nickwordsworth

I have a relatively old, but ok spec'd PC GIGABYTE Mother board with a 1GHz Athlon Processor 512Mb RAM AGP 8MB graphics Creative Vibra 16 sound CDRW and CDR All I use it for is storing MP3s, the odd bit of word/excel type stuff, and hopefully when it's up and running again, i may use it to record dvds and video by fitting a hardware encoder/tv card. I spent three hours last night trying to reload Windows 98SE after it died on me. I eventually got fed up with the constant restarting and finding it still wouldn't work, swore that I need to change to Linux. However, all my data is backed up on my Archos 20Gb MiniHD. Having had a quick look via goolge, it appears that there are some issues relating to this working in Linux. Will Linux work with my portable HD or do I have to spend money on hardware etc. I'm a bit tight for cash at the moment and would prefer to go for a labour intesive, cash poor solution!

I want a machine I can use for a PVR and doing the odd bit of website up[censored] etc. I have never used linux before, but am told it will be a system that does not crash, as opposed to 98SE which I run now. However, I am keen to be able to run certain games which will require Windows - Age of Empires for example. My questions are therefore: Do I need a dual boot, and if so what form of Linux is best? If not, what software will I need with what type of Linux to let me play the Windows games? Does anyone know of any good PVR software? My system is 1GHz Duron on a Gigabyte 71XE4 board 512 MB SDRam Vibra 16 Soundblaster CDRW & CD ROM I'm about to get a 120GB HD, TV Tuner, TV Out video card and DVDRW etc but I want to know if the Linux switch is viable before buying it all! Cheers Nick