Dan Gookin - PCs For Dummies

PCs FOR DUMmIES 12TH EDITION by Dan GookinPCs For Dummies, 12th Edition Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NOREPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESSOF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDINGWITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Control Number: 2012956406 ISBN 978-1-118-19734-9 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-23261-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-26534-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-22803-6 (ebk) Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 About the Author Dan Gookin has been writing about technology for over 25 years. He combines his love of writing with his gizmo fascination to create books that are informative, entertaining, and not boring. Having written more than 130 titles with millions of copies in print translated into over 30 languages, Dan can attest that his method of crafting computer tomes seems to work. Perhaps his most famous title is the original DOS For Dummies, published in 1991.

It became the worlds fastest-selling computer book, at one time moving more copies per week than the New York Times #1 bestseller (though as a reference book, it could not be listed on the NYT bestseller list). From that book spawned the entire line of For Dummies books, which remains a publishing phenomenon to this day. Dans most popular titles include Android Phones For Dummies, Word ForDummies, and Laptops For Dummies. He also maintains the vast and helpful website, www.wambooli.com. Dan holds a degree in Communications/Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego. Presently, he lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he serves as Councilman for the City of Coeur dAlene. Publishers Acknowledgments Were proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com. Publishers Acknowledgments Were proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com.

For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions and EditorialComposition ServicesProject Editor: Susan Pink Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond Acquisitions Editor: Katie Mohr Layout and Graphics: Carrie A. Cesavice, Copy Editor: Susan Pink Melanee Habig, Amy Hassos, (Previous Edition: Rebecca Whitney) Joyce Haughey Technical Editor: James Kelly Proofreaders: John Greenough, Nancy Rapoport Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services Editorial Assistant: Annie Sullivan Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case Cover Photo: Tommy Ingberg/iStockphoto Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Publishing and Editorial for Technology DummiesRichard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C.

Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer DummiesKathleen Nebenhaus, Vice President and Executive Publisher Composition ServicesDebbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................. 1 vi PCs For Dummies, 12th EditionTable of Contents vii viii PCs For Dummies, 12th EditionTable of Contents ix x PCs For Dummies, 12th EditionTable of Contents xi xii PCs For Dummies, 12th EditionTable of Contents xiii xiv PCs For Dummies, 12th Edition Index ....................................................................... 329 Introduction I ts been ten years and 60 lbs. since I wrote the original