I must admit, when I first saw the size of this book I thought that it was just going to be another half-hearted attempt at a reference manual for the basics of Windows XP. In fact, so sure I was of this, I let it sit on my shelf for over a month before I bothered to read through it. Was I ever wrong...

This book covers a wide range of tasks under Windows XP. Everything from how to schedule tasks, to how to setup user accounts, even an entire section devoted to Windows XP security! The book does a good job of grouping each tip by category, and then going straight into detail with the tips: How do I do it; What are the benefits of doing it; What are the options for doing it?

The only thing this book is missing would be a handy "tabbing" along the right side of the book to make it quick to finger over to a particular section. However, the content of this book more than make up for this minor omission.

This book is good for the moderate to advanced user of Windows XP. It covers many of the advanced tasks and not-so-subtle features that you will find in the OS, including such details as giving a handy class-id listing for common objects under XP. A good "pocket book" for anyone who uses Windows XP on a daily basis.

I was surprised and pleased to discover the amount of thought that has gone into this little book. In addition to a rapid 'getting started' section, there's a lot of attention to the types of things I frequently need to look up, such as where a setting is found or what the syntax of an command is. But I was most interested in the last chapter, a "security checklist," which helps close all the "back doors" (as the author puts it) in my system. A bargain and a great find!

It took me a while to appreciate this collection of utilities. Only until I sat down in front of someone else's computer, did I really miss Power Rename and all the right-click menu addons. At under twenty bucks, it's a bargain.

This book contains a lot of useful information arranged in a practical fashion, so that you can look up whatever problem you are having and find out how to fix it. It certainly does not contain everything, but it does contain a lot of valuable information. Despite the title, it should be clear that it is for all Win 98 users, not just for Microsoft-haters. This is one of three books that I keep handy for solving Windows problems. The O'Reilly web site has samples (and corrections!) for this book, so check it out if you are interested. I am very glad that I bought this book!

Who thought Windows 98 was going to eliminate all the annoyances of Windows 95? Hardly. If anything, there are more annoyances with Windows 98 than ever before!

This is an excellent book. Think you know Windows 98? Read this book, and I think you'll discover more than you think. If Windows 98 is giving you fits, or you'd simply like to change a few things that just annoy you (who doesn't?), pick this one up. It's very simply an excellent reference tool for both Windows 98 users and anyone who administrates Windows 98 computers.

Fortunately, this book should be good for both the novice and the professionals. However, if you are a novice, just make sure you understand the instructions that are carefully laid out in the book. There is nothing at all complicated, but there are many examples of simple registry changes that could be bad news if you just rip through it. Take it line by line (few examples have more than 5-6 simple steps), and you'll have no trouble at all.

O'Reilly is truly an amazing book publisher. It's very uncommon to pick up one of their books and find even one error or lack of coverage. This book is NO EXCEPTION. O'Reilly makes a durable book with a clever binding called a RepKover. That's very important, something you'll discover after referring to O'Reilly books over & over & over again. These books are kept on the desktop or very nearby and used continuously.

This book, a newer edition of the previous _Windows 95 Annoyances_, is an essential tool for anybody supporting W 95/98 operating systems and applications and it continues the publisher's category of Microsoft software annoyances.

It is a close up view of just what the Man Behind the Curtain does to keep the Emerald City (Windows 95/98) running. For example, it explains many of those cryptic messages that we see on the screen when the system has tanked. Since the book does not come out of the maw of the Microsoft publishing and adoration machine, the view is realistic, tilted slighty towards the jaundiced. It is oriented towards practical explanations and solutions. In fact, the author often offers more than one solution and explains the consequences of each one. The book is well organized and has an adequate index.

While _Windows 98 Annoyances_ is, for the most part, applicable to both Windows 95 and 98, the accompanying CD will only install in W98 systems. If you are thinking of upgrading to W98 be sure to throughly read Chapter 8, Taking Control of Web Integration.

In general, the book assumes a better than average knowledge of computing hardware and software. This book will join the other D&D (Dirty and Dog Eared from constant use) books on my quick reference shelf.

I had asumed that this book come with a CD & didn't come with a CD, I was dispointed to say the least. But I like to read the book & learn more about Windows ME & all it's bad points & how to fixes them. I'm glad I had purchased the book.

I started my life with PCs using DOS then reluctantly made the transition to Win 3, then 95, then 98 and now ME. Me has a nice new feature or two but that doesn't justify the bloated OS.

This book will help you make your ME computer run and look like a Win 9x computer. It will explain the registry, help you decide what to get rid of, let you change the look and feel of the OS and show you some basic VBS programming. There is much more.

It is a well written book and when I change operating systems I would look forward to another book on it by Mr. Karp.

(There are so many tips in this book it is kind of like having a subscription to about 6 PC magazines and getting the info all at once.)

This book will not explain the meaning of all those error messages, but instead will give you solutions for them. It has detailed information on Windows registry, hardware updating, interface customizing and so on.

Maybe one chapter is indispensable to read (the registry), but in most cases, you'll get directly the solution for your problem, without having to read a whole chapter; however, just read it as a textbook and you'll understand a lot about your system.

Most tips and solutions work for the generic W9x (95, 98, 98 2Ed) and some even for W2000. Anyway, the book explains the differences (if any) between WME and the former.

One recommendation: Try one solution or tip at a time, otherwise Windows will not let you know how well are you working.

A lot has been said concerning this David Karp's book, "Windows XP Annoyances". And, I will add that it lived upto my expectations. Just as its name suggests that there are annoying things about Windows XP, its job was to insulate (as precisely as possible), those irritating XP issues.
This book is a pleasure to read. It defines and executes its chores with impressive precision. Very few problem-solving texts are as forthright. It highlights each problem, and then goes about the solving procedure without any complaint or criticism. Its business-like approach is nice. I valued it so much!

Windows XP Annoyances is one of a kind. If you are looking for a guide through XP, this is not the book to get, but if you want a book that explains Windows XP in more depth then this is the right book for you. This book tells about the problems with Microsoft's new system and how to fix and customize it for your personal needs. It explains how to use the registry in detail to get past the "cute" animations for maximum performance and less annoyance. It does a great job and will tell you things that Microsoft books won't, like changing the startup logo. REMEMBER, this is not a manual! It is as the cover says "Windows XP Annoyances." Although it does teach some basics it will not tell how to use the OS, but rather techniques and tricks to make its performance and appeal better.

The author knows Windows, and it shows on every page. The book's lighthearted approach is refreshing, and the quality of the information is first-rate. The author does mention some of the bugs in windows xp, but only to end of fixing them, which is not something most writers bother to do. I was finally able to share my internet connection (without spending any money), and even speed up the computer by messing around in the Registry. This book is indispensable.

While not offering neat/sappy cures for depression (a do this, do that approach), Karp does provide relief merely in his description of experiences someone suffering with depression has...profound insights that ring true for the commonality in dealing with this illness/condition.

As an individual suffering from periodic bouts of major depression, I found his insights mindblowing as I had never attributed these "traits" as part of the depression itself, but as part of my "unusual history." While hard to explain to the "average" and "normal", someone who has undergone the misery of depression would surely find resonance and comfort in Karp's remarkable work.

Lastly, I would recommend not digesting this book DURING a visit to the abyss as it is a bit heady (and usually concentration is a HUGE ISSUE at those times), but definitely read it after the bright lights turn on again.

Karp is a sociologist who examines depression from a cultural point of view. Folks looking for a "quick cure" are not likely to be satisfied with this particular outing. However, folks looking to understand how society views those with depression, how folks with depression view society, and how the illness can also impact family members ... this is the place to go. I read this book as part of a medical anthropology curriculum ... an ethnography of an illness ... and found it to be quite enlightening. I have been in and out of treatment for depression myself over the years, and finding that so many people had similar experiences of reconstructing their self-view as a result of the illness was quite useful. Again, this book is definitely not a "quick fix" or "feel good" kind of book ... it's one that looks at the nitty-gritty of one of the country's most prevalent illnesses and examines the minutiae therein.

I FOUND THIS BOOK TO BE NOT ONLY REFRESHING IN THAT IT DOESN'T MAKE EMPTY PROMISES, BUT ALSO UNUSUALLY SENSITIVE IN THAT IT CONVEYS TO BOTH THE DEPRESSED AND THEIR LOVED ONES THE SENTIMENTS OF AN "ALTERED REALITY" THAT ONLY A DEPRESSION SUFFERER CAN KNOW. THIS BOOK WAS EXTRAORDINARILY HUMANISTIC, WHICH UNFORTUNATELY SEEMS TO BE THE EXCEPTION IN AN ALL-TOO CARELESS SOCIETY. (KARP UNDERSTANDS THIS TO BE THE CASE AS HE SO SKILLFULLY DEMONSTRATES THROUGH HIS WRITING.) I AM GRATEFUL TO SUCH AN AUTHOR THAT RE-ESTABLISHES A PERSON'S HUMANITY AS A PRIORITY, REGARDLESS OF OVERSIMPLIFIED LABELING THAT OFTEN EVEN FURTHER DIMISHES A DEPRESSED PERSON'S GENERAL CREDIBILITY (NOT TO MENTION THE VALIDITY OF THEIR ANGUISH) WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND EVEN MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. I ESPECIALLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO IS SICK TO DEATH OF CASUALLY BEING ASKED THE CLUELESS QUESTION "SO, WHY ARE YOU DEPRESSED?" HAND THEM THIS BOOK SO THEY CAN BE FURTHER EDUCATED NOT JUST ABOUT THE COMPLEXITY OF DEPRESSION AND ITS "CAUSES", BUT OF THE HUMAN CONDITION IN ITS ENTIRITY.

This book is must have for any Windows XP user.This book is well written easy to understand.This book has it all from WSH script and little Windows XP secrets.This book makes a great reference book for any computer professional.

This book suits my purposes perfectly. If you are comfortable with computers, if you like details, if you get frustrated with the fluff in most Windows OS books, then this book is for you, too.

The book is well organized, nicely formatted, and printed to the usual O'Reilly standards. The text I've read is clear and brief.

It is a very complete, but dense, reference. The biggest section is a 250-page listing of XP applications and tools and how to use each one--applets, control panels, disk tools, network tools, games, task manager, address book, etc. If itcan be used from the command line, details are included for that as well. There is special 50-page index just for this section where you can look up concepts and tasks to find the right tool.

It also includes:
Full documentation on all the usual console commands.
A good introduction to the registry and what you can do with it.
Everything you really need to know about Windows Script Host.
Full listing of keyboard shortcuts.
Notes on Power Toys you can download from Microsoft.
Keyboard Equivalents for special characters.
A list of file extensions in common use.
Keyboard shortcuts (accelerators) by key and by function.
Descriptions of all the services that are available with XP.

Does that sound great, or what?

If you want a single source reference for Windows XP, this is it. It is written for someone who is familiar with Windows and computers, yet needs more information about the new features of XP.

The book methodically goes through all of the Windows XP features in an easy to read fashion.

There are also a lot of configuration settings that are useful, but nonetheless hard to find from Microsoft.

Overall, an excellent reference.

...you will find part of your story in this book. A second reading may be required to appreciate its sociological insights. My primary satisfaction in first reading it was actually hearing about others who've had experiences similar to what have been the most defining yet harshly individuating and closely guarded experiences of my life. Especially poignant were the first realizations of serious mental illness, but the ongoing survival stories were important as well. As many stories as were outlined, I was still left wanting more. ...

In _Burden of Sympathy_, sociolgist David A. Karp presents a well-articulated view of how people today are trying to cope with mentall illness in their families.

However, it's important to note that the mental health system generally provides little help for *families* of the mentally ill, so the many people Karp interviews are very much trying to learn to cope. Therefore, this is not the book to read if you're looking for guidance. It is, however, a revealing picture of what it means to have mental illness in one's family today.

For example, this book's focus in on the caregiver and his/her relationship to the patient. Almost no one is prepared for the personal, spiritual, moral and emotional challenges (not to mention financial) that seem to burst on you when someone you love has a mental illness. The people in _Burden of Sympathy_ have not gone the whole journey, and this is particularly reflected in one mother's account. She and her husband are not able to fully acknowledge their son's illness until he cruelly -- and possibly life-threateningly -- attacks his brother. The mother expresses concern that because she is completely enveloped in caring for her ill son, that she's failing her other children.

The effect of mental illness on families is almost a system in itself, and due to the focus on caregiver-patient in this book, that system is not illuminated. Children who do not play a caregiving role are also profoundly affected and challenged, and have needs of their own that often are not met -- with consequences casting a long shadow over the rest of their lives. I hope David Karp will explore this issue in future books.

In addition, many of the other inteviewees are also completely enveloped in the mentally ill relative -- with hard consequences for their other relationships and lives. This, in my opinion, is where we are most challenged and most ill-equipped to deal with mental illness in our families. How do you get to acceptance? How do you distinguish your needs from theirs? How do you maintain that balance? How do you embrace the "4th C" (detailed in this book) of "All I can do is cope with it [the situation]"?

_Burden of Sympathy_ is a beautifully drawn picture of how caregivers attempt to cope. This book won't offer guidance in coping, but will offer you the solace of knowing you're not alone.

To write this book Karp, a sociologist, performed three-years' worth of in-depth interviewing of family members of mentally ill patients and attended support groups among these family members at McLean's Hospital in Belmont, MA. He also read extensively on mental illness and living with mental illness, mostly from sociological literature and some from medical books and a few medical journal articles. When I first looked at the book at the library, I noticed the chapter called "The Four C's." Looking at this chapter was what caused me to take the book home. I ended up reading almost the entire book carefully.

Throughout the book, Karp discusses and quotes 60 caregivers (by "caregivers," I mean someone with a close relative with mental illness) talking about their relatives and about their own feelings, always focusing on the caregivers' reactions to the events surrounding the illnesses. Karp's main concern is with the obligation family members feel toward their mentally ill relative(s) and with how these family members cope with fulfilling their obligations toward the ill person(s) while trying to live their own lives. One theme that reappears often is that many mentally ill persons refuse to acknowledge their illness at one level or another, thus making their familial caregiver's role more difficult. This includes elderly parents who refuse to get help as well as young spouses with manic episodes who place blame on their healthy spouses. Another theme is the evolution of family caregiver emotions, from those of surprise and pain and hope at first to resentment and even severing of relations in some cases.

Karp notes that parental care and obligation is the strongest of the familial ties with the mentally ill. He also covers numerous siblings, spouses, and children of people with mental illness. Some of the interviewees have both a parent and a sibling with an illness; some of these people are living with the fear of suffering the development of the illness themselves. Many wrestle with depression, seemingly as a result of their problems with their sick relative.

Most of the patients related to Karp's interviewees have depression, mania, schizophrenia, or some combination such as bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disease. Most or all have had hospitalizations. Karp manages to cover a wide range of family relationship and ages with most of the concepts he introduces, thus emphasizing the similarities among those involved with mental illness in the family. The level of illness discussed is generally major.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It is powerful and brutally honest, with no happy ending or false hopes. Another strong theme in this book that is visited over and over again is the chronicity and incurability of much mental illness. Quote after quote from the family members discusses early hopes of cure that are dashed by later episodes of illness, medications that work for a while and then stop working or never work at all or cost too much, and hospitalizations that accomplish little besides crisis intervention. At the beginning of each support group meeting Karp attended, the members of the group recited the four C's in unison: "I didn't cause it. I can't cure it. I can't control it. All I can do is cope with it." This is probably the most important part of the book for family members of mentally ill persons. Karp discusses the four C's extensively, claiming that they unite the realms of "...science, therapy, and spirituality." He discusses cause, cure, and control separately. The lack of a section on coping at this juncture is curious; it may imply that the entire book is about coping or that Karp doesn't feel equipped to offer coping advice.

Reading this book was the closest experience I have had to attending a support group of family caregivers for mentally ill persons. As I read the chapter about the four C's, I could feel my own relationship with the four C's. Although I tried hard to consider myself an outsider, I was surprised at how many of the issues addressed in the book are ones that I am familiar with. Reading this book, I felt like part of a group that I would rather not be part of. Because of these feelings, I think other people with mentally ill family members might get something out of this book, but I am not sure a psychiatrist would be comfortable recommending the book.

Along with the four C's, Karp and his interviewees discuss a poignant group of problems that family caregivers face, such as the balance between allowing a person with mental illness to be independent and keeping him or her safe but dependent. Karp claims that, for the family caregivers, too much control results in being controlled by the illness. He acknowledges, however, that giving up control is not simple, as it may result in severe consequences for the patient, which can then tax the family.

The last chapter containing caregiver quotes is called, "Surviving the System." This section covers the family members' experiences with hospitalization, including the difficulties of getting a patient hospitalized sometimes when it is needed as well as insufficient care often encountered during hospitalization. A section is devoted to discussion of psychiatrists. Although most of it is not complimentary, Karp is careful to include some praise of psychiatrists.

Karp concludes with a sociological perspective on mental illness, somewhat summarily. The only optimistic aspect of this book is in the form of Karp admitting that he has heard of a few success stories. He mentions a few people who seem to have conquered these usually devastating mental illnesses, and he includes successes where he finds them. The book is not pessimistic, either. It is alive with the voices of people who are grappling with mental illness in a loved one. The book offers company and understanding, if not solutions, for family members of mentally ill people.

blue prints surgery is a very good review book for surgery .it is just 113 pages which makes it very easy to study and covers the important topics tested in the usmle. has got very good diagrams and tables.not for indepth study, but good source of reveiw for the boards.i recommend this book for anyone preparing for the boards.

I did particularly well on the surgical subcategory of Step 2, and it's owed to this book. Hands down, it's the best, highest-yield 3rd/4th year review for surgical disease - including epidemiology, symptoms, signs, diagnosis, and management. Awesome for review before the big test; also useful for overview of surgical diseases during your clerkship. One small complaint: it costs lots of dollars for about 100 pages.

I ordered this book in the hope that I could solve a few of the "small" user problems that I had, where I was not prepared to spend hours searching in books with more than a 1,000 sides.

I was not disappointed as I quickly flew through it for the first time. Great stuff, no frills, no fuss, just short sharp solutions for the "Little Bugs" in Windows 95. No long descriptions of how Windows 95 works and why, just practical solutions, to get rid of them BUGS . This is a working book for working people who are not into reading an enclyopedia to find the solution, not for theorists

It has unfortunately one draw back and this applies to the Windows NT side of this book. The problems that appear when using NT are of a different breed from those of Windows 95. The problems and solutions that are described are usually commen to both systems, but not NT specific problems (e.g. "How can I stop NT from copying one network mapping with drive N to several other drive letters i.e. N O P Q ..- Z", "How do I stop printer confirmation dialogs after the printer has printed my documents ?" etcetera, etcetera. ). I hope that the next addtion also includes larger NT percentage.

Looking forward to the next addtition !!

The author cuts to the chase, confronting an annoying "feature" of Windows and handing out specific information about tweaking it for the better. This isn't one of those fluffy "Tips for Using Windows that You'd Know if You'd Just Read the Online Help" books. The difference is refreshing.

On the down side, there's too much reliance on editing the registry. Unlike other fixes, registry hacks fall into the "don't try to understand it, just do it" category. But I've resisted such modifications, and I still find the book to be greatly useful. Too bad such a book was needed in the first place!

This book is an absolute godsend.
Sure is has some of the 'tips & tricks' you might seen elsewhere but there
is enough new information to make this book indispensible.

The only bit of warning I would give is that it is not for beginners.
The book frequently takes you into the registry and if you don't feel comfortable
tinkering around there then you should be extra cautious.

An absolute must in any PC library!