I don't know where the folks at Osborne buy their clothes, but on my planet a pocket is only slightly larger than a hand. I can put my wallet in my pocket. I can carry three or so Zip disks. But I've tried and tried, and I just can't jam in all 600+ pages of
Bigelow's PC Technician's Troubleshooting Pocket Reference into any pocket I have. The thing is an inch and a half thick--definitely not pocket-sized. It's satchel-sized. It's put-it-under-the-tire-to-keep-the-trailer-from-rolling-downhill-sized.
Form factors aside, Bigelow's book lives up to its title; it's all troubleshooting information. Wonderful! This book assuredly was not meant to be read front to back. It works like this: start with a problem, and then look up the solution. Bigelow divided the book into sections for various parts of the PC or devices that are connected to it. You look up the device, read about it, heed some general maintenance wisdom, and then peruse the various "symptoms" and cures. Very nice, and just about the best information on troubleshooting that I've seen.
There are two problems. The first (again) is the book's size. Simply put, it's
not a pocket-sized book. Osborne should forget that aspect, and publish the book in a size that easily lies flat. Trust me, the information is valuable enough to sell the book; don't get cute with the size. The second is that I'd like to see the symptoms summarized before they're presented. That would make finding specific information easier, and I wouldn't have to thumb through several dozen symptoms/solutions before finding what I want.
On the key subject of disk partitioning, this book fits the bill--but only in troubleshooting partitioning problems. On that subject, Bigelow does a fine job, and even suggests third-party solutions. In fact, the book does contain many third-party solutions, as well as advice on what to do in Windows for troubleshooting.
This book is not for everyone. Most of the introduction is aimed at computer technicians or troubleshooting professionals. But at $19.99 it's a good investment. At the very least, it'll make you the hero on your block, when it comes to troubleshooting PCs.
--Dan Gookin
Customer Reviews & Comments
As a person who seems to be called upon more and more to fix someone's computer, and as one who's learned by doing in several years of owning these machines (my first was a humble 8088 with a then-huge 20 megabyte hard drive, way before today's Pentiums), I've found this book to be an invaluable reference for assistance in diagnosing computer problems. This is NOT the book for the computer neophyte who knows pretty much how to turn the machine off and on, and who can type a letter and get on the Internet but not much else; it assumes a level of familiarity with computer processes considerably higher than that. However, if you know how to take the cover off, if you're not afraid to remove and replace cards, and you have a basic understanding of interrupts, COM ports and the like, this book is DEFINITELY for you. I heartily recommend this book for the tinkerer, the unofficial neighborhood computer guru, and the professional technician. Two more of his titles that I've purchased and have found just as indispensable is Bigelow's Build Your Own PC Pocket Reference, and his PC Hardware Fat Faqs: Troubleshooting, Upgrading, Maintaining and Repairing. This man KNOWS computers.
