Need some ideas for Building a New PC

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SoupBowl
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:30 am

Need some ideas for Building a New PC

Post by SoupBowl »

I am Looking to put together a Computer to run React OS and dualboot XP and or 7
As a side note I want to run some old school software but still need enough power to run the latest working web browser etc


I want some recomendations for hardware and software to make this happen so some advice/recommendations would be much appreciated.
The plan is to have a small computer that will be good for travel and last a long time.
Not a laptop but not going to rule out the possibility of batteries/UPS so maybe come back to that idea later.

I’m thinking maybe build something the size of thin client but with much faster hardware and better cooling system, I haven’t settled on a case or hardware that is why I made this thread.
I want to run React OS and some versions of Windows but support for drivers limits my selection of hardware so I think it would be best to use some emulation.

But I want the operating system to have as much hardware access as feasible so that it can function the same way as if it was running directly on the hardware.
So for example the I can use my USB peripherals, access other hard disk, adjust wifi etc within my React Os or Windows "Guest PC"
the host OS should be invisible in the background.

I would consider a motherboard with x86-64 but am still interested in hardware using a different processor if it could run an emulator just fine.
Mention it anyway if a relevant piece of hardware comes to mind

So I want the Host operating system to be as minimal as possible and be just be rigged to just boot the React OS or old Windows(Guest OS) I choose.

When I am running the guest OS I want to be able to use hardware normally so I don’t have to keep switching out to adjust the virtual machine settings,
So it would be like using a real hard disk rather than virtual one and USB support within the guest pc.


Getting a bit too long with this introduction so I digress and get to the actual point.
For seamless switch between the host/guest when booting and then use graphics tablet/select wifi just the same as I would if the guest OS ran natively.

What sort of Host OS/Virtualization software would you recommend running on the hardware to accomplish this?

What sort of motherboard would you recommend?
Looking for something portable/low power that would be comparable to a reasonably fast computer from the last days of the XP era.

I want to run React OS but also XP and 7 for comparison so I can compare them but run them on their own hard disks/memory cards.
it would also be convenient to have a battery to keep things going during a power cut but not something we could cover till ive seen some hardware suggestions.

anyone got any ideas/recommendations for this project?
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dizt3mp3r
Posts: 1873
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:54 pm

Re: Need some ideas for Building a New PC

Post by dizt3mp3r »

By all means have a system to test ReactOS, possibly destructively with regard to your data - but I wouldn't put ReactOS on it if you are planning to actually use that PC in any meaningful fashion.

Keep ReactOS well away from your data and preferably on a system where it could never even be allowed to touch your data. If you understand the concept of Alpha grade software then you'll understand why we make this recommendation.

Buy yourself a cheap Dell onto which others have installed ReactOS successfully.

For the other XP/7 machine you can choose whatever takes your fancy.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
SoupBowl
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:30 am

Re: Need some ideas for Building a New PC

Post by SoupBowl »

a while back I had run React OS in a virtual pc with windows 2000 on same virtual machine and when i switched back to windows 2000 would be running chkdsk when it booted up so probably react OS glitching with NFTS/Fat32,
Might have been scandisk but regardless you have a good point.

need to configure it to have the right amount of sand boxing and hardware access
dizt3mp3r wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:16 pm Keep ReactOS well away from your data and preferably on a system where it could never even be allowed to touch your data. If you understand the concept of Alpha grade software then you'll understand why we make this recommendation.
that's the main reason i want to emulate/virtualise but i still want to be able to do things that i would be able to do if it was running the system directly on the hardware,
that for example USB use and interfacing with the real hardware through in the guest PC.

so i would need to find a good choice for the software/hardware of the Host PC for best results in the Guest PC
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dizt3mp3r
Posts: 1873
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:54 pm

Re: Need some ideas for Building a New PC

Post by dizt3mp3r »

Swapping main bootable drive is the only way I would do what you are planning to do. All other storage removed. When ReactOS reaches out and screws up your other filesystems you will be unhappy. Keep it on a separate box.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
SoupBowl
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:30 am

Re: Need some ideas for Building a New PC

Post by SoupBowl »

would be nice to have a toggle switch to flip the data cable to read only and switch it back on when data is in less risk
then again Sata pin-out on Wikipedia said Pin 2&3 transmit(read?) pin 5&6 receive(write?)
just a thought dont want to break my hdd though

Im Considering a Single Board Computer something like the Rock pi or the Intel nuc but possibly a different brand just using those as examples (recommendations welcome).
With more niche hardware comes bigger challenges with drivers so It would be easier to get drivers if I were to use a Hypervisor/Virtual machine setup.
my logic is it would be easier to get drivers for the virtual machines fictional hardware while still being able to use factory tested drivers on the real hardware.

The virtual machine software designed to run directly on the hardware seem to be more server orientated or for more specialized use so not sure if they would be good for standalone desktop use as that might mean a ton of things need to be calibrated and configured before It can be used.

Alternatively It might be possible to run a different OS supported by the manufacturer but get that stripped down to the bare minimum and then configure it to just load a virtual machine with my operating system of choice and turn off when its closed.

I don’t know if this would pay off due to drivers possibly working better or just add a layer of complexity

Is there some good virtual machine software that might work well with this project.
Direct Hardware access(within guest pc) desirable.

At the very least I will need USB support so I can use camera, printer, scanner tablet etc directly within the OS I intend to run
What would be a good choice for emulation software?
alexei2
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2021 2:07 pm

Re: Need some ideas for Building a New PC

Post by alexei2 »

I've been building PCs for a long time. However, recently I discovered buying refurbished on Amazon is cheaper :)
I just bought 2nd HP EliteDesk 705 G3 with A10 PRO-8770E (quad core, Radeon 7 graphics). It has a place to add NVMe and you can add RAM.
It comes with Win 10 pro on 128Gb SSD, which you can put aside, just in case :)
You can set it up with XP/2003 (Redeon and NVMe drivers exist), though Windows 7 would be simpler.
Use nLite to strip OS to a bare minimum. VMWare player (free) works very well (I prefer older versions) - backup/restore VM's dir is simple.
Directories on the host can be shared with read-only option, host's USB are available to VMs, etc. Switching between VMs is fast and simple.
VM loads from NVMe pretty fast.
Randall
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2021 3:07 pm

Re: Need some ideas for Building a New PC

Post by Randall »

I agree with alexei2, but it depends where you live. For example, amazon mostly doesn't ship for my country. :(
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