Building a PC for Windows XP in the Kitchen
Published: April 15, 2002
By Jerry Honeycutt, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist
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Finally—I get to put together the kitchen computer I've been talking about. I want to build one that fits unobtrusively next to the mixer until I call it into service to browse the Internet, check mail, and chat with friends.
The key to a good kitchen computer is to build a one that's tiny. A regular ATX mainboard and case combination is too large for any but Martha Stewart's kitchen. I'm in luck, though, because the Shuttle SV24 barebones system includes a FV24 mainboard in a case that's not much bigger than three CD-ROM drives stacked on top of each other.
Components of the Barebones System
A barebones system includes the case and mainboard but not much else. You add the processor, memory, and drives. They usually aren't terrific deals unless you're looking for a non-standard form factor, which I am in this project.
I'm comfortable buying the Shuttle SV24 barebones system because numerous owners posted extremely positive comments about it on UseNet and other forums. I didn't find any local retailers who could sell the SV24 to me, so I turned to online retailers. I ended up buying it from TigerDirect.
The SV24 is an amazing little thing. Inside the attractive aluminum case, the FV24 mainboard includes a NIC and 16-MB video adapter. It sports two USB ports on the front as well as two USB and two IEEE 1394 ports on the back. The mainboard supports Intel Pentium III or Celeron processors, and PC 133 SDRAM. In Figure 1, the processor and the memory have been installed in the SV24.
Figure 1
The case itself has room for one hard drive, one CD-ROM drive, and one floppy drive, although I chose to omit the floppy drive from my kitchen PC. I was pleased by how well Shuttle designed the case. Even with such a small form factor, I scraped not one knuckle, and was able to assemble the whole thing easily. Shuttle even included a custom heat sink and fan that fits better than the one that comes with the Intel Pentium III. The hard drive slides in to the rear of the case, which I thought was a clever way to simplify assembly.
Only two things troubled me. First is the amount of heat this computer generates. After it runs for a few hours, the aluminum case is warm to the touch. Second is that the computer's fans are a bit loud, turning my relatively quiet kitchen in to a data processing center. Windows XP offers the best solution, though. I'm configuring Windows XP so that it suspends and then hibernates after a brief idle time to cut down on heat and noise.
After I got the whole thing assembled, I installed Windows XP. That part was a snap; I just booted the computer using the Windows XP CD. Windows XP didn't support the S3 Twister video adapter that comes with the SV24. However, the CD that came with the SV24 included the proper device drivers.
Connecting to My Wireless Network
I have no network connection in my kitchen. I have no intention of installing one either, but I do have a wireless network already working in my house. My access point is the Orinoco AP-500, and I use Orinoco Gold PC cards in my laptop computer and Compaq IPAQ. I didn't want to use a PC card adapter that allows me to install a PC Card in the kitchen computer, though.
That lead me to the Linksys WMP11 Instant Wireless PCI Card, which I found at my local Best Buy. After installing the card, I couldn't get the wireless NIC to recognize my access point. So I downloaded and installed the latest set of device drivers. I configured Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) correctly. (WEP encryption is part of the 802.11 standard.) I also added the media access control (MAC) address of the NIC to the access control list, and everything else you would have done. I still couldn't get it to work, until I upgraded the firmware for the Linksys WMP11 wireless card. The latest version of the firmware adds support for Windows XP. Then whole flash process was simple and took seconds. After all that, Windows XP automatically found my wireless network, and I was online within seconds of typing my WEP key.
Figure 2 shows you what the SV24 looks like with the WMP11 wireless PCI adapter installed.
Figure 2
Adding a Monitor and Wireless Desktop
On top of the SV24, I added the MAG InnoVisions LT565 LCD monitor and the Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse. I picked MAG's LCD monitor because its silver color matches the aluminum SV24 case (go figure). Since the speakers are built into the monitor and my keyboard and mouse are wireless, I have very few cables scattered about (I abhor cables of any kind). See the final result in Figure 3.
Figure 3
For all my effort to make this computer as tiny as possible, I feel like it's too big for my kitchen. It doesn't just sit next to my mixer; it actually replaces the mixer and all of the space around it. If your kitchen is small, you might want to buy a laptop to use in that room. However, this project cost around $1000, and that's not much to spend for a good laptop. On a final note, protect any computer that you set up in your kitchen with a surge protector. Considering the appliances with which the computer shares its circuitry, this is a smart idea.
Expert Zone Columnist Jerry Honeycutt is a writer, speaker, and technologist who has written over 25 books, including Microsoft Windows XP Registry Guide (Microsoft Press, 2002). He frequently writes about customizing and deploying Windows XP.
