My New PC

It's all over bar the shouting... I have made the last few purchases in the form of a DVD writer, a 500GB SATA drive and a SATA cable. Not only that but I even managed to update the BIOS on my motherboard which should make it compatible with more CPU's most notably dual-core which will probably be my next venture - but probably not this year...
If you have an older PC it might be worth searching for a BIOS update for your motherboard before buying a CPU upgrade. These are usually to be found on the manufacturers website, and in my case included an update application (which was just as well because the one that came on the CDROM with the mobo didn't work properly...).
I am just waiting for the last bits of kit to arrive before closing up the compartment and installing the system in my 'office' at home. The first tasks for this new system will be to try some more VHS to DVD conversions using some new software that I recently acquired. Then gradually I will transfer things like my email applications and some of my more commonly used programs onto the new system. I have gone for 'Open Office' rather than installing MS Office on this new PC (My copy of MS Office is ancient and I don't want to buy a new one) so I will probably keep Excel spreadsheets (with Macro's) on my older PC. I have considered going back to Mozilla Thunderbird on the new PC, but will probably try importing my old Outlook settings first, if that doesn't work out, I may as well plump for Thunderbird. The 'new' PC has XP Pro on it simply because that is the only OS at my disposal and I am not brave enough to go Linux just yet..
My existing PC has 2GB RAM in it, as has my new system, but the new one will take 4GB although I read somewhere that in 32bit mode, it may only recognise 3.5GB(??). I will probably move a stick of RAM from the older machine to the newer one just to give it that extra bit of ooomph! and look to get another stick or two at a later date (Paypal currently stands at just under £3.00). Fortunately there have been enough funds entering my PayPal account recently to keep the project going, last month's income report to follow shortly..