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Upgrading and Repairing PCs 21st Edition

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 224 ratings

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Upgrading and Repairing PCs
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For 25 years, Upgrading and Repairing PCs has been the world’s #1 guide to PC hardware: The single source for reliable information on troubleshooting and fixing problems, adding hardware, optimizing performance, and building new PCs. Now, better than ever, this 21st edition offers beefed-up coverage of the newest hardware innovations and maintenance techniques, plus more than two hours of new DVD video.

Scott Mueller delivers practical answers about PC processors, mother-boards, buses, BIOSes, memory, SSD and HDD storage, video, audio, I/O, input devices, networks, Internet connectivity, power, and much more. You’ll find the industry’s best coverage of diagnostics, testing, and repair—plus cutting-edge discussions of improving performance via overclocking and other techniques.

Mueller has taught thousands of professionals in person and millions more through his books and videos—nobody knows more about keeping PCs running perfectly. Whether you’re a professional technician, a small business owner trying to save money, or a home PC enthusiast, this is the only PC hardware book you need!

NEW IN THIS EDITION

  • The newest processors, including Intel’s 3rd generation Ivy Bridge Core i-Series processors and AMD’s 2nd generation Trinity CPUs
  • 3TB (and larger) disks, 4K sectoring, partition alignment, faster SATA disk interfaces, and SSD (solid state drive) hard drive replacements
  • New firmware innovations, from full UEFI BIOS support to built-in motherboard flash BIOS upgrade utilities
  • Integrated video and audio, including 5.1/7.1 surround sound, HDMI, and DisplayPort connections, and Windows 8 compatible multi-touch touchscreen technology
  • Updated PCI Express 3.0, 4.0 interfaces, and Power Supply specifications for powering high-end video cards
  • Emerging interfaces such as SATA Express, USB 3.0, and Thunderbolt
  • Updated coverage of building PCs from scratch—from choosing and assembling hardware through BIOS setup and troubleshooting

ON THE DVD

Get 2 hours of up-to-the minute, studio-quality how-to videos—all playable on your DVD player or computer! In this edition, Scott Mueller offers true insider information about several of the key components in a PC, including motherboards, solid-state drives, and more.

You will see a detailed tour of a modern high-performance motherboard, showing all the components from the processor socket and CPU voltage regulators to the audio and network chipsets, and more. You’ll learn how all the devices on the board are interconnected, so you can more easily understand their importance. There is a detailed segment comparing solid-state drives (SSDs) to conventional hard disk drives (HDDs), explaining all the differences and similarities between them in an easy to understand fashion. Finally, there are several segments on building a state-of-the art system from scratch using a high-performance overclockable motherboard and processor combination. You’ll see tips on how to best prepare the components, how to assemble the system properly, how to make the front panel connections much easier to deal with, and finally how to route the cables for maximum airflow and ease of future upgrades or repairs.

This DVD also contains the complete 19th and 2

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Mueller is the president of Mueller Technical Research (MTR), an international research and corporate training firm. Since 1982, MTR has produced the industry’s most in-depth, accurate, and effective seminars, books, articles, videos, and FAQs covering PC hardware and data recovery. MTR maintains a client list that includes Fortune 500 companies, the U.S. and foreign governments, major software and hardware corporations, as well as PC enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. Scott’s seminars have been presented to several thousands of PC support professionals throughout the world.

Scott personally teaches seminars nationwide covering all aspects of PC hardware (including troubleshooting, maintenance, repair, and upgrade), A+ Certification, and data recovery/forensics. He has a knack for making technical topics not only understandable, but entertaining; his classes are never boring! If you have ten or more people to train, Scott can design and present a custom seminar for your organization.

Although he has taught classes virtually nonstop since 1982, Scott is best known as the author of the longest-running, most popular, and most comprehensive PC hardware book in the world,Upgrading and Repairing PCs, which has become the core of an entire series of books, includingUpgrading and Repairing PCs, Upgrading and Repairing Laptops, and Upgrading and Repairing Windows.

Scott’s premiere work, Upgrading and Repairing PCs, has sold more than two million copies, making it by far the most popular and longest-running PC hardware book on the market today. Scott has been featured inForbes magazine and has written several articles for PC World magazine,Maximum PC magazine, the Scott Mueller Forum, various computer and automotive newsletters, and the Upgrading and Repairing PCs website.

Contact MTR directly if you have a unique book, article, or video project in mind or if you want Scott to conduct a custom PC troubleshooting, repair, maintenance, upgrade, or data-recovery seminar tailored for your organization:

Mueller Technical Research

Web: www.muellertech.com

Email: info@muellertech.com

Forum: www.forum.scottmueller.com

Scott has a forum exclusively for his readers at www.forum.scottmueller.com. Anybody can view the forum, but posting is only available to registered members.

If you have suggestions or comments about the book or new book or article topics you would like to see covered, send them to info@muellertech.com.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Que Pub; 21st edition (March 22, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 1107 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0789750007
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0789750006
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.02 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 2.75 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 224 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
224 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2013
I purchased the 21st Edition of Upgrading and Repairing PCs, based upon reviews of previous editions of the book. I have built a few desktop PCs (reading other books and materials online to do so) and have replaced internal parts including memory, hard drives, video and sound cards, over the past 12 years. I consider myself an advanced intermediate in terms of upgrading and repairing PCs, with a desire to learn more.

Getting a book with the latest information on this subject was important to me. This 21st edition, is the first I've seen from this author, is impressive and fit my needs perfectly!

Who should buy this book?

I think this book would be useful to anyone from a beginner to a strong intermediate PC user who is interested in building and repairing PCs.

Those preparing to take specific IT related tests like the A+ Certification Exam, would also find it helpful and undoubtedly it is or will be used as a textbook for either high school or college students.

What is included?

You get this comprehensive hardbound book along with 45 days of FREE online access to the online edition of this book (code at back of the book) and a 2 hour DVD in which the author shows the components of a PC build and how they go together. His hands on approach is easy to understand and pleasant to watch.

What will I learn with this book?

Twenty chapters cover everything from the Development of the PC to PC Diagnostics, Testing and Maintenance. Networking, hardware types and functions, and building and upgrading systems are also covered.

Basically anything hardware related - not software - for PCs is comprehensively covered by this 1000+ page book.

Is it overly technical?

Some parts of the book, by the nature of the subject, are technical. The author, Scott Mueller, does his best (and succeeds) at writing clear, concise technical information without making it overly boring - which is tough!

Unlike some other books I've seen on this subject, I could pick it up and read a bit - absorbing the info - and not have to go back over it to try and understand what I'd just read. Something those who are new to PC upgrading and repair will appreciate.

The book also has clear diagrams regarding each subject, cautions and tips which are all very helpful.

Why this book over all the others?

There are very few books on the subject of upgrading and repairing PCs that are not either too simplified like 
Upgrading and Fixing Computers Do-it-Yourself For Dummies  or too technical and frankly only good for those who are intermediate to advanced PC users who are unafraid of a challenge.

This book is useful to a spectrum of users from beginner to advanced, and sets the bar for what other writers should aspire to create with their technical writing.

The book can be read from start to finish, or used as a handy reference. The DVD is a nice supplement to the book, but not a regurgitation of all that is in the book.

You won't be wasting your money on this one - I highly recommend it!
105 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2014
At first I was put off by the density of technical detail in Mueller's book, but as I began to read individual chapters, I grew to appreciate that this is an extremely useful, well written and interesting text on PC hardware. I bought this book as a companion to "Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC" by Andrews which was a textbook required for my A+ certification class. Both are 1000+ page books: Andrews' is an expensive carefully constructed textbook with glossy pages, lots of illustrations, exercises, projects. It covers both hardware and software. Mueller's book, is devoted strictly to hardware, and here's my comments:
1. Historical Information: Mueller gives complete history of each of the components of a PC, such as the evolution of the processor or disk drives.
2. Technical Reference: This book has dozens and dozens of comprehensive tables that deliniates the details of each successive release/update/upgrade/replacement for each component and sub-components of the PC, such as BIOS or diskdrive technology or whatever. Detailed and useful information is provided.
3. Hardware: As mentioned above, this book is only for hardware, look elsewhere if you want to learn about operating systems, programs, etc...
4. Troubleshooting: Not a whole lot about troubleshooting...though there are some useful items. Andrew's book has a couple of chapters of troubleshooting. It's hard to teach trouble-shooting. Mueller's approach, I would state, is that if you have a really good understanding of how the PC works, you're in a much better shape to understand how to fix it.
5. Quality writing: this is one of the best written reference works I've ever encountered. So once I got over my reluctance to dig in, and actually started reading, I was very pleased at how well the information is presented. At first I just jumped into a few topics that were of interest. But once I got going, I realized that I would enjoy reading the whole story from the beginning, which I'm now doing. This is not an afternoon's project, but as technical reading goes, this is one of the best.
18 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2013
This is truly an incredible book. Virtually everything related to PC hardware is covered in detail. This 21st edition is the latest update and I find I read at least every third edition from cover to cover, even though I am not a computer professional. The writing is quite good and actually pretty entertaining. There indeed is a lot of stuff from previous editions but that is the nature of a book about a rapidly evolving technology. The author works hard to keep the book at a "reasonable" length by taking less used information out and putting it on the companion disk. If you want to know how each hard drive type works or how each modern connector is configured, it's all in here. About the only complaint I could have is with the book's title "Upgrading and Repairing PCs" since the book is so much more than that. That title is now as outdated as was the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe Trilogy" when the fifth volume came out.
6 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2017
Mueller is usually my primary source for information, but immediately before I noticed I had not written a review for this reference, I discovered this 21st edition lacks much coverage of SCSI. Of course, an encyclopedic scope of reference is why I routinely buy Mueller, so I was somewhat surprised, consoled by the fact I have his earlier versions which do have ample coverage. And that difference probably explains why SCSI was substantially underrepresented in this edition-- the technology changes, and to write a volume which is fewer than 1,500 pages requires older (SCSI) technology be tossed overboard. Of course, I plan to keep all the editions, just in case.

Rather than a perfect 5, I give a 4.576898.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Andrew C Davies
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential book for pc problem solving and building.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2022
Good book, good price. Essential for pc repair/building. Had the 11th edition, now this 21st edition to keep up with changes. Bought to help me build my own pc from components. Includes DVD.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars IT Student Here
Reviewed in Germany on April 19, 2016
I am studying IT and this book is a BIBLE. I use it all the time for extra information or to translate a complicated subject easier to comprehend. I bought this edition to save some money, but wish I got the newer edition. Regardless, this is highly recommended and a must have for any bookshelf.
2 people found this helpful
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Palmmer Caiden
5.0 out of 5 stars The history of computers.
Reviewed in Canada on December 3, 2013
The concise historical facts given in the first part of the book are short enough to be quickly read. Just the bare bones is all that's needed to give an intellectual understanding of the hardware and software available today. I have a better understanding of what I am spending my money on when I buy electronics. It's interesting to know the power play over time between the big names in this trillion dollar industry.
Manish
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book. Every CS engineer should read it.
Reviewed in India on June 2, 2014
This is a comprehensive book for people who are trying to rig their own PCs. A version older is all which would suffice for Indian users. Choosing your version wisely will save you some money.
One person found this helpful
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Rosetta
5.0 out of 5 stars Completo, coinvolgente, istruttivo
Reviewed in Italy on November 25, 2013
Di questo libro praticamente mi è piaciuto tutto, è diretto nelle spiegazioni e spesso vengono fatti esempi pratici che aiutano molto il lettore. Sono frequenti le figure che permettono anche una memorizzazione visiva e soprattutto le tabelle nei quali si possono confrontare i progressi della tecnologia negli anni classificati per modello o produttore. Il libro è completo e non tralascia nessun argomento, lo consiglio a tutti gli appassionati che sappiano almeno le basi dell'inglese (anche non avendo conoscenze approfondite si può leggere tranquillamente senza troppi problemi).