"… Can two separate “places” be “quarantined” from each other for safety? "
I didn’t use the words, “Separate Partitions”, or “Dual Boot”, because though I’ve looked them up I’m not sure I completely understand what they are, so didn’t want to confuse the issue …
But what I’m wondering is, in a new potential PC tower or laptop, is there a way to “quarantine” a general use area (email, downloads, browsing, etc.) from the DAW portion so that even if the worst case scenario happens and the general use partition is brought down by a virus/trojan/evil-thing-of-the-month, the DAW can still hum along like nothing has happened?
The reason I ask is that my main home computer is looking like it’s going to die soon, so I’m hoping maybe I can buy one computer and safely use it for DAW work AND general use.
My DAW is almost an internet virgin after 8 years, but my home computer, even older, gave me a BSOD the other day, so I figure it’s a sign it needs replaced. So, I was thinking about killing two birds with one stone, and combining a “civilian” computer with a DAW.
Don’t mind the hassle of a dual boot, if it saves me the price of one machine!
don’t use email client program and use something like Gmail. (don’t download local copies of e-mails)
use Firefox and block ads, popups, and redirection
check where the links are taking you in status bar before clicking every time.
don’t open attachments from guys you don’t know.
don’t download and install free software that would install some “extras”. (You can google and see if the installer may do something weird before downloading.)
read up on what’s updated in monthly windows updates, and install as necessary.
use legit software.
use page previews for Google search results before actually clicking on the links.
I have been using my W7 x64 PC just like I used to use my Macs in the past, and I really don’t see any reason to fear internet. I use 64bit Firefox Nightly as well - nobody would bother to exploit something with such a small user base. I do have MS Security Essentials on my machine just in case, but I think Firefox and Gmail pretty much blocks anything bad from happening.
My DAW is connected 24/7. DPC latency @ idle hovers around 15-20 micro seconds on my machine. I’ve thought about dual booting my machine before I assembled it, but I really don’t see the need after 2 years of constant use.
If you really think it’s necessary, you might as well go Linux for the general use partition. W7 & W8 are said to be more secure than OS X, though, and I seriously doubt that you need to worry about viruses like on XP.
I do have MS Security Essentials on my machine just in case, but I think Firefox and Gmail pretty much blocks anything bad from happening.