A book of this size is never going to do much more than scratch the surface of problems that can occur with a computer, let alone the operating system and other systems software (device drivers, anti-virus software etc) running on it. To provide a thorough guide to solving PC problems would require something much, much thicker than this book. The question is, does this book provide enough information to solve the problem you have? In my case, the answer is no. My wife's computer started blue-screening today, even when attempting a safe boot. Did I work out what the problem was - yes. Was it a hardware problem - yes. Did this book guide me to the cause - no. I did follow the decision-making process in the book, but it didn't go half as far as was needed. The questions it asked were perfectly reasonable, just not comprehensive enough. If you need flowcharts to help you then you might want to use this book as a starting point, but be prepared to use something more comprehensive as well.