Except for an OS, Dean's stuff will get you where you want to be. It will take alot more time to get it all configured with new drivers, etc, but might be a good learning experience. If you are going to learn enough about computers that you will be putting your own together in the future, having your own copy of an OS (as opposed to the bundled crap you get with an "over-the-counter" machine) can be beneficial.
I think I've got my old 98se and 2000 OS's laying around at home somewhere if you wanted to run one of them instead of buying XP. You'd still have to download all the drivers for your machine and have them ready.
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Dogbert
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