General, All-around Cool PC stuff

[Troy McClure SF]

I just got a PC through a friend's dad.
Numbers: Win95, Pentium, 32 megs RAM, no CD-ROM, no modem, no SCSI port.
Now I don't know all that much about Wintels (WINdows/inTEL), so I'm wondering, anyone have suggestions on how to make this thing as cool, efficient, and personalized as my Mac? On a low budget.
And any hardware donations would be gratefully accepted.
Thanks, all.

PS- BurnMeUp (and anyone else for that matter)-feel free to email me- jjtm@mailcity.com

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JMcC, San Francisco, JJM's page from the Bay
If I were beaned with a fastball, fling my limp, lifeless body to first, cause, dammit, I earned it!

[Stevie Rave On]

www.download.com has a ton of free utilities.

[Padeye]

Can you give us a hint as to how you want to personalize it? You mentioned hardware but another source of downloads for windows shareware is http://www.tucows.com/

Good modems are pretty cheap. I like the Modem Blaster 56k from Creative and you can find it for around $40. It automatically handles incoming voice calls as an answering machine or switches to fax or data where appropriate.

A CD drive is a must as well. Get an IDE drive as it will connect to the existing disk controller.

Memory prics are falling so I'd add at least another 32MB ram.

[handy]

Best way to get a mac like interface is to drag the start taskbar to the top of the screen. just click on it & drag.

[Troy McClure SF]

Handy- Ya know, I did just that, even before I read your post. Now if there was only a way to stick a multicolored apple up there, I'd be happy.
Padeye- I love that site. I've gotten plenty of Mac stuff from there.
Thanks for the help, all.

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JMcC, San Francisco, JJM's page from the Bay
If I were beaned with a fastball, fling my limp, lifeless body to first, cause, dammit, I earned it!

[OpalCat]

Here is a great hardware place http://www.compgeeks.com/cgi-bin/default.asp

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Teeming Millions: http://fathom.org/teemingmillions
"Meat flaps, yellow!" - DrainBead, naked co-ed Twister chat
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com

[Nekosoft]

I've been trying to get my Wintel to think it's a Mac... Check out http://members.xoom.com/macemusta/mes/index.htm for info... (hope that link works...)

Then I've got a Mac Color Classic that thinks it's a Pokemon... but that's another story.

[Jophiel]

If you're brave and confident (or are those the same thing?) you can always buy a cheap used computer from the want ads and scrap it for parts. Most computers will have a CD-ROM and modem at least, and you can probably get something obsolete ultra cheap.

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"I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn't."