the HP POS (ongoing)

POS stands for Piece of Shite, by the way.. this name was given after BSOD was remedied only by an improptu wipe-n-reload. couldn't get into Windows to back anything up. I lost *all* of Taryn's baby pics. pissed.

right now, it is not allowed to be connected the the internet. Time Warner shuts down our access due to spam or virus sending, and it only happens when this thing is connected. the last time it may have been the PS3, during all that Sony hack BS, it hasn't been reconnected either.

anyhoo.. this is what I'm working with. obviously, a compete internal cleaning and hard drive wipe needs to take place above all else.

HP Pavilion a1245c
AMD Athlon64 3700+ (2.19GHz)
ATI Graphics
Windows XP Media Center Edition
3GB RAM
250GB hard drive
Litescribe DVD+- Writer (hasn't worked for two years)
DVD-ROM drive
Multi-card reader
3x USB 2.0, 4x USB 1.1
Firewire 1394


Mumma got her command central.. I have space for homework and the laptop now (and feel like I'm in the same room as everyone else), the desk with the Mac stays untouched. the HP sits on the bottom shelf of the Mac desk, and when I'm ready to play, I'll be able to easily drag the keyboard, mouse and monitor up onto my laptop area.

Ubuntu is happening... but will it be a dual boot? probably.. it can handle Win7. wouldn't it be great if we could run Windows from a Live CD?

also thinking about moving the 1TB drive to the HP via firewire to make it a true network drive- the other Windows machines have a hard time connecting- Ubuntu of course is fine, and the Mini can connect to any of them, and if it is connected to a Win box instead of the Mac, the PS3 will be able to access it without me fiddling, which Andy prefers I don't.
      just can't remember which way the format can go.. either format Win first for Mac and Win compat, or the other way around.. we will see. and we will see if I get ambitious to fix it..

edit: cool.. I ordered a 10-port USB hub for charging reasons, and where it is mounted will be perfect for switching from the laptop to HP for the keyboard and mouse. the monitor will be the only thing to haul up to the desk.
      I have a few old USB keyboards kicking around, but need something smaller to fit on the keyboard tray with the mouse.. problem solved with this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YGVDDU
      I was looking for a wireless keyboard, but with the issues I have with just a wireless mouse.. didn't want any more interference than I already had. *and* this keyboard has a number lock key- solves the problem with my numeric keypad that goes with the mouse. I'd hardly use it, but at least now I can!

edit: the number lock key on the keyboard does *not* allow the numberpad to work. but it is also a calculator.. still has a useful function.