The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group PC Hacks - for the bookshelf Major Keary |
Another excellent book in the O'Reilly hacks series, PC Hacks is a compendium of fixes, how-to's, useful information, and sound advice covering Intel- and AMD-powered PCs. It is a valuable resource for Linux and Windows users. Windows-related hacks are in the majority, but that is probably because Microsoft offers more fixable 'features'.
The hacks are grouped under Basic System Board Hacks (includes how to upgrade a flash BIOS, and how to hack an `unhackable' BIOS); Basic system Board Setup (includes configuration of SCSI host adapters, network cards, and sound cards); CPU Hacks (includes clock speed control); Memory Hacks (includes speeding up RAM); Disk Hacks (discusses partitions, filesystems, etc.); Disk Drive Performance Hacks (includes an interesting discussion of RAID options); Video Hacks; I/O Device Hacks; Boot-Up Hacks (includes making a bare disk bootable, configure a multiboot system, and hack Win95/98/Me DOS startup); and Configuring a New PC.
The hacks include hardware upgrades (with helpful illustrations), descriptions of useful software tools, and plenty of tips and other asides.
A book that makes for great browsing. Even if you are not inclined to take a hands-on approach to tweaking or applying fixes, this title provides an insight into how PCs operate. For those who would like to poke around inside a computer, it is an excellent guide. An essential re- source for DIY users.
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Jim Aspinwall: PC Hacks ISBN 0-596-00748-5 Published by O'Reilly, 285 pp., RRP $44.95 incl. GST |
Reprinted from the November 2005 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
