Upgrading and Repairing PCs

Acknowledgments

The new 15th Edition continues the long tradition of making this the most accurate, in-depth, and up-to-date book of its kind on the market. This new edition is the product of a great deal of additional research and development over the previous editions. Several people have helped me with both the research and production of this book. I would like to thank the following people:

First, a very special thanks to my wife and partner, Lynn. Over the last few years, she had returned to school full-time, in addition to helping run our business. She recently graduated with full honors (congratulations!), receiving a degree in multimedia and Web design. I'm extremely proud of her, as well as all I've seen her accomplish in the last few years. The dedication she has shown to her schoolwork has been inspiring.

Thanks to Lisa Carlson of Mueller Technical Research for helping with product research and office management. She has fantastic organizational skills that have been a tremendous help in managing all of the information that comes into and goes out of this office.

I must give a special thanks to Rick Kughen at Que. Rick is the number one person responsible for taking what I submit and turning it into a finished book. His office is like a shrine to Upgrading and Repairing PCs, sporting a complete (and very rare) collection of every single edition since the first, along with enough PC parts, peripherals, and components to build several systems. His attention to detail is amazing, and he genuinely cares about both the book and my readers, often going far above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to customer service and support. Rick is always pushing to add extra value to the book and is constantly coming up with ways to improve the overall product. Rick is largely responsible for the video segments included with the book, and especially the use of a DVD which allows us to include much higher-quality video clips than ever before. Rick, thanks so much for your dedication and hard work!

I'd also like to thank Todd Brakke for doing the development editing for this edition. His excellent tips and suggestions really help to keep the material concise and up-to-date. I'd also like to thank the other editors, illustrators, designers, and technicians at Que who work so hard to complete the finished product and get this book out the door! They are a wonderful team that produces clearly the best computer books on the market. I am happy and proud to be closely associated with all the people at Que.

I would like to say thanks also to my publisher Greg Wiegand, who has stood behind all the Upgrading and Repairing book and video projects and is willing to take the risks in developing new versions like the Laptop and Server editions, as well as the improved (read more expensive) video clips we are now including.

Greg, Rick, and Todd all make me feel as if we are on the same team, and they are just as dedicated as I am to producing the best books possible.

I would also like to say thanks to Mark Soper, who has added expertise in areas that I might tend to neglect. Also thanks to Mark Reddin, who has become the primary technical editor for this book and who is not only extremely diligent in verifying details, but who also makes numerous suggestions about additional coverage, all of which are greatly appreciated. His input has been extremely important in helping me to ensure the highest level of technical accuracy and depth of coverage.

Thanks to all the readers who have emailed me with suggestions concerning this book; I welcome all your comments and even your criticisms. I take them seriously and apply them to the continuous improvement of this book. I especially enjoy answering the many questions you send me; your questions help me understand areas of the book that might need to be clarified and point out additional coverage that should be added. Interaction with my readers is the primary force that helps maintain this book as the most up-to-date and relevant work available anywhere on the subject of PC hardware.

Finally, I would like to thank the thousands of people who have attended my seminars; you might not realize how much I learn from each of you and all your questions!

Many of my all-night writing raves are fueled by a variety of possibly less-than-nutritious (but very tasty and loaded with energy) food and beverage. In particular, this edition was fueled by bags and bags of Starbucks coffee processed via a killer Capresso automatic coffee/espresso machine (utter nirvana for an addicted coffee drinker like me), many cases of Coke Classic (no Pepsi allowed—gotta have the burn!), Red Bull and AMP energy drinks, and cases of Trolli Brite Crawler Eggs and Pearson's Salted NutRolls. For special occasions when I really needed a boost, I enjoyed a couple of bottles of Skeleteens Brain Wash, the ultimate energy drink. Why, that covers the three major workaholic nerd/geek food groups right there: caffeine, sugar, and salt!