If you've upgraded to Microsoft XP, then you've undoubtedly noticed an essential tool that's not included with the software - a decent, well-written manual. This leaves you with several options:

• You can search Microsoft's massive knowledge base for answers to your problems.
• You can go to your local bookstore and get confused by the myriad of titles that proclaim to be the "essential" guides to XP.
• You can muddle through on your own, using the often aggravating trial-and-error method to solve your problem.

Well, there's another way to go. A visit to www.missingmanuals.com can offer instant relief to headaches generated by mounting XP glitches.

David Pogue, a columnist for The New York Times and the genius behind the Missing Manual series of books, has adapted his easy-to-follow, humorous style of writing to help us survive our often-exasperating bouts with computer mania.

His latest contribution is "Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual" ($24.95) from Pogue Press, which is distributed by O'Reilly & Associates.

This is an extremely easy-to-follow guide to everything you need to know about Microsoft XP without insulting our intelligence, as we sometimes find in the "Idiots" or "Dummies" series of books, giving us step-by-step solutions to our problems.

Inside its covers, you will find everything you'd expect in a software manual, including tips for installing software and hardware, a guide to the XP desktop, and how to build a network.

In his introduction, Pogue explains that he wrote the book "to serve as the manual that should have accompanied Windows XP" and to provide "step-by-step instructions for using almost every Windows feature, including those you may not even have quite understood, let alone mastered."

But the greatest feature is that this book will never be out of date. Pogue has created an Errata page on his Web site for users to submit corrections or suggest additions to the book. He often uses these to update subsequent editions and posts them online for all of us to see, so we can stay current with the latest changes.

Other books in the Missing Manual series cover Dreamweaver MX, Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Mac OS X, among others. You can also purchase CDs containing software he mentions in these guides.

He's also looking for budding authors, so if you have a knack for training and can easily translate your abilities to print, you could have a shot at writing the next book in the series. Information on becoming the next David Pogue can be found on the Missing Manuals Web site.

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