Does anybody know of a book that has the complete info on how a computer works - from what happens when you press the power button to turn it "On" to what happens when you Shut Down the computer? I am talking about detailed info on how things happen and why. For example, questions like... - When I press the power button, what is the bootup process that happens to make the operating system run? - What is the Master Boot Record and where is it? - Why are my CD-ROMs labled as "0" and "1" and how can I tell which one is which? - In the BIOS, what is the difference between IDE-0, IDE-1, IDE-2, etc.? A book that answers questions like that and explains why, not just gives the answer. Where did all you guys learn about computers? I had a roommate once that would go into sysedit on Win98 and tweek a bunch of stuff to make his computer run faster. When I would ask him what he was doing, he explained it, but so fast and in terms that I had never heard that I had no idea what he just told me. I guess it's kind of like explaining baseball or hockey to someone that doesn't know anything about it. We take things for granted that we know and expect everyone else to catch on quickly when we explain it to them. Anyhow, I digress... The closest thing I've seen to a book like that is an A+ Certification book, but I don't own one and when I saw it, I really didn't have the time to study it well. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The internet is the largest resource on the planet. Why buy a book?! Two words.... SEARCH ENGINE

This site is a good place to start: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/pc5.htm

they have books at local book stores the most common ones are called things like computers for dummies,i think that book is as basic as it gets.like the posts up above say u can type in search enegines what u wanna know and it will give you info.also this site if you wanna know somethings type in a question and search the old posts.but try the book computers for dummies it might help you with some of your questions. keltik

http://www.pcguide.com/topic.html (home page: http://www.pcguide.com) and scroll thru' the list. There is a section (very detailed...) that starts at: Introduction to the PC and goes on from there... And as already advised a trawl around the www will bring up many more similar sites. Otherwise a visit to your local (public) library, or 'those' at Barnes & Noble, Amazon etc... will provide some hard copy for you to browse - even buy?

Howcomputerswork.net I own a copy of what he offers and it is GREAT. Not really for A+ Certification students but for like the everyday computer user.

Thanks for the good replies here. I appreciate it!