Any Recommended Computer Book for Beginners?

[jakeny]

Do you guys know of any computer books for beginners/dummies?

Like a book that ltierally starts from scratch and assumes you know nothing or the bare minimum about computers? After posting a few questions on these forums about viruses, I realize the people are just talking way over my head sometimes with terms I don't know.

Never been a computer person, since I'm a social sciences student, but kind of curious now.

---------- Post added at 05:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:15 PM ----------

Oh, btw, didn't mean the book had to be about viruses. I'm talking literally everything! Like what the CPU works/what it is/does....how routers work and interacts with other components, etc. etc. I just would like a better worknig knowleedge of computers in general (from the perspective of a non-tech person).

 

[BK_123]

Google is your friend, You will find tons of information for various things to do with how computers work..

 

[~mr mixx~]

Also another idea is to go to your local library and check out their books on computers. They will have tons of books on every subject computers.

 

[ssc456]

Not being a fan of books myself I can't recommend any but what I will say is I think you will find it difficult to cover such a hugely varied subject.

I would recommend you look at 1 area to start off with and see how it takes you.

You can look at:
Hardware in general
CPU architecture
Software in general
Software management
Software Developing
Networking

just to name a few.

 

[BK_123]

This is a very good site Tech How Tos & Tips | eHow that explains things really good and simple and lots of useful guides.

 

[BikerEcho]

you could also just jump into it and try it out instead of reading too much about it.
That's how i gained most of my IT knowledge.
Also as BK stated. Google is your friend. If you are wondering how some stuff works, then don't hesitate to look it up on google.

 

[_michaelm]

http://www.howstuffworks.com is an excellent website for this sort of thing. Once you've got the basics covered, I'd recommend listening to some of the Security Now episodes on computer architecture - very good explanations on this kind of thing! I'm not going to list the episodes you should check out, because there are way too many essential ones. But basically, start at the beginning (scroll to the bottom of that page and pick the oldest year) and if I remember correctly there are some early ones on NAT, wireless, ethernet and such which offer very clear and detailed explanations (text transcripts are available at that site too, and video from http://twit.tv/sn if you prefer a visual medium rather than audio.
Enjoy your learning, I hope you get what you want out of it.

 

[jakeny]

I'll have to check out that site tonight. Cool man, thanks again!