For AMD GPUs, only the firmware is proprietary.

Just want to add that AMD drivers are part of the kernel, same as Intel. No need to install anything, even in old cards.

I haven't updated 10 in over 3 years. And I'm fine.

It only becomes a securitry risk when you let Microshaft continuously install more crap updates that intrude on privacy. That is the real virus. Windows Defender defends even against its master Miicroshaft after I disabled that crap updating scheme through the registry.
Why didn't you just go to the store and buy a replacement CR2032 battery?

That's one less thing to worry about, then. I'm using a GTX 760, but only because it was given to me used. I myself would have gone for AMD and it seems that will be a good choice.

By the time that I figured out that it was the motherboard battery, I had already ordered a new one. The hard drive was too small anyways.

The new computer was pretty cheap; already 2 years behind the times.Brand new, mint in package, but manufactured 2 years earlier.

I would say it mostly don't matter from the "casual" end user point of view. With nVidia you do need to install propietary drivers (if the choosen distro dont have them pre installed like PopOs and Nobara) but the kernel ships with a Open Source Nouveau driver that is able to use the card, albeit with much less performance.

The 760 is a great card in my opinion, a bit dated nowadays but a very fine Windows XP retro machine card :)
My favorite card of the last decade (a bit more since the last 3-4 years are dead in the video card space) is the GTX 750Ti...

Don't you need two network interfaces to do that? I wonder if you could get a second NIC for a Raspberry Pi, maybe as a HAT -- actually, now that I think a little bit more, I suppose I could get one that connects through USB.

Good reply. Truly, the brand of the routers are not found in stores that I visit. But if a security fault is used... the harm will be done. (And unless I can prove anything, I expect to be charged for the extra traffic unless I can prove something).

Regarding the IPv6, I am aware of the privacy concerns. Can't we use a firewall to prevent the incoming connections, and maybe do NAT as well? It sounds possible but much better if done at the router.

Regarding the port forwarding, I think I expressed myself poorly. The router does not allow me to forward a port range. I can forward individual ports, and I ended up creating and updating 10 rules when trying to figure out why I could not receive connection requests for bit torrent. I never figured that out.

It is called PiHole. But you would still require an adblocker, like UBlockOrigin. With a Pi, it acts like a water filter. Each stage helps. How pure you want it, is up to the user.

So you're on a meterd connection? Then this is an additional concern; I kind of assumed these were mobile-only things by now. My worries were more about data (ransomware) and privacy / identity theft.
It is possible, you can run a NAT64 software (IPv6 to IPv4) yourself, and behind that, it'll look like you have no IPv6. It will still require an extra machine with 2 NICs though, like a dedicated firewall. (the PIhole just mentioned is something else; I was under the impression there might be a PI with two GBE NICs, or another SBPC if need be. USB also is an option, I don't research the PIs recently but expect them to have USB3 anyway). The ideal setup is a dedicated firewall and a PIhole combined with the usual desktop firewall, adblocker and antivirus. IIRC the PIhole software also runs on other hardware, so it's feasible to run it on the dedicated firewall if it's not an appliance like the BlueCoat things (not saying they're bad, just that obviously they're not meant to have random software installed).
Ah, I see, you even wrote "port range", which I obviously misread into "port forwarding". Sorry!
I also had such a sad thing once. Yeah, and if that also doesn't allow TCP and UDP in one rule, it sprawls even more. I also had one that allowed only the last byte to be changed in the LAN IP, which ist just plain dumb.

IIRC, there was an issue with BT not connecting if both users are behind a NAT. I assumed that PF would solve that, and it did in part, but at least half my connections dropped regardless. I didn't investigate further though, as it worked "good enough".

I believe they are advertised as unlimited, but there is a large limit stated on the contract, in small print. Still, it is large enough that I won't reach it unless I do something stupid, and I don't think about it.
Now, if I joined some botnet, who knows?

But yes, data security (including privacy) cannot be solved by a one-time payment. That is indeed my greatest concern.

Yes, that sounds good. I would love to have an overhauled network at home, with a small, low-power, 2-NIC running a firewall, VNC and Pi-Hole. And maybe some other services for the home (like a centralized backup server, for example -- hey, if is going to be powered 24/7, it needs to be extra-useful).

But doing that takes knowledge and time. And I lack both, sadly. I don't even know where to ask for help if I need some.


Yes, same as mine. A functionality I did not appreciate until I had to live without it.
"Why would anyone want to change it from 192.168.0.x? That makes no sense!"

I find that consumer hardware is getting cheaper, simpler to use, but also very limited. They seem to railroad the user, and if the user wants to go somewhere else, no luck! Some of the cheapening in some products are derived from tying them to some (cloud) service (or subscription).

But the enterprise/pro hardware is so expensive and complex! Manuals are terrible! (Example: "XPTO5 [on/off]: enable or disable support for XPTO5." This adds zero information!). I have no idea if I could handle a managed router or I would create a security liability in the network.

I even placed the machine on the DMZ -- which I assumed would be like forwarding all the ports to it. I tried multiple clients. I changed the ports. Nothing changed. Maybe if I enabled UPnP things would work fine. My netcat tests showed that port forwarding was working, so I was confused.
Perhaps the ISP was messing with traffic, perhaps it was a bug in the router, perhaps I was just too dumb to figure it out.

In the end I gave up. The swarm would make it without me.

PiHole wont catch everything that malicious actors throw at your machines. So having a browser blocker as well, is good to make certain.

Pi Zero will be fine. According to some reddits, you should install pihole first. Then add some startup delay for vpn for best results. Since I dont have a zero. I could not test.

I still use Windows 7, hehe, and when my laptop dies, I'll buy a new machine and install Linux. Windows never again! I will not support Mr Microsoft's shitty policies.

This PC doesn't feel like my computer anymore. :(


What am I going to do?

Fully embrace retro computing and continue to use classic Windows 9x/ 2k/ XP/ Vista/ 7 for personal use. Use an Android based web browser for online shopping and big corporate sites. Have a dusty old laptop with win 11 on the shelf just in case.