Paul McFedries' Web Home |
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Book Catalog
This page is a catalog of the most recent computer books that I've written. You get a short blurb about each book, some basic book info, and a link to pages that offer more detailed data. There are also links to Amazon.com where you can buy any of these books online (for 10-30% off the list price).
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Windows XP 
Years of using various incarnations of Windows have made me certifiably paranoid. I've simply come to expect that Windows will do something weird or toss me some semi-comprehensible message that will have me scratching my head for hours. So even though it has been well over ten years since Windows 3.0 was foisted upon an unsuspecting world, Windows remains both devilishly difficult and fiendishly fickle. Windows can, in other words, make any of us feel, temporarily, like a complete idiot. That, in the end, is why I wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Windows XP. My goal here is to help you and Windows XP get along. If you aren't a computer wizard (and don't even want to be one), this book is for you; if you have a job to do[md]a job that includes working with Windows XP[md]and you just want to get it done as quickly and painlessly as possible, this book is for you; if you don't want to learn about Windows XP using absurdly serious, put-a-crease-in-your-brow-and-we'll-begin tutorials, this book is for you. |
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454 pages
US$19.95, CDN$29.95 |
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Special Edition Using JavaScript
What we've all learned the hard way over the past few years is that you simply can't put together a world-class Web site unless you have some scripting prowess in your site design toolkit. You need to know how to script your way out of the basic problems that afflict most sites, and how to use scripts to go beyond the inherent limitations of HTML. And it isn't enough just to copy the generic scripts that are available on the Web and paste them into your pages. First of all, most of those scripts are very poorly written, and second of all they invariably need some customization to work properly on your site. My goal in this book is to show you how to create your own JavaScript programs that are suited to your site and your content. My aim is to show you that JavaScript isn't hard to learn, and that even the most inveterate non-programmer can learn how to put together scripts that will amaze their friends (and themselves). |
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896 pages
US$39.99, CDN$59.95 |
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to a Smart Vocabulary
Have you ever read a book or an article in a newspaper or magazine where some egghead writer tosses out ten-dollar words left and right and clearly just expects you to know what they mean? Or perhaps it was a cocktail party conversation where people were using stock market or computer jargon that sounded as though it came from the ancient tongue of some long-lost civilization. These kinds of experiences can make even the smartest among us feel, if only briefly, like complete idiots. That's why I wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to a Smart Vocabulary. |
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363 pages
US$14.95, CDN$22.95 |
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Windows Me
If you've ever tried to have a conversation with a so-called computer "expert," then you know they have this uncanny ability to make the rest of us feel like complete idiots within five seconds. They prattle on in their techno-jargon, throwing in the odd "of course" and "obviously" to make it clear that any fool with half a brain ought to know this stuff. Nuts to them, I say! If you're no idiot, but the computer gurus of the world make you feel like one, then consider this book. It won't turn you into a Windows Millennium expert (heaven forbid!), but it will help you get your work done, and we'll try to have a few laughs along the way. |
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456 pages
US$19.99, CDN$29.95 |
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The Unauthorized Guide to Windows Me
There seem to be three types of opinions about Windows Me: applause ("Windows Me is a must upgrade!"), apathy ("It's just Windows 98, Third Edition"), and apoplexy ("Why the &#%$! should I pay money for a bug fix!"). However, it just isn't possible to generalize the overall merits or shortcomings of Windows Me. In the same way that, in art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in operating systems, value is in the needs of the user. We all bring a unique set of requirements to an operating system, and the value we receive from that OS will depend on how well it meets those needs. My goal in this book is to go beyond the hype — both pro and con — that surrounds Windows Me. You won't find any useless generalizations or rehashes of Microsoft marketing materials. Instead, I offer a critical look at what's in Windows Me, so you can decide for yourself. |
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586 pages
US$24.99, CDN$37.95 |
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Windows 2000 Professional
This is not a book for nerds, geeks, or anyone else who regards a pocket protector as the height of fashion. Instead, this book is aimed squarely at people who, through no fault of their own, have ended up with Windows 2000 installed on their computer and they want some guidance on how to tame this new beast. They don't want to learn fancy-schmancy tricks, they don't want to know absolutely everything there is to know about Windows 2000, and they certainly don't want to wade through pages that are knee-deep with long-winded technical discussions. This book shuns all of that and, instead, just shows you the easiest ways to accomplish the most common Windows 2000 tasks. |
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392 pages
US$19.99, CDN$29.95 |
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Windows 98
This book shows you that there are ways to tame the Windows beast. With "just the facts ma'am" explanations, simple step-by-step instructions, and lots of useful examples, you'll see that getting your Windows work done doesn't have to cost you your sanity. The book uses a casual, lighthearted approach that proves that "Windows" and "fun" are not mutually exclusive concepts (as hard as that may be to believe). |
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388 pages
US$14.99, CDN$21.95 |
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to MORE Windows 98
Windows 98 is a big, fat subject, so there's never any shortage of new techniques and shortcuts to learn. Unfortunately, most intermediate Windows 98 books are really just excuses for the authors to show off their bag of Windows 98 tricks, without any thought to how useful those tricks are in the real world. So, yes, this follow-up to The Complete Idiot's Guide to Windows 98 is crammed with cool tips and techniques. However, everything you learn is practical stuff that will help you get the most out of your Windows 98 investment. |
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438 pages
US$16.99, CDN$24.95 |
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Web Page, 4/E
If you've always thought that HTML was simply too hard to master, this book will change your mind. Using a step-by-step, begin-at-the-beginning approach, you learn how to build a fully-functional Web page from scratch. Then, once you've mastered the basics, I show you how to take your skills to the next level and produce a site that's every bit as good as just about anything you've seen on the Web. |
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414 pages
US$19.99, CDN$29.95 |
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The Unauthorized Guide to Windows 98 Second Edition
There are lots of Windows 98 books on the market, and an amazing number of them offer little more than warmed-over versions of the Windows 98 Help system. Even so-called "advanced" books just seem to parrot the Windows 98 Resource Kit. My goal in writing this book was to thumb my nose at the authorized Microsoft party line by showing you methods for working with Windows 98 that are faster and more efficient than anything those other books—or even Microsoft itself—will tell you.. |
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758 pages
US$17.99, CDN$26.95 |
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Paul McFedries' Windows 98 Unleashed
This Professional Reference Edition assumes you know the basics of Windows 98 and then takes you on an in-depth tour of the operating system, leaving no Windows 98 stone unturned in its wake. You get "under the hood" looks at the Windows 98 architecture, step-by-step explanations of complex tasks, and hundreds of tips and shortcuts that help you get the most out of Windows 98. The book also comes with a couple of CD-ROMs that include extra chapters, Microsoft TechNet, and lots of shareware programs. |
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1,390 pages
US$54.99, CDN$77.95 |
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Windows 98 Unleashed
This book is the "little brother" of the Professional Reference Edition. Its goal is to give you an advanced look at Windows 98 while putting less of a strain on your wallet. To keep the price down, I cover fewer topics and don't include the CD-ROMs. However, the book still provides extensive and in-depth coverage of the operating system, including setup, customization, the Registry, hardware, performance tuning, system maintenance, DOS, communications, networking, the Internet, and much more. |
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1,090 pages
US$34.99, CDN$49.95 |
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Windows 95
These days, there's no shortage of ways Windows users are made to feel like complete idiots. If you're no fool, but Windows makes you feel like one, this bestselling book is for you. Using a step-by-step, just-the-facts-you-need-to-know approach, this book teaches you the basics of Windows 95 and even pokes a little irreverent fun at Windows' expense along the way. |
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392 pages
US$19.99, CDN$28.95 |
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Paul McFedries' Windows 95 Unleashed
The goal of this book is to give you complete coverage of all the intermediate-to-advanced features of Windows 95. This means that I bypass basic operations and concentrate on helping you get the most out of Windows 95. You learn the ins and outs of complex topics such as Internet connections, the Registry, and networking, and I offer tons of tips and shortcuts that help make your Windows life easier. |
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1,586 pages
US$59.99, CDN$84.95 |
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VBA for Microsoft Office 2000 Unleashed
You can't call yourself an Office "power user" unless you know how to wield Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), the macro environment that's now part of all the major Office 2000 applications. Fortunately, as you see in this book, learning VBA isn't that hard, even if you've never programmed before. I take you through all the basic programming constructs to give you a solid base from which to explore. From there, I show you how to use VBA to take control of the Office applications. You also learn how to do Internet programming, how to program the Windows 95/98 Registry, how to debug your applications, and much more. |
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1,114 pages
US$39.99, CDN$59.95 |
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Paul McFedries' Office 97 Unleashed
Office 97 is a huge program, but this is a huge book! I give you advanced coverage of all the major components—Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook—as well as in-depth looks at the Office Internet tools, Office integration, and the Visual Basic for Applications programming environment. If you're new to Office 97, don't worry: I also show you how to perform many of the most common tasks, such as working with files, formatting text, printing, and more. |
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1,528 pages
US$49.99, CDN$70.95 |
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See a complete list of all the books I've written.
