MythTV step 3
Tonight I ordered a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE dual tuner board (can record 2 different programs at once) and a Streamzap PC Remote. I ordered these from the same company that delivered our WiFi router within 48 hours on free "budget" shipping last July. They also listed a 750GB disk that I've been considering, but their price was absurd - $5,522.72 (but free shipping). I left them a note suggesting they check that out.
We didn't get to Micro Center tonight. The most immediate task is buying blank DVD+R to back up Windows-XP, and trying the old monitors we have to see what works with the Compaq. Then I can try booting/installing Linux from the KnoppMyth CD I burned. I expect we will get an LCD monitor before long, perhaps slightly larger than our TV.
Most of the documentation for the computer is on the internal disk, not on paper. Since I'm going to wipe the disk and install a different OS, I won't have any hardware documentation. Providing documentation solely on the internal disk is not adequate. Even if you wanted to keep the OS, how would you access the documentation when you have a hardware problem?