New computer to be up and running today

October 20th, 2006, 12:33 PM

Two or three weeks ago the CPU fan in my computer got so plugged with dust that the processor was overheating. It started to hang up every time I booted up as well as other dopey things. By the time I discovered the problem and vacuumed it out, the processor was fried. For the last couple of weeks, I've been squeezing in and using my wife's computer when the withdrawal symptoms get too much...

I just bought a whole new computer. Included is, a Pentium D 820 processor, a gig of RAM, a 250 gig hard drive, a new DVD/CD burner, a graphics bundle and an XPL10 19" LCD monitor, as well as a HP printer.

I just have to decide on the operating system. I've been using Windows 98 for a few years now and I've gotten kind of used to it. I will either go with the newest XP or Linix. I had Linix on a back up computer but I donated that computer to my grandson.

October 20th, 2006, 12:42 PM

Congrats on your new pc Juan, it sounds like a decent machine.

Have you ever setup a dual boot system? This would allow you to run both Linux & Windows on the same harddrive via partitioning. .. Also, Microsoft Vista will be released in Jan, you picked a good time to get a new pc.

October 20th, 2006, 12:55 PM

Thanks Durka......I will definitely talk to you about a dual boot system. I tried it a few years ago and I didn't put the systems in in the right order and as you know, windows is very territorial. I was pulling my hair out in short order.

October 20th, 2006, 12:59 PM

Yeah, windows is picky about where it installs to. Generally, it needs to be on the first partition otherwise it messes up the boot.ini file.

October 20th, 2006, 01:11 PM

Generally speaking you need a reason to have a dual boot system.


Personally I would simply buy the latest XP OPS and install it.

You might consider buying a second hard drive though for putting files on.....I would hate to hear you woke up one moring to find your only hard drive failed and all 100 gigs of dirty pics were gone forever!

October 20th, 2006, 01:53 PM

The reason I might want a dual boot, is that I want to improve my proficiency with Linux. It would probably be as easy to find a motherboard and processor for my old computer and use that for Linux.

God, does anyone save dirty pix to their hard drive? I get enough of that crap in the 60 or 70 pieces of spam I get every morning.

October 20th, 2006, 02:00 PM

Juan, another way you can practise up on your linux is by running it from a "live disc". You won't get all the features of a full install, it will allow you to do the basics though (command line, UI, web browser etc).

As for dirty pix, I keep all mine on an encrypted volume on a external hard drive. (joking)

October 20th, 2006, 02:52 PM

DurkaDurka

Have you tried DSL(Damn Small Linux)? It loads right into your RAM. It even includes a copy of Firefox as a browser, as well as a word processor and a few other things. It's incredibly fast as well.

The Linux I've almost settled on is the latest Slackware version. It sort of looks like windows----gives me a feeling of security...

October 20th, 2006, 03:14 PM

Juan, I haven't tried DSl, I have used Ubuntu live disc though, similar I imagine.

I ran slackware Linux for about 2 years alongside windows. Slackware is one of the older linux distros, it is a rock solid operating system. Slackware is not the most user friendly linux though, when you install it, it is all text based, no fancy gui. Some of the options when you first install can be rather daunting, I would checkout their forums before you do the install. You could also install "Wine" when you are up and running, it will allow you to run various windows programs natively within Linux, in case you must have Free Cell or Notepad

October 22nd, 2006, 12:16 PM

Well I'm up and running. I feel a little silly having over 270 gigs of free space on the hard drive. My previous hard drive was 30 gig and I never used more than a quarter of that and I've added that hard drive to the new system as well. It is hard to believe that I once bought a 20 meg hard drive for over four hundred dollars. I guess I'll have to get into movie downloads.

October 26th, 2006, 05:44 PM

You can never have enough hard drive space Juan, I currently have 800gb of storage space. If you store dvd images on your drives, the space will disappear quick.

October 29th, 2006, 09:41 AM

DurkaDurka

Do you download movies? Do I need a bigger hard drive to download movies? I've been reading a little about Bit Torrent-----seems complicated.

November 22nd, 2006, 07:03 PM

So are you joking about the encrypted volume or the external hard drive?

November 22nd, 2006, 07:24 PM

If your going to keep the movies, put them to a DVD disk and delete them from your machine. 250 gigs is lots of drive space.

November 22nd, 2006, 07:48 PM

Thanks, So I've found out. Most of the movies I've downloaded so far have been less than a gig. Hell I could have gotten by with my old 30 gig hd but the new one is noticably faster.

November 22nd, 2006, 11:36 PM


I'm too lazy to encrypt anything and I have enough passwords to remember as it is.

November 22nd, 2006, 11:37 PM

I guess you are downloading avi's, wmv's or divx if the file size is that small? If you download a cloned image of a dvd you are looking at about 4.5gb.