Frankenbox 2.3: The ReDesign

[oneirophrenia]

So, it looks like my Sony Mainframe is back to normal. I reinstalled my printer, scanner, SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum soundcard, as well as MS Office and Adobe Creative Suite 2, updated everything, and set up Media Center again without a single flaw. I just need to go through now and weed out unneeded software such as AOL and the Netscape ISP crap that came with the computer, and then I can install the remainder of the software that I use all the time--25+ audio programs, etc.--and we should be back up to snuff.

Normally, I'm the type of person who likes to streamline his software experience as much as possible, getting rid of anything I don't use much. But...I just realized something: I don't have the fucking TIME anymore to constantly weed out stuff. There are some software packages (like Google Desktop) that I'm just not putting back on this machine because I use them so rarely, but...there's a lot of media stuff already installed on this machine that, even if I don't use it at all, isn't eating up memory or really don't much of anything. I have 100gb of HD space to kill--soon to be 300gb when I add two more 100gb SATA drives to the RAID. I might as well just leave that shite around until I need it.

Still, there is some stuff, like AOL and whatnot, that I have absolutely no use for whatsoever, so that stuff goes as usual. But anything dealing with media editing....Hell, I technically paid for it, so I might as well just keep it. *shrug*

I actually spent some time today tweaking my soundcard's many EQ and Dolby Surround functions to make it sound REALLY freakin' great now. I can't wait to get all my music back. To avoid another $1900+ dollars of recovery, I'm going to back it up five times in five separate locations, and play the shit CONSTANTLY to make it damnwell earn back the cost of recovery. My Comateens mp3s BETTER STILL BE THERE, or I will just say fuck it and become a serial killer at last.

I picked up something really cool for the machine at Staples yesterday, however: an 800dpi wireless mouse to help out with graphic design and stuff (the pointing resolution of this thing is really impressive), and an AuraVision eluminX keyboard. It's black with glowing blue keys. I didn't so much pick it up for looks as for sheer functionality--my house is so dark, I actually need the keys lit so I can see the fuckers. Still, it DOES look really cool, too. I see they come in different colors, too: I'm leaning toward picking up an extra one in glowing RED eventually, too, just to have a cool-ass backup. Most places online sell them for, like, $70...but I paid $25 and found another place online that sells them for that, too. $25 is NOT a bad price for glow-in-the-dark keys.

Now, I need to finish grading and take a bath. Then sleep. Yay.

Comments

[tlttlotd.livejournal.com]

Might I suggest considering an IDE RAID card and a couple of drives to set up a mirror? That way, if you blow a drive, you'll have at least one left until you can get the array back up to full strength. A lot of motherboards have RAID built into them these days, and you can get aftermarket cards for less than $100us. I've used Promise IDE RAID HBAs in servers for years, and their performance and reliability is considerable.

[beeporama.livejournal.com]

...or if money's an issue, you should be able to set up a software RAID 5 with three drives. Given all your hardware troubles, Pegritz, it would seem like a really good idea.