OK, I finally got DSL.
So I'm thinking about bring my old Flight Sim PC on line. I've used it for the past 7 years just for flight sims and only off line campaigns. I did update WinXP with Service pk 2, maybe even 3, with a disk from this notebook. I also installed Microsoft Net Framework for some games I also use on it.
But no windows updates, no firewall, no explorer updates, nothing, ever.

My main concern is the HD is only 40GBs

Lian-Li PC65b blk Alumn Case
Corsair 550w PSU
ASUS P4P800 Deluxe MOBO - 865PE Chipset
PIV - 3.0 GHz/oc 3.4 GHz - 800FSB Hyperthreading
2GB of 'matched' Patriot SDRAM 3200LL DDR 400
NVIDIA XFX 7900GS DDR3 AGP 4X/8X
Santa Cruz - Turtle Beach sound card
40 GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
3.5 Floppy
19" NEC monitor
Harmon Kardon HK-395 speakers
LTB True 5.1 'surround sound' headphones
'Sony' 16xDVD/48xCD-ROM
'Lite-On' 24x10x40x CD-RW
56K PCI Modem
10/100 PCI Ethernet NIC
Windows XP Home - SP2
Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse
Direct X 9.0c
MSSWFF2
CH Pro Throttle USB
CH Pro Pedals USB

So, how would one go about bringing this old rig online?
Would it be worth it, could I actually play Forgotten Battles, online?
I have no trouble off line, I'm around 60-80 fps on the FB test run.
My DSL speed is;
1.60mbps download
0.25mbps upload
50-60 ping time

I would assume I would DL MSE first.
Then would I get Firefox next?
or just use Explorer as a browser?
Then update Windows?

Would I have enough room left on my HD to function well?
Right now I have less than half being used...about 12 GBs, out of 40GBs.

Or should I just keep killing the 'computer', in dogfights????....

You will have no problem running official 4.10m Il2: FB online. With mods however you might run into some bumps, especially in heavy populated servers & regarding loading time.

I imagine fighting humans will be quite the shock... they are unpredictable, sometimes brilliant, sometimes doing incredible stupid things. However mostly they are way tougher than the AI. Be ready!

Fry's has ATA hard drives real cheap. I think they are 500Gb WD. They are like 40 dollars. FYI.

So what's my online priority's?

First MSE.
I figure that.
Then Firefox?...can I use it with FB online?
Or would I be better off with Explorer?

Or should I go immediately to Windows update, using explorer?

Which is safer, cause I'll be 'naked' for a while.....

And this would demand a reinstall of everything, I was trying to avoid that if I could.
But it may be my only option. I'll try the 40GB HD and see if it can take it.

Would you say go to about 30GB's max? 3/4 full? Or half?


...lol...you do remember building this thing don't you speedbump?
Great system, served me well, tks.

Yes, filling the drive too much will slow it down. You know you can just put in another drive and install your programs to it and leave your operating system on the 40Gb drive. My old P4 system was just like yours, but I had a couple of 300Gb drives in it. One, the C drive, had the OS and regular programs on it like office and Nero. The second drive had my games on it.

Yes sir, I remember Murphy. I retired my old P4 system in 2007 and it's in storage somewhere.

Murphy, I am amazed you have such a system! How old is that? P4? Wow!

First off, I would suggest getting anti-virus, and MSE is excellent. I never got comfortable with IE, once I discovered Firefox, that was it. May I suggest Spybot as well?

speedbump is right, if you can afford to buy a second hard drive, that would solve your HDD space problem. No need for a full reinstall, but you may want to "transfer" some of your programs/games to the second hard drive to free your 40GB drive for OS functions. To do this, you will need to uninstall said games/programs, then re-install them on the secondary HDD.

Tks Ice, I'll try that if I have to.

Yea, she's like a 57' Chevy, a 283, with a quad, ran great back when. Classic.

Hate to junk her.
These 'new ones' have electronics that dazzle me, GPS, Cell phones, DVDs....

I really can't recommend Avira Free or paid enough, for my part. Firefox is the safer internet choice, but you should experiment with both FF4 beta 11 and IE9 RC to see which you like best. FF4 Full version is slated to be released this month, and IE9 Full will likely be this month or next.

Hey Murph, where in Michigan do you live?