Dude, I'm Gettin' a Dell

John Biltz dumped this in news:vt0fc.3214$L75.2019
@fed1read06 on 13 Apr 2004:

Before you plug your new
computer into the internet make sure you install a firewall or turn on
the firewall inside XP. Its not the best one, only blocks incoming not
outgoing, but it will do until you can download a free one.

I recently got cable modem and with my latest laptop addition (all done at
the same time) with a wireless NIC, and added a wireless router (very
cheap!!) which has its own firewall and have networked my desktop and
laptop to share printer and file shares on the desktop. No malicious
traffic can get to my internal network (that I've seen yet; I run McAfee
firewall but "allow all traffic" just to log it). With no external
services running (like HTTP or FTP) I think it's safe. Opinions?

--
Cheryl

"Sherry " wrote in message
...
Whoa. I'm getting a new computer for my birthday. I'm so excited. (Even
though
it's just a cheapo Dell)....BUT I now have a circa 1996 Packard Bell, with
Windows 95. I can't open half the websites people post, and if I do, it
takes
forever (if the thing doesn't just lock up). Forget animated things, and
the
sound is iffy.

All I use a computer for is internet surfing and keeping up the little
mailing
list/newsletter labels for the Humane Society newsletter, so I never could
really justify buying a new one.

Does anyone know, is there any reason I should buy the upgrade and get
Windows
XP Professional instead of Windows XP home?

Sherry

Greetings,

the difference between XP home and professional is that xp pro has the
necessary extensions for complex networking that the office environment
requires and a few other things.

Xp home is more than sufficient for a standalone computer in the home

the most important thing about Xp is that it requires MEMORY (ie RAM) you
will need at the minimum 128mb Ram and preferable 256mb Ram.

also to stop the viruses and such i would recommend Norton Internet Security
2004 as one of the most complete packages for both firewall/viruses/parental
control/spam solutions

hope that this helps

regards

Trelling
=^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^=
In a world where data is coin of the realm, and
transmissions are guarded by no better sentinels
than man-made codes and corruptible devices,
there is no such thing as a secret.



Dr Kio Masada
"This Alien Shore"

"Sherry " wrote in message
...
Whoa. I'm getting a new computer for my birthday. I'm so excited. (Even
though
it's just a cheapo Dell)....BUT I now have a circa 1996 Packard Bell, with
Windows 95. I can't open half the websites people post, and if I do, it
takes
forever (if the thing doesn't just lock up). Forget animated things, and
the
sound is iffy.

All I use a computer for is internet surfing and keeping up the little
mailing
list/newsletter labels for the Humane Society newsletter, so I never could
really justify buying a new one.

Does anyone know, is there any reason I should buy the upgrade and get
Windows
XP Professional instead of Windows XP home?

Sherry

Greetings,

the difference between XP home and professional is that xp pro has the
necessary extensions for complex networking that the office environment
requires and a few other things.

Xp home is more than sufficient for a standalone computer in the home

the most important thing about Xp is that it requires MEMORY (ie RAM) you
will need at the minimum 128mb Ram and preferable 256mb Ram.

also to stop the viruses and such i would recommend Norton Internet Security
2004 as one of the most complete packages for both firewall/viruses/parental
control/spam solutions

hope that this helps

regards

Trelling
=^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^=
In a world where data is coin of the realm, and
transmissions are guarded by no better sentinels
than man-made codes and corruptible devices,
there is no such thing as a secret.



Dr Kio Masada
"This Alien Shore"

Sherry wrote:

Whoa. I'm getting a new computer for my birthday. I'm so excited. (Even though
it's just a cheapo Dell)....BUT I now have a circa 1996 Packard Bell, with
Windows 95. I can't open half the websites people post, and if I do, it takes
forever (if the thing doesn't just lock up). Forget animated things, and the
sound is iffy.

All I use a computer for is internet surfing and keeping up the little mailing
list/newsletter labels for the Humane Society newsletter, so I never could
really justify buying a new one.

Does anyone know, is there any reason I should buy the upgrade and get Windows
XP Professional instead of Windows XP home?

A friend of mine told me the Professional version is more secure, but
the salesperson at Fry's Electronics said that's only true if your
computer is linked to a network. He said if you just have one computer,
the Home version is amply secure, and quite a bit less expensive.

Sherry wrote:

Whoa. I'm getting a new computer for my birthday. I'm so excited. (Even though
it's just a cheapo Dell)....BUT I now have a circa 1996 Packard Bell, with
Windows 95. I can't open half the websites people post, and if I do, it takes
forever (if the thing doesn't just lock up). Forget animated things, and the
sound is iffy.

All I use a computer for is internet surfing and keeping up the little mailing
list/newsletter labels for the Humane Society newsletter, so I never could
really justify buying a new one.

Does anyone know, is there any reason I should buy the upgrade and get Windows
XP Professional instead of Windows XP home?

A friend of mine told me the Professional version is more secure, but
the salesperson at Fry's Electronics said that's only true if your
computer is linked to a network. He said if you just have one computer,
the Home version is amply secure, and quite a bit less expensive.

I did not like XP. In fact it drove me to Macs
but I haven't used it in a long time. A lot of people do and I am sure
it is better now than when it first came out.

I have always used Macs at work. Beginning with the old SE, and ending with a
G4.. (I finally gave up because of health reasons & quit my job). If I were
still working, or working with design & graphics,,, I'd have sprung for a Mac.
Thanks for the firewall tip. Yeah, I bet I will be amazed. I used to joke that
new continents would form before web sites open on this thing.
So...look out. April 23 you all will eitther see a much faster me, or no me at
all if I can't manage to figure out setting the thing up.

Ssherry

Sherry

I did not like XP. In fact it drove me to Macs
but I haven't used it in a long time. A lot of people do and I am sure
it is better now than when it first came out.

I have always used Macs at work. Beginning with the old SE, and ending with a
G4.. (I finally gave up because of health reasons & quit my job). If I were
still working, or working with design & graphics,,, I'd have sprung for a Mac.
Thanks for the firewall tip. Yeah, I bet I will be amazed. I used to joke that
new continents would form before web sites open on this thing.
So...look out. April 23 you all will eitther see a much faster me, or no me at
all if I can't manage to figure out setting the thing up.

Ssherry

Sherry

JoJo wrote:

Sherry,

I have XP home edition, no problems works fine. Not sure what the
difference is in professional - except more $$. You can probably get away
w/home edition.

Be prepared, you'll be in for a bit of a shock getting used to XP compared
to 95. It is completely different than most upgrades microsoft has come out
with. You can set XP up for different users which is kinda cool if more
than one of you uses the pc. (it saves your settings - thing such as your
background etc).

Welcome to the *new millenium* My desktop is in desperate need of an
upgrade - getting new motherboard, memory and processor - I want SPEED!

Guess I'm not the only one that's discovering an upgrade is necessary!
More and more, when I try to do things like ordering merchandise from
web-sites, I've been getting "Javascript error" and my screen freezes.
Someone told me it's because my browser is too old (I'm using Netscape
4.79). Only thing is, when I tried to download Netscape 7.1, I
discovered that most of the new software requires a minimum of 64MB RAM,
and mine computer has only 32MB! (Of course, that was a lot more than I
had before, but things in the computer wolrd change fast, and I bought
my Gateway in November, 1999.)

I've been thinking about a Dell - mainly because they claim they build
them for each individual. How do those of you who have one like it?
The guy at Fry's tried to talk me into one of their "built to order"
models, but what he recommended was over $1,000, and then he told me the
software was all in addition to that! Also, it came with a much fancier
keyboard than I want, a "laser" mouse instead of the standard kind, and
big fancy speakers when I never USE my computer for listening to
anything - so I would be paying for a lot of fancy hardware I don't
really need or want.

JoJo wrote:

Sherry,

I have XP home edition, no problems works fine. Not sure what the
difference is in professional - except more $$. You can probably get away
w/home edition.

Be prepared, you'll be in for a bit of a shock getting used to XP compared
to 95. It is completely different than most upgrades microsoft has come out
with. You can set XP up for different users which is kinda cool if more
than one of you uses the pc. (it saves your settings - thing such as your
background etc).

Welcome to the *new millenium* My desktop is in desperate need of an
upgrade - getting new motherboard, memory and processor - I want SPEED!

Guess I'm not the only one that's discovering an upgrade is necessary!
More and more, when I try to do things like ordering merchandise from
web-sites, I've been getting "Javascript error" and my screen freezes.
Someone told me it's because my browser is too old (I'm using Netscape
4.79). Only thing is, when I tried to download Netscape 7.1, I
discovered that most of the new software requires a minimum of 64MB RAM,
and mine computer has only 32MB! (Of course, that was a lot more than I
had before, but things in the computer wolrd change fast, and I bought
my Gateway in November, 1999.)

I've been thinking about a Dell - mainly because they claim they build
them for each individual. How do those of you who have one like it?
The guy at Fry's tried to talk me into one of their "built to order"
models, but what he recommended was over $1,000, and then he told me the
software was all in addition to that! Also, it came with a much fancier
keyboard than I want, a "laser" mouse instead of the standard kind, and
big fancy speakers when I never USE my computer for listening to
anything - so I would be paying for a lot of fancy hardware I don't
really need or want.

John Biltz wrote:

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 16:08:07 -0700, Cheryl wrote
(in article ):

itty (Sherry ) dumped this in
on 13 Apr 2004:

Does anyone know, is there any reason I should buy the upgrade and get
Windows XP Professional instead of Windows XP home?

Congrats! I just got a new Dell laptop and I paid the extra for XP pro.
That said, I'm familiar with both Pro and Home and you really don't need
pro. I only got it so I'd be consistent with my work computer and anything
I can do there, I can do here.

I would put the extra money into ram instead. Before you plug your new
computer into the internet make sure you install a firewall or turn on
the firewall inside XP. Its not the best one, only blocks incoming not
outgoing, but it will do until you can download a free one. You can get a
free antivirus as well. I did not like XP. In fact it drove me to Macs
but I haven't used it in a long time. A lot of people do and I am sure
it is better now than when it first came out. I doubt one is more stable
than the other, if it was they certainly would not admit it. But they
are the same platform and I can't imagine they would leave something out
that would hurt stability. XP has more features mainly for high end
users. You are going to be amazed how fast it is if you are using
something from 95.

I notice that there are several Anti-virus/anti-spam/anti-spyware
software packages available. I have NAV, because it came with my
computer (but only the anti-virus, not the whole works). Is Norton's
package the best? What about McAfee, which seems to offer more for a
bit less money?