Using a Separate Computer For Personal Use/Web Browsing?

[paulyron]

I"m not sure if this is the right subforum to post this.  If it isn't can a mod move it to the correct subforum?

 

 

I have a dell xps laptop that is my main laptop that I do things on.  I do online banking on it.  I have some crypto wallets on my laptop to those  of you who are familiar with cryptocurrency which I"m sure many know about.  I also have important programs like lastpass/keepass which i have my passwords in.  So because of that, I don't want to visit forums or sites where I'm not sure of where I could get malware/virus.

 

 

So a while back, I bought a chromebook for this.  I would go to sites where I could stream sports and watch that and of course... stream/watch and even download adult videos.  Am I allowed to use the P word on this forum or not?  Didn't want to type that word as maybe I might break the rules on this forum.  But anyways, so far, my chromebook never had an issue with it... and i downloaded many videos/pictures on those sites etc.  I would not do this on my laptop as if i do this, well if i get malware/keylogger/virus, then im screwed since i do lot of financial things on my laptop.

 

 

I got to assume some people on this forum do this as well right?  Can't imagine some of you surf adult sites on your main computer?  Or maybe install a virtual machine on your main machine and access it only when you web browse/stream?  I heard this could be done but I never tried this.  I thought hey same computer so not good idea.  Also heard if you do this, you need to dedicate x amount of ram to it so you can't use the full amount of ram that you normally have.  Is this true?

 

 

My other question is this.  Would using another windows laptop but installing LINUX on it... provide the same amount of security as using a chromebook?  Reason i ask this is because my chromebook has issues and I was thinking about buying another chromebook.  But then i thought... why not a buy a new cheap windows laptop instead since it has more space than the standard space in a chromebook... and install linux so anything i stream/download would still make it safe?  Or it won't?

 

 

Thoughts/opinions on this?  Again, I would not do any of those things on my main laptop as well i could easily imagine getting malware/keylogger easily from this.  Most would agree right?  I did view sites like that a while back though on the dell xps laptop but it was only a few big name sites that i thought probably was okay though it had ton of ads etc.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id just use the same laptop, the risk is pretty low, and you can use things like firefox containers and vms to keep things seperate. I don't see a reason to use a second laptop here.

 

5 minutes ago, paulyron said:

. provide the same amount of security as using a chromebook?  Reason i ask this is because my chromebook has issues and I was thinking about buying another chromebook.  But then i thought... why not a buy a new cheap windows laptop instead since it has more space than the standard space in a chromebook... and install linux so anything i stream/download would still make it safe?  Or it won't?

Id use a windows laptop for linux, normally works better than a chromebook as it uses a normal uefi/bios, has more and faster storage, faster processors.

[emosun]

14 minutes ago, paulyron said:

Can't imagine some of you surf adult sites on your main computer?

Well most tech savy users here have os backups so even if they were to get a virus the system can just be restored instantly. No real reason to use a dedicated machine.

But that being said ... jpg and .mp4's don't really carry viruses so not a whole lot to worry about with them. So long as you aren't downloading programs then nothing will really have a chance to execute anything on its own.

[paulyron]

Well if you are viewing the main popular adult free streaming sites, I can imagine the risk being a bit low.  I use to do this on my dell xps windows laptop before i got a chromebook.  But i would not visit adult sites where im not sure of... which is many sites.  I also would not download any porn on it either... imagine downloading porn videos on a forum where other users post links to the video to download and you are not sure if it has malware/keylogger/virus or not...  You would feel safe doing that on you main laptop especially if you do financial things on it?

 

 

Like if it was just online banking, i still don't think its safe.  But i have some cryptocurrency wallets and doing that would seem like a disaster.  Also what if the lastpass or keepass get keylogged and that person see everything im typing etc?  That is why i would not do this on my main laptop.  

 

 

So i want to know if getting a new cheap windows laptop but installing linux on it... would be like same security as me using a chromebook which im using now... but i have to get a new chromebook or laptop because it has screen issues... completely unrelated to anything i downloaded etc.

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, paulyron said:

Well if you are viewing the main popular adult free streaming sites, I can imagine the risk being a bit low.  I use to do this on my dell xps windows laptop before i got a chromebook.  But i would not visit adult sites where im not sure of... which is many sites. 

Those really aren't a big risk. There isn't too much a web page can do normally. I wouldn't worry.

 

4 minutes ago, paulyron said:

ike if it was just online banking, i still don't think its safe.  But i have some cryptocurrency wallets and doing that would seem like a disaster.  Also what if the lastpass or keepass get keylogged and that person see everything im typing etc?  That is why i would not do this on my main laptop.  

 

PUt that in a vm?

 

Use hardware wallets for crypto?

[paulyron]

Im not downloading programs.  But i downloaded a ton of porn videos and porn gallery in files.  Like from rapidshare and those links which are very popular web hosts that people use to post adult videos and pictures if you want to download it.  Again they could download it and upload it and not put malware/virus but they probably got that video/pictures from another forum... and you don't know if the original uploader of that file put malware on it.

 

 

And I have cryptocurrency wallets on my computer.  Im not sure if you know much about this or not but many ppl have their wallets hacked and they don't know why and it could easily be something they downloaded or clicked on etc.  So that is why i wouldnt want to do any of porn streaming/downloading or streaming sports/tv shows on those shady sitesif you know what i mean.

 

 

So i want to know what my options are to be safe from it.  Again im using a chromebook for this so it won't affect my main dell xps windows laptop.  But it has screen issues so im wondering if i should just get another chromebook... or get a cheap windows laptop instead and install linux on it.  My thought is because with a windows laptop and linux... i get a good amount of more space on it... then the tiny storage on my chromebook.  So during this time, i had to move a ton of the videos/pictures i downloaded to a hard drive that is in an enclosure every time since i have limited space on the chromebook.

[paulyron]

You mean install a virtual machine on my dell xps windows laptop?

 

 

And use it whenever i want to stream/visit those sites?  But what about downloading tons of videos/files though?  That can't be safe even on a vm right?  But also don't you need to give up some ram to it... even when you are not using it?  That is one huge negative thing i heard about VM.

 

 

I do have hardware wallet.  But some cryptocurrencies you can't store it on hardware wallet so i had to download that coin's own wallet on my computer.

[emosun]

Using a secondary machine isn't any safer than just running a vm.

[paulyron]

So my main concern would be if i get malware/trojan/keylogger on my main dell xps windows laptop, well hacker could get into my crypto wallets, they could view all my files on my laptop... view my lastpass/keepass passwords.   Thus they would have every password i have an account on etc.

 

 

So that is why i wouldnt even want to stream porn sites and stream sports on my dell xps windows laptop and do it on my chromebook.

 

 

Well im using a chromebook.  Isn't that safe as you can't get malware/trojan/keylogger or virus on it?  Or you could still get it?  I did hear that if you have any issue with chromebook, always option to powerwash it and it wipes everything new.  

 

 

So in my situation, what do you recommend since i want to get a new machine because my current chromebook has screen issues.  Should i

 

 

Get a new chromebook

Cheap windows laptop and install linux

 

 

But some of you really want to just install a VM on my dell xps windows laptop?  That just doesn't feel safe to me at all.  And i also don't want to allocate ram to it as i want the full ram access on my dell xps laptop.

 

 

I wouldn't want to spend like 800 dollars on a new windows laptop and install linux on it... solely to stream porn/sports and download porn video/pictures.  Like i dont want to spend more than a few hundred dollars at most on a windows laptop for this as it would be strictly an entertainment laptop which is why i got the chromebook a while in the first place.  If my chromebook didn't have screen issues, i wouldn't be getting a new computer.  But i did wish chromebook had more storage though so that is why i ask about cheap windows laptop and installing linux.

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, paulyron said:

 

Well im using a chromebook.  Isn't that safe as you can't get malware/trojan/keylogger or virus on it?  Or you could still get it?  I did hear that if you have any issue with chromebook, always option to powerwash it and it wipes everything new.  

 

You can, but its much less likely.

 

1 minute ago, paulyron said:

Get a new chromebook

Cheap windows laptop and install linux

 

Do you want chrome os or a normal linux distro?

 

1 minute ago, paulyron said:

ut some of you really want to just install a VM on my dell xps windows laptop?  That just doesn't feel safe to me at all.  And i also don't want to allocate ram to it as i want the full ram access on my dell xps laptop.

 

 

Thats what Id do, about the same security, one device to deal with. You can have dynamic ram allocation or stop the vm.

[paulyron]

How would i know if i have malware/trojan/keylogger on my chromebook?  What program would i need to scan it for that?  

 

 

I don't have any issue with the chrome OS.  It did feel weird not having icons on the screen though compared to a windows laptop but im used to that.  Also very strange when you can't have multiple chrome tabs showing as its all in one icon if you know what i mean.  I never used linux so i have no opinion.  I got to assume its probably better than chrome OS right?  I mean it would be nice to have icons on the screen like on a windows computer.

 

 

What do you mean dynamic ram allocation?  Wait if you stop the VM, then you still have full access to all ram on your main computer?  Also dont you need to dedicate an amount of hard drive space for the vm though?  Thing is my laptop does have lot of ram... 32 gb ram.  It also has over 700gb space left on the ssd as well.

[paulyron]

So to confirm if installing a VM, you are l00% safe from any malware/keylogger/trojan files on it and it never affecting your main windows ten pro laptop?  Also i use bitlocker for it as well.. any issue with this?

 

 

I did saw a youtube video with a guy who intentionally downloads malware/viruses on his computer and i believe he did this on my his main machine but it was a virtual machine.  So that is probably what he was doing right?  But if you do get malware/trojan like that on the VM, what happens?  

 

 

But if you had to choose one of two options... new chromebook or new cheap windows laptop and install linux, which would be better option?  Which is safer?  So imagine you downloaded a video that contained malware/trojan/keylogger on your chromebook or the windows laptop with linux.  Would it be much worst on the chromebook than linux or vice versa?  I do know you could powerwash the chromebook to wipe everything... but of course if you do that... anything you have in your chromebook would get wiped.  How would it be with the windows laptop with linux?  As for prices... the cheap windows laptop with linux installed... i wouldnt want to spend more than say 350 dollars on it.  With a chromebook... around max 300 or even lower.  The one i bought a while back and using now i paid around  325 for it.

[Murasaki]

4 hours ago, Arika S said:

a VM is sectioned off entirely from your main OS. you can download virus's, ransomware, malware etc intentioanlly if you really want to and it will not interact with your main OS, that's the entire point of a VM.

Don't forget about malware that infects hosts through networks. Or is that a myth? 

[LogicalDrm]

For one, sounds like you are pirating stuff. This by itself is against our rules, and we can refrain from providing further help.

 

If you are making money, I suggest you start paying for content you consume. Buying access means that you won't be risking by using shady downloads.

 

Ever considered getting paid antivirus?

[Dillpickle23422]

7 hours ago, paulyron said:

Well if you are viewing the main popular adult free streaming sites, I can imagine the risk being a bit low.  I use to do this on my dell xps windows laptop before i got a chromebook.  But i would not visit adult sites where im not sure of... which is many sites.  I also would not download any porn on it either... imagine downloading porn videos on a forum where other users post links to the video to download and you are not sure if it has malware/keylogger/virus or not...  You would feel safe doing that on you main laptop especially if you do financial things on it?

 

 

Like if it was just online banking, i still don't think its safe.  But i have some cryptocurrency wallets and doing that would seem like a disaster.  Also what if the lastpass or keepass get keylogged and that person see everything im typing etc?  That is why i would not do this on my main laptop.  

 

 

So i want to know if getting a new cheap windows laptop but installing linux on it... would be like same security as me using a chromebook which im using now... but i have to get a new chromebook or laptop because it has screen issues... completely unrelated to anything i downloaded etc.

just plug it into an external monitor if you have one

[paulyron]

On 3/8/2021 at 8:30 AM, Arika S said:

a VM is sectioned off entirely from your main OS. you can download virus's, ransomware, malware etc intentioanlly if you really want to and it will not interact with your main OS, that's the entire point of a VM.

 

Alternatively, stop going to sketchy sites and this won't even be an issue

 

Okay but i dont need to dedicate any ram or storage to the VM then?  Thus it could be shared?  Imagine having 700gb free space now on my ssd.  So i could down 50gb of things on the vm and then it would show the remaining difference gb left on both the VM and windows?

 

 

Well i have a tough time not visiting adult/porn sites.  I mean.. i could stop it for a week or few weeks but its hard to not visit it...

 

On 3/8/2021 at 12:56 PM, Murasaki said:

Don't forget about malware that infects hosts through networks. Or is that a myth? 

Im curious about this as well.  What if you use a chromebook or separate computer to visit these adult sites and streaming sites but use your own internet?  Any chance of your internet wifi get hacked or things like that?  What about using a vpn?  Would a free vpn work?

 

 

The thing is i been actually using my buildings free wifi and my free vpn on the app store on google play when visiting these sites.  As oppose to say using my own internet.  But it shouldn't make any difference right?  Thing is im abroad but when im in the US, i do visit these porn/adult sites as well with the same chromebook but own internet.

 

 

Like me using my own internet visiting these sites can't affect anything with virus/malware to my internet connection right?

 

On 3/8/2021 at 3:03 PM, LogicalDrm said:

For one, sounds like you are pirating stuff. This by itself is against our rules, and we can refrain from providing further help.

 

If you are making money, I suggest you start paying for content you consume. Buying access means that you won't be risking by using shady downloads.

 

Ever considered getting paid antivirus?

 

Im basically watching streams of sporting events in those streaming sites.  Like imagine nfl etc.  Then i visit porn sites and watching free streaming porn... you know those main porn sites that many people are familiar with.  But i also visit those forums where other users post adult videos/pictures and i download it striaght to my chromebook.. which i would then send them to my external harddrive... well more like my hard drive in an exclosure since my chromebook has very little space.  

 

 

Im not making any money.  I basically like to watch adult movies by either streaming it on those sites or downloading it off of those public forums etc.  My issue with paying for the content is i would have to sign up for many multiple porn sites.   

 

 

I might have paid for paid antivirus years ago but haven't for a long time.  I have windows defender and that free malware bytes.  That is not enough right?

[Bitter]

You got a system and it works for you, keep on doing it how you've been doing it if you're happy with how it's working for you.

 

Personally I have 4 PC's in the house. Laptop running Linux (Xubuntu), Windows 10 HTPC connected to a TV, Windows 10 'big rig' PC for games/some web browsing and heavier activities that need 8 cores and 32GB RAM, and a PC made of spare parts running NHOS for mining. I enjoy the segmentation between the systems, they each have their own roles that they're good at. The HTPC is small and quiet, it's not good for gaming and the wireless keyboard and distance between the TV and couch make it awkward to do any serious internet browsing on. Laptop is old but works fine for internet stuff and running Linux is less malware prone and runs quicker on the old hardware. NHOS mining PC can do whatever with very low risk of bad stuff happening to anything else and it's got a fairly low power CPU that's not suitable for anything else anyway. Gaming PC is for gaming or when I need to sit down at a desk and keyboard to use a computer.

[AlexP11223]

On 3/8/2021 at 7:35 AM, paulyron said:

Am I allowed to use the P word on this forum or not?

people even use F words here.

On 3/8/2021 at 7:35 AM, paulyron said:

Or maybe install a virtual machine on your main machine and access it only when you web browse/stream?  I heard this could be done but I never tried this. 

I think LTT did  some videos mentioning that.

 

Anyway it's very simple, just install VMWare Player (Free)/VirtualBox/..., create a VM using its' wizard and put your favorite OS ISO image into that.

[paulyron]

Okay thanks for all this information.  But I still don't think i want to use a virtual machine on my windows ten pro dell xps laptop though.  But installing the virtual machine and all that... its free right?  Do i need to buy a program or anything like that?

 

 

So there are no negatives of installing a virtual machine at all?  Again i thought if you install it, you will automatically lose some ram which i thought was a negative... like if you dedicate 8gb of ram to your vm... and say you have double that ram... you could only use 8gb ram on each of them only.  So that is completely not true?  If that is the case, why wouldn't anyone install a vm in their windows computer if it protects them against everything?  But certainly some malware/keylogger or things like that could screw up your whole computer?  So if you install malware on it... what then happens?  How do you get your vm back to normal?  But there hasn't been any cases of it messing with your windows computer user account at all?

 

 

Also what about installing linux?  That wouldn't be as effective if you want to stream porn/download files etc right?  And linux is free right?  Now if i decide to continue using a chromebook... would you recommend installing linux in it?  Or just using it as is?  I have no issue using chromebook as is... meaning watching and streaming online and downloading things.  But installing linux would be good or not?  What benefit would there be?  I assume i could then download certain programs on it that chromebook can't right?

[paulyron]

Okay so right now since my acer chromebook which i bought new few years ago has screen issues and certain keys don't work... its only the first few number keys only... so that isn't that bad... would you recommend me getting a cheap windows ten laptop or another chromebook?

 

 

The one i bought years ago, i paid around 325 dollars for it brand new.  It worked great but my issue was I was extremely careless with it... i was holding it around the corner edges where if you look at the sides of the screen, you see ton of damage to it.  Also there seem to be like flashing lines that is right in the middle of the screen.  And i need to have the screen at a certain angle... otherwise it would keep flashing like imagine you have a monitor that keep flashing rainbow lines so to speak.

 

 

Would it be worth even trying to buy repair part to get a new screen for it?  What about keyboard?  Again keyboard only the first few number keys don't work.

 

 

Now if i were to get a new computer... again sole reason is to stream porn/sports/tv shows and also download porn videos on forums etc... would you recommend getting another chromebook?  Or... just get a cheap windows computer and then install a VM on it?

 

 

For example... which would be better option here for the computer... asus windows laptop or chromebook?  They are same price and under 300 dollars.  The windows laptop... has more space 128gb than chromebook.  But since it uses windows ten... how much gb would i even have if i get this laptop?  Also how much gb does a VM take?  And would a VM work fine on this laptop that uses an intel celeron processor?  Both asus laptop uses same processor speed as well.

 

 

So doesn't it make sense to get the windows ten laptop instead of chromebook since same price?  Since you could use VM as a porn/stream computer ... but also... now you can install windows programs on it as well... where a chromebook doesn't give you this option?

 

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-14-0-laptop-intel-celeron-n4020-4gb-memory-128gb-emmc-blue/6425056.p?skuId=6425056

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-14-0-chromebook-intel-celeron-n3350-4gb-memory-32gb-emmc-grey/6425046.p?skuId=6425046

 

 

Would everyone here be in support of getting another windows laptop as oppose to chromebook here?  I was shocked that this asus windows ten laptop is same price as the asus chromebook with all same specs except it has more space... though windows does take up lot of space.  Again i know ppl here say just install a VM in my current windows ten pro dell xps laptop... but i rather not do that and just want a separate device for it even though all of you say its safe.  Someone did say to stick with what i am doing which is why i want to stick with separate computer.

[AlexP11223]

4 hours ago, paulyron said:

But installing the virtual machine and all that... its free right? 

If you install Windows there then I think Microsoft will want you to buy a key for it, but of course you can just ignore the "Activate" watermark or use other common ways to get rid of it. Or just install Linux (e.g. Linux Mint).

 

Some software for creating VMs is not free, but VirtualBox or the free version of VMWare Player should be enough for you. VMWare usually has better performance.

4 hours ago, paulyron said:

Also what about installing linux?  That wouldn't be as effective if you want to stream porn/download files etc right? 

Not sure why.

Maybe something like lossless 4-8K could cause problems in VM without GPU passthrough, but probably not because of Linux. Linux is quite popular for HTPC etc., distros like Mint should include most of the codecs out-of-the-box.

[thrasher_565]

On 3/7/2021 at 9:55 PM, emosun said:

Well most tech savy users here have os backups so even if they were to get a virus the system can just be restored instantly. No real reason to use a dedicated machine.

But that being said ... jpg and .mp4's don't really carry viruses so not a whole lot to worry about with them. So long as you aren't downloading programs then nothing will really have a chance to execute anything on its own.

a  qr code could...just saying.

[Murasaki]

Another idea is to just dual boot? No need to get extra hardware, just install another OS on your current laptop and sort your drives/partitions to isolate them apart. 

[paulyron]

Would you recommend installing VM or Linux on chromebook or not?  Issue is my chromebook has screen issues and some buttons don't work so that is why i want to get another computer.

 

 

It seem like getting another chromebook would be bad idea right?  Like get one of those cheap windows ten laptop as oppose to chromebook is much better since you can just install VM on linux on it and then have the option to download window programs into it as oppose to a chromebook?

 

 

Now if i were to install VM or linux on my current chromebook, i gotta delete everything off of it right?  I only have like 1gb of space on it.

[Giganthrax]

Buy a cheap windows laptop and install Neverware Cloudready on it. It's a free linux that works exactly like Chrome OS and is basically impossible to screw up.

 

VMs and other Linux distros are cool and all, but I dont think the OP is technically savvy enough to set them up properly. No offense.