Acknowledgments

The new 17th 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 has returned to school full-time, in addition to helping run our business. She graduated with full honors, receiving a degree in multimedia and web design. She used her creative and technical skills to shoot and produce the video that is included with this book. I'm extremely proud of her for all I've seen her accomplish in the last few years. The dedication she has shown to her work 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 the information that comes into and goes out of this office.

I must give a special thanks to Rick Kughen at Que. Through the years Rick is the number one person responsible for championing this book and the Upgrading and Repairing series. His office is like a shrine to Upgrading and Repairing PCs, sporting a complete (and very rare) collection of every single edition of this book.

Thanks also go to my newest editor, Todd Green. This is Todd's second trip through this series and he has been instrumental in adding Upgrading and Repairing Windows to this series as well as pushing forward new editions of Upgrading and Repairing Laptops and Upgrading and Repairing Networks. Todd has played an important part in helping to move this book through to completion.

I'd also like to thank Todd Brakke for once again doing the development editing for this edition. His excellent tips and suggestions really help to keep the material concise and up-to-date. The work that he, project editor Tonya Simpson, and production editor Megan Wade do in shepherding my manuscripts through a very tight publishing schedule cannot be overlooked. 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 also like to say thanks 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 Upgrading and Repairing Windows and Upgrading and Repairing Servers.

All the people at Que 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 considerable expertise in areas that I might tend to neglect. And thanks to Mark Reddin, who has become the primary technical editor for this book and who not only is extremely diligent in verifying details, but 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 also to all the other readers who 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 book continues to be fueled by many pounds of Starbucks coffee processed via a killer Capresso automatic coffee/espresso machine (utter nirvana for an addicted coffee drinker like me), cases of Coke Classic (no Pepsi allowedgotta have the burn!), Red Bull and AMP energy drinks, 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. There you have it, the three major workaholic nerd/geek food groups: caffeine, sugar, and salt!

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As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator. We value your opinion and want to know what we're doing right, what we could do better, what areas you'd like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom you're willing to pass our way.

As an associate publisher for Que Publishing, I welcome your comments. You can email or write me directly to let me know what you did or didn't like about this bookas well as what we can do to make our books better.

Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book. We do have a User Services group, however, where I will forward specific technical questions related to the book.

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Mail:	Greg Wiegand Associate Publisher Que Publishing 800 East 96th Street Indianapolis, IN 46240 USA

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