Computer Books recommend?

[Mechoopda]

Hi all
Does anyone know of a any good computer books on Windows XP :?:
basically to learn about how to use computers &Word, Excel etc?:mrgreen:
For example I didnot know about defragmneting & someone told me about it & it's very useful!
Thank you for your help!

[Rashakil Fol]

Don't bother with defragmenting.

[nizzy1115]

Don't bother with defragmenting? It is essential that it be done!

[Rashakil Fol]

With FAT based filesystems it was rather helpful, but with NTFS and filesystems seen on Unixy platforms, they already make efforts to minimize fragmentation, so unless your disk is nearly full, you shouldn't run into any problems.

[DMR]

And now, we return you to your regularly-scheduled question... :mrgreen:

Mechoopda,

O'Reilly Press has a long history of publishing very good computer books; check out these links to some of their Windows XP and Microsoft Office titles:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/winxpfstmm/
http://www.oreilly.com/pub/topic/windowsprograms

Also- believe it or not, the "For Dummies" series of books by Wiley Publishing are usually considered (by experienced users as well as "dummies") to be quite useful and informative:
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-100086.html
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-100094.html

[Mechoopda]

Should I defragment or not?

[nizzy1115]

Yes. It is a good idea to defragment your drive every month or so to keep it running at optimal performance. Especially after you install or uninstal programs, it tends to leave the drive slightly fragmented. Fragmentation of a drive will cause a decrease in performance in your computer (for example, your computer will tend to boot up slower, and programs will open slower too.)

[DMR]

Agreed. Small percentages of fragmentation won't cause any performance decrease that the user can notice, but once you start getting into double-digit percentages of fragmentation, you will notice an overall "sluggishness" start to set in. There's no single schedule for defragging, because (as nizzy1115 alluded to) fragmentation results from adding, deleting, and modifying files; the more of this you do, the more quickly your drive will become fragmented.

[Scottg1989]

Although there are a lot of good books out there, remember that there is also a lot of good (free) information on the internet. Also, forums just like this one allow you to find out information in your own way by asking questions.

[Mechoopda]

Yes, you are right, that's an excerellent idea.
I'll look out for more information.

[happygeek]

As an author I will probably be shot for saying so, but I'd agree that a book isn't the best option for the type of information you want.

I will redeem myself as a journalist though, and add that you might want to flick through the pages of some of the computer magazines when you are next in a store with a good selection. There are plenty that are perfectly targeted for someone with your needs.

But don't ignore web based resources, obviously.