Cheap Computer Books Best Computer Book

Quick and Easy How To Guide
I like this author's quick "here's how you do it" approach. He asks a question at the top of the page, shows a photo to illustrate it and then answers it all on one page. He has a notable lack of professional photo jargon which is nice for non-pros, who don't need to buy this book anyway. When there is photo jargon he defines it in easy layman's terms. This book was actually too advanced for me, but I liked it anyway and it gives me hope for the future that one day I can actually make use of the techniques. I liked this book so much that I just ordered Volume 1 from the same author.The ADD & ADHD Answer Book: Professional Answers to 275 of the Top Questions Parents AskThe Asperger's Answer Book: The Top 275 Questions Parents Ask [Aspergers Answ Bk]

Major problems with Adobe CS4 and Adobe customer service
I had a nightmare experience with this product and my attempts to get assistance from Adobe customer service were horrible! This is a long review but it was a long process!

The only part of the whole experience that went smoothly were the order,payment and delivery process!

I recieved the software in the mail. On attempt to install I got a fatal error about 85% of the way into the install. Uninstalled and tried again..same error ..same place. Ok..I called cuistomer service and they 1st tried to direct me to FAQ and trouble shooting sites on the internet. I explained I had already read over them and could not find a simple fix or one that matched my problem and at any rate they were all in computer tech language of who I am not one which is why I called them! I also have some experience with solving my own problems this way and I knew that this time from reading that I would likely do more damage to my system by proceeding on my own and therefore made a call to them. So the tech on the phone kept saying .." read these steps and follow them and then call us back " I had to repeat several times I HAD read them and I did not wish to wait on the phone for another 45 minutes (it literally took that much wait time before I could talk with them)and basically refused to do what he told me to do and demanded that he help me during this phone call.

He had me explain the problem ...then he had me uninstall & reinstall whith him on the phone . He had me download a cleanup program specifically for this adobe software and then run a clean up. Then try install again..same error ...same place!
Run through the uninstall & cleanup again. Now he had me creat a seperate new user account on my desktop and then had me intstall the software directly on my desktop in the new account and then try to upload it directly from the desktop. Same exact result! Now we had been on the phone about 2 hours at this time. He had to leave work for the night so he left me to try it again saying this time it should work!
Of course it did not.

In the morning I called back..I also forgot to mention that on this 1st call attmept fpr help I was disconnected 3 times after waiting 30 to 40 minutes on hold each time and then 15 minutes into explaining the probelm.
When I finally got to talk with the next tech and explain he said I needed to talk to another dept. The next tech had me repeat the whole story which got longer everytime a new incident was added to my experience. He had me go into my control panel etc after another uninstall & cleanup and attempted to discover what the probelm was. He 1st wanted me to unload and re-upload Interenet Explorer 8 because he said it had know conflicts with Adobe Photshop CS4! I asked why that was not listed as a conflict any where on their websites or on the product itself and really got no answer excep welllllll maybe it should be but it isn't! So I agreed to have him assist with this process. We got to a section that warned I might affect some of my exixting programs if I removed it.

I had recently added several new softwate and hardware products ( I am an artist) an did not want them affected so I told him I did not want to do this. So he then talked about searching my registry. I know that going into the registry is not usually a good idea but he reassured me he does it all of the time! So in we go. He had me make a backup of my registry(which I was later informed by another tech at Adobe would not be a fix for my registy if it was damaged in any way) although this guy said it would!

In the registry ...he had me check and uncheck certain boxes in certain areas and some he had me recheck and some he left unchecked (so that to me means he is making a change to my resistry as we never went back and redid everything as we had originally found it! But in the process he said that there was a conflict in one area of my operating system and I would have to call microsoft to get this changed in order for the software to install correctly. At that point I was so burnt out by all of this that I decided I would not have my Operating system messed with ..(what else would be affected by this if I did ) I opted to keep my system as it was with all of my perfectly working software etc and NOT to install the Adobe CS4 softwar much to my disappointment.

He directed me to the return process with went ok. They disabled my serial number and put me in for a refund that was it! It was about 10pm by this time so I turned off the computer and that was it for the night.

In the morning I started up my computer in order to open some of my artwork stored in the system and found the computer would not let me open any of them!Mind you I am an artist and have 100's of digital copies of paintings and drawings etc that I have created stored here. I freaked!

Called back to get help[ and after a long holdtime again got a tech on the line. This is 3 days I have now been working with them for at least 9 hours by now! The 1st thing he said when I explained the probelm I was having was the I no longer had the software installed and my serial number was disabled so he had no responsibility to help me! I had to argue with him to agree that something from his software and or the trip into my registry by one his techs or both were causing a problem! He then said being a part of the Installation tech helpline he could not help me and that I need to talk with the Tech Imaging people for help. SO he transferred me to them! I expalind again and the guy told me ...well I can't help you you have to talk with the Installation Techs! I said they had just transferred me to his dept! He then had me check a few things on the computer and wr discovered I had no ability to right click to access anything in the computer. When I tried it would shut the whole system dowmn. So he patched in with the Install Techs and he asked for their manager to call me back. I forget ot mention that I was supposed to get a 'call back' from them the 2nd day in the process and that never happend I had to call them back! So I was hesitant to wait for another call back but I did. In an hour the guy called...we went through my problem and he said he needed to d oa little research and could he call me back in another hour! So ok! What choice did I have?

He did..and he figured out that even with all of the expert help in the unintallation of the progeam that pieces had still been left in and that they were causing the problem. So he worked with me and sure enough we found somemore Photoshop CS4 portions still on my computer. He had me delete these and then we found my system worked ok now. Thank goodness.

I still had some issues with my desktop and the start up process with my computer has changes...nothing major..I have adapted to that but still a pain!

Adobe is like a virus and works it's way into your system and hangs on for dear life! And the Adobe customer service process is the glue that keeps the virus alive!

I will never put another Adobe product on my system again!

And by the way..I have a new system with more that adequate memory and should never have had this probelm!

Beware!!

Hard to read
I find this book hard to comprehend. I have tried to take my time reading this but have to continuously put it down. I have read three other photo books and have gotten more from them individually than this book could ever give. It is just too hard for me to understand. I would not recommend this for others personally.

Lightroom 2
If your into digital image editing before you use Lightroom 2 you need to read this wonderful book by Scott Kelby. He shows you all imaging editing steps that Lightroom 2 can do. It would be almost impossible to learn all the nuances of this software without reading this detailed book.

Great books !
These books are fantastic. There even more helpful if you have a Canon or Nikon. You'll pick up tips that will help you as you want to improve your photography. Everything is practical and hands on. It's fun reading. I dogtagged and earmarked many pages for re referencing. It's from the pros to you. Nothing technical, just here's how you do it so go give it a try. I highly recommend these books for your photo library.