Building a PC for internet portal

Bloodnut · Aug 8, 2008

I just had my second fairly expensive computer eaten by a virus. I'm not incredibly computer savvy, but I limp along and am going to try to restore that system w/o losing all the data on it. If I can do that, I'm unplugging it from the net and getting another system to be used strictly for surfing. The idea being that if this one goes TU, I can nuke it and start over none the worse for wear.

I've got a broadband connection - cable modem may be in the future. I want enough horsepower in the new system to take full advantage of my available bandwidth. Aside from that, I want a stripped down system, both in terms of software and hardware. I want to put as little money as possible in this system while still achieving the goal of not having the PC as the chokepoint.

What do I neeed in terms of hardware and software to get where I want to be? Suggest an OS, RAM, and hard drive space. What's the minimum of each?

Thanks.

turkdc · Aug 8, 2008

Get a Mac. (And quit going to porn sites.) lol

Dr Jekell · Aug 8, 2008

Or just change from windows to Linux on your original box.

That way you don't have to buy a new box & you gain a drastically reduced risk to virus's etc.

You may or may not be able to retrieve your files depending on what virus/worm/Trojan etc it has been infected with as there may be a removal tool for it, or on the other hand your files may have been scrambled into incomprehensible junk.

If you can access the internet still you can try Trend Micro House Call

Fallingwater · Aug 8, 2008

Mac and Linux aren't for everybody.

Bloodnut said:
If I can do that, I'm unplugging it from the net and getting another system to be used strictly for surfing. The idea being that if this one goes TU, I can nuke it and start over none the worse for wear.

Having a backup computer is a wise decision.
Even wiser is to do backups of your data. Even if you don't get viruses, your hard drive(s) will eventually die, and you want to have a copy of your data when (not if) that happens.

Aside from that, I want a stripped down system, both in terms of software and hardware. I want to put as little money as possible in this system while still achieving the goal of not having the PC as the chokepoint.

Get something second-hand off eBay; anything above 1ghz should do fine even for flash video. You can use WinXP, taking care to disable some useless features (such as the themes), but you want a decent amount of ram for that (512 megs at least); a better idea for old systems is Windows FLP, which is basically a lightened version of XP. My experience with it so far is that it works quite well at its intended purpose.

As for HD space... well, ideally too much is never enough, but old PCs have old motherboards, and old motherboards often have their own ideas about how large a drive can be before they'll freak out. If you play it carefully and stick a 80-to-120GB drive in there, everything should work fine.

The whole system (screen not included) should cost you way less than $100, and there are plenty of already assembled computers with these specs on eBay, which will save you the hassle of building it yourself (not that it's hard, really).

Alternatively, get yo' *** to the nearest computer store and ask them to build you the cheapest computer they can with new hardware. The result will cost you more, and will in any case be overpowered for what you need, but all the components will be new and under warranty, if you care about such things. Some countries' laws require system builders to include an OS in any computer they sell; if that's the case where you live, ask to have Linux pre-installed, even if you don't want it. You can then nuke the drive and install what Windows flavour you prefer.

One thing though: for the love of all that is sweet and pure, PLEASE don't get a pre-made compaq, dell or any other big-brand system. They always use proprietary hardware that makes it hard to service them and pre-fill the hard disk with crap.

greenLED · Aug 8, 2008

Do you have antivirus software installed and up to date?
Do you have spyware/adware killers installes and up to date?
Does your setup have an adequate firewall?

If you don't have all those things in place, you'll continue to get your computer infested with all sorts of crap.

There are plenty of free software that will keep your system free of crap and running smoothly without you having to build a dedicated web machine.

TigerhawkT3 · Aug 8, 2008

Fallingwater said:
Mac and Linux aren't for everybody.

Having a backup computer is a wise decision.
Even wiser is to do backups of your data. Even if you don't get viruses, your hard drive(s) will eventually die, and you want to have a copy of your data when (not if) that happens.

Get something second-hand off eBay; anything above 1ghz should do fine even for flash video. You can use WinXP, taking care to disable some useless features (such as the themes), but you want a decent amount of ram for that (512 megs at least); a better idea for old systems is Windows FLP, which is basically a lightened version of XP. My experience with it so far is that it works quite well at its intended purpose.

As for HD space... well, ideally too much is never enough, but old PCs have old motherboards, and old motherboards often have their own ideas about how large a drive can be before they'll freak out. If you play it carefully and stick a 80-to-120GB drive in there, everything should work fine.

The whole system (screen not included) should cost you way less than $100, and there are plenty of already assembled computers with these specs on eBay, which will save you the hassle of building it yourself (not that it's hard, really).

Alternatively, get yo' *** to the nearest computer store and ask them to build you the cheapest computer they can with new hardware. The result will cost you more, and will in any case be overpowered for what you need, but all the components will be new and under warranty, if you care about such things. Some countries' laws require system builders to include an OS in any computer they sell; if that's the case where you live, ask to have Linux pre-installed, even if you don't want it. You can then nuke the drive and install what Windows flavour you prefer.

One thing though: for the love of all that is sweet and pure, PLEASE don't get a pre-made compaq, dell or any other big-brand system. They always use proprietary hardware that makes it hard to service them and pre-fill the hard disk with crap.

+1 on all of this.

I replaced the HDD on my sister's Dell a few weeks ago (and had to resort to looking at the manual online). One of the screws holding the HDD tray is accessed from the underside of the case! I had to put the machine on its side to get at it. I mean, who builds a castle with no floor, right? :poke:

BIGIRON · Aug 8, 2008

The the geeks around here have recently converted me to Linux. I like it so much, I may become evangelical. Getting it all sorted out on an older back-up machine before I consider taking my primary machines to it.

Unless you have some reason (like work compatability - which I had) to stay with windows, I'd sure try it out. And you can try it without taking down or even modifying your windows system

Nitroz · Aug 8, 2008

Use a program called Deep Freeze. If something trashes the system you just reboot and it is back to normal. The only way something is installed is when you turn deep freeze off, install the software, and then turn the deep freeze back on before surfing again. It runs
on the task bar near the clock.

Fallingwater · Aug 9, 2008

greenLED said:
Do you have antivirus software installed and up to date?
Do you have spyware/adware killers installes and up to date?
Does your setup have an adequate firewall?

If you don't have all those things in place, you'll continue to get your computer infested with all sorts of crap.

Personally I've never seen much need for a firewall in a home computer, and whenever I tried installing one anyway I always found it incredibly annoying.
I did, however, have up-to-date virus and spyware protection.

Nitroz: DeepFreeze is very interesting, I may install it myself. Just one question: does it prevent ANY modification at all, including simple file saving and program options, or does it only restrict deeper changes such as software installation?

Nitroz · Aug 9, 2008

Fallingwater said:
Personally I've never seen much need for a firewall in a home computer, and whenever I tried installing one anyway I always found it incredibly annoying.
I did, however, have up-to-date virus and spyware protection.

Nitroz: DeepFreeze is very interesting, I may install it myself. Just one question: does it prevent ANY modification at all, including simple file saving and program options, or does it only restrict deeper changes such as software installation?

It is very nice!

It will allow you to have a thawed or unsecure partition to save files. However, if you want to make changes to the system you will have to unthaw the computer, which will require and re-boot, make your changes and then when finished just re-boot and it will lock the computer down again.

greenLED · Aug 9, 2008

Fallingwater said:
Personally I've never seen much need for a firewall in a home computer...

You're right, I've never found them useful. Anyway, my point was, the OP doesn't need to go to the extreme of building a dedicated internet computer. Without basic "safety" software they'll continue to get infected over and over and over again! Having a dedicated internet computer is not the solution to the problem they presented. Any computer will get zombied if it lacks minimum safety measures while online.

Starting from a clean install, add 15-20 minutes of download and install time of SpyBot, AdAware, FireFox with AdBlock & NoScript, and a free Antivirus program will provide a long time of hassle-free operation with their current computer.

My 2 cents, of course.

RyanA · Aug 9, 2008

A virtual machine is an interesting but complicated looking solution. If you try it let me know how it works out. Better yet make a guide:candle::laughing:

KingSmono · Aug 9, 2008

One option is to use a "Virtual PC" for internet surfing... (free download from microsoft's website) Once you've configured the Virtual PC the way you like, just make a back-up copy of the Virtual PC files, and if anything ever happens (virus, trojan, etc) just reload the back-up files, and bam, you're back to the point where you copied the back-up files. PLUS, anything that happens to your Virtual PC won't effect your regular computer in any way.

Note: a Virtual PC "shares" system resources with whatever PC it's loaded on... so it won't run very well unless the PC it's loaded on has sufficient hardware specs.

matrixshaman · Aug 9, 2008

Returnil is another program similar to Deep Freeze. You might want to look at it too if such an idea sounds good for your problem. You've also got Linux versions that run strictly from a CD so they can't be changed by any amount of surfing. Lots of possibilities but firewalls and anti-virus, antispyware can help a lot and Sanboxing your browser as well as a program like AnVir and Asquared can probably cover almost all your bases.

sunspot · Aug 9, 2008

What is Sandboxing?

Bloodnut · Aug 9, 2008

I appreciate the responses. First - The virus that that me did not come from a porn site, rather a church website - go figure.

Second, I have/had Symantec AV running along with AdWare - didn't help. My issue with AV software is sorting thru what's good and what's no so good.

I look at the rest of the suggestions. Thanks all.

Fallingwater · Aug 10, 2008

Nitroz said:
It will allow you to have a thawed or unsecure partition to save files. However, if you want to make changes to the system you will have to unthaw the computer, which will require and re-boot, make your changes and then when finished just re-boot and it will lock the computer down again.

Oh. The reboots are a big no-no for me, I install stuff way too often for this to be practical.
Thanks anyway

greenLED said:
Anyway, my point was, the OP doesn't need to go to the extreme of building a dedicated internet computer.

Having a second system is, IMO, always good. It allows for greater freedom of action. If, for instance, you're - say - replacing your CPU, and something goes wrong and the system gets zorked, you have a second one that'll allow you to look up your problem on the net and find a solution.
Even just knowing that you have two computers will make it easier to work on them: in any case, you still have something to fall back on.
The cost of a second-hand backup system is very low, and lower still if you don't get another screen and run the whole thing with a KVM (Keyboard Video Mouse) switch, so there's really not much reason not to have one.

Starting from a clean install, add 15-20 minutes of download and install time of SpyBot, AdAware, FireFox with AdBlock & NoScript

I agree on Spybot, FF and the plugins, but AdAware has been disappointing for a while. If you need another antispyware, I hear Prevx is good.

RyanA said:
A virtual machine is an interesting but complicated looking solution.

It's not at all complicated. It adds some complication, but it's mostly in configuring it, and once it's done it should work just fine.
The emulation eats efficiency though; I'm not sure how fast a VirtualBox system is compared to its host, but it's bound to be slower.

Personally, I keep a minimal VirtualBox XP installation to test potentially dangerous files on before I let them run on the main system, but I do my work on the host system directly.

I do, however, have a complete backup of my hard drive's contents, so even in the worst case scenario (completely borked system, all data lost) a Windows reinstall and two-hour file copy will get me back in business.

I could do a ghost image of the system, but I have to reinstall so rarely that many updates come out in the meantime, so I might as well just install an already-updated version rather than use the old image, update everything and re-ghost the whole thing.

Bloodnut said:
Second, I have/had Symantec AV running along with AdWare - didn't help. My issue with AV software is sorting thru what's good and what's no so good.

AdAware isn't too good, as already mentioned. As for the antivirus, I'd suggest AVG free for Windows XP, and Avira Antivir for Windows FLP (AVG seems to be incompatible with FLP).

matrixshaman · Aug 10, 2008

sunspot said:
What is Sandboxing?

Take a look here as this will explain it better with pics and diagrams too:
Click here

RyanA · Aug 10, 2008

So is the transient storage located in the RAM or a specially partitioned virtual memory sector of the hard-drive? Or are both those assumptions completely wrong?:thinking:

carrot · Aug 10, 2008

If you can keep your work machine isolated and separate from the internet it is probably the best solution. Assuming you run Windows on the work machine, put something like CA Antivirus+Antispyware on it and periodically connect it to the internet to update the AV+AS software, add in Spybot S&D and Javacools Spyware Blaster and you effectively have a pretty safe machine. This way if you have to transfer files, etc to your work machine you are mostly safe, even if the files are contaminated.

You would be best suited with something like Linux or OSX for an internet box as they are much more secure than Windows and they are getting easier and cheaper too. An OSX machine starts at $600 now, for the Mac mini, and Linux preinstalled boxes can be had for $200 or more. Ubuntu Linux supports most common hardware setups and is an excellent choice if you manage to snag a cheap desktop from Dell or others. It is also very easy to install and getting easier and easier for non-techie users to work with. If you are building your own I would pick any cheap dual core processor (they're cheap enough, why not?) and beef up the RAM. For an internet-only machine, having more RAM will probably be the biggest requirement.

I agree that Faronics Deep Freeze is another good solution. Periodically making a Ghost image/snapshot of your hard drive also gives you a quick and fairly easy way to restore your computer if something should go horribly wrong.

All of my real work is done on my Mac. I play games and browse the internet on my PC. I would use my Mac for everything but it is aging and the PC was a cheaper stopgap solution in the meanwhile.

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