Pow3r
Registered Member
- Oct 31, 2017
- 79
- 43
Returned to IM a while back; starting out with an old semi-functional laptop and virtually no startup capital (so getting a VPS or investing in new hardware isn't an option at the moment).
I have a copy of Lubuntu installed and running for the purpose of accomplishing VPS-like things (TE with otohits and hitleaps, seedbox) if I leave the laptop on 24x7 (electricity is not a problem). Problem is, I can't get the hitleaps and otohits viewer to run on linux – the linux versions don't work and neither do the windows versions run on wine.
XP would be great, but i'm concerned about the security – looking into ways of “hardening” XP for my purposes (along the lines of some anti-malware + tor + sandboxie) – but also the compatibility.
An option would be to run a Windows VM in Lubuntu, but a 20-gig commitment for Windows 10 just to run some traffic exchange softwar and utorrent seems like overkill (refer to: old semi-functional laptop), not to say anything of the possible system slowdown. I searched and found two tools – RT Se7en Lite and NTLite – which can be used to trim down the size of a windows install, but I haven't ever used them myself nor can I find any definitive feedback on exactly how well they'll work.
Then there's ReactOS, an “open-source alternative to Windows” which can run windows applications natively but it's still in alpha and users are reporting a variety of driver issues.
In case anybody's wondering why I don't just do these things on my primary windows (7) install, it's just that I want to keep my work and my automated-IM environments separate. Since I need a working copy of windows in case of emergencies and can't re-install very easily, i'd rather not risk catching something nasty (high risk with the somewhat shady browsing practices that come with IM). Also I can't run and test all the options myself, since Internet connectivity is also limited (big whoop) and downloading 2gigs of data means a day's worth of constant downloading.
What are BHW's thoughts on the subject? Which of these is most optimal? What are some other workarounds?
I have a copy of Lubuntu installed and running for the purpose of accomplishing VPS-like things (TE with otohits and hitleaps, seedbox) if I leave the laptop on 24x7 (electricity is not a problem). Problem is, I can't get the hitleaps and otohits viewer to run on linux – the linux versions don't work and neither do the windows versions run on wine.
XP would be great, but i'm concerned about the security – looking into ways of “hardening” XP for my purposes (along the lines of some anti-malware + tor + sandboxie) – but also the compatibility.
An option would be to run a Windows VM in Lubuntu, but a 20-gig commitment for Windows 10 just to run some traffic exchange softwar and utorrent seems like overkill (refer to: old semi-functional laptop), not to say anything of the possible system slowdown. I searched and found two tools – RT Se7en Lite and NTLite – which can be used to trim down the size of a windows install, but I haven't ever used them myself nor can I find any definitive feedback on exactly how well they'll work.
Then there's ReactOS, an “open-source alternative to Windows” which can run windows applications natively but it's still in alpha and users are reporting a variety of driver issues.
In case anybody's wondering why I don't just do these things on my primary windows (7) install, it's just that I want to keep my work and my automated-IM environments separate. Since I need a working copy of windows in case of emergencies and can't re-install very easily, i'd rather not risk catching something nasty (high risk with the somewhat shady browsing practices that come with IM). Also I can't run and test all the options myself, since Internet connectivity is also limited (big whoop) and downloading 2gigs of data means a day's worth of constant downloading.
What are BHW's thoughts on the subject? Which of these is most optimal? What are some other workarounds?
