slartabartfast
There is no good reason that your DAW cannot run general purpose applications and audio stuff, if they are not running at the same time and competing for resources. The main reason for avoiding surfing with your DAW is that it exposes you to malware. That risk can be mitigated by having good and active (constantly scanning) antivirus software, frequent disconnected backups and ultimately by surfing from a sandbox, but technically it is easier to just use a throwaway computer for that, ideally one that is never connected via your home network to a machine with important data on it. It is possible that malware can make it to your machine in a form not recognized by your antivirus, but which becomes activated at a later date, so if you turn off your antivirus for improved performance, the seed may sprout. Of course if your DAW only houses junk, then losing it is not a big issue, or if you have important data on another computer, then the same considerations apply. 

See now you're just talking me into continuing my ways haha. Cause yes, I keep everything shut down except antivirus and backup software if I'm working on music. But in the back of my mind I know that any little issue I run into... I probably wouldn't have it if I just grew up and kept the computer offline. 

Beepster
Real answer though...
 
Take one of those lappys, leave it on all the time (just let it "sleep") and put it next to your DAW.
 

That's what they're for but I just never end up opening them. Something about a BIG monitor, giant speakers, and a keyboard and mouse that just grabs me and stops me from going to the laptop...

Ok, ok, ok...  Here it is.  A rare ACTUAL answer from me for your situation:
 
Get a cheap, used laptop (yes, you can find one for under $100 easily).  Just make sure it's running at least Windows 7 so you can see websites using HTML5 and the other new standards.  Now, put it in a workgroup with your DAW (usually the workgroup is, ingeniously, named WORKGROUP, but you can change this).  Now, type "Allow remote" into the start button area and make sure the laptop can accept remote access.  Then click on File Explorer and then Network (a folder at the bottom of the left side menu) and, after seeing the message that Network Discovery is turned off, click on the message to turn this on.  Do this on the DAW too.  Now you should be able to see the laptop from the DAW.  Right-click on the laptop icon from the DAW and select Connect With Remote Desktop Connection.  You are now viewing the laptop from your DAW.  Do your surfing here then simply minimize the window when you're not using it.  It will still be one click away.
 
Now, here are a couple of things you'll want to do to make things even better:
 
1)  On the laptop, keep it plugged in anywhere you want (preferably directly connected to your internet router) then go into Control Panel and Power Options.  Change the "What does closing the cover do?" to Nothing (when plugged in). Then change the power options settings for "When Plugged In" to Never (there should be two settings).  Now you can keep the laptop closed and never touch it, but it will always be accessible from the DAW.
 
2)  From the DAW File Explorer window (Network section), if you click-and-drag the laptop icon to your desktop, you can create a shortcut to the laptop.  Now you only need to right-click on the shortcut to select Connect With Remote Desktop Connection.
 
The above is exactly what I do with my work laptop so I can use my main computer's big screen (along with its keyboard and thumb-ball mouse).  Works great! 
 
Post-note:  Needless to say, the best "next step" would be to create a backup image of the laptop's OS.  Then, if it gets a virus from the Internet, you can simply restore it from the image and keep surfing!

I know it's a personal preference and everyone has reasons for what they do, but it still interests me how musicians seem to stand alone in wanting to keep their workstation offline. It's weird but I never hear anyone else say "I never put my computer online ever." There are plenty of other professions which rely on the use and maintenance of very complex and expensive software suites - graphic designers, web designers, movie editors, architects etc - and yet they're all pretty liberal about surfing the net on the same computer they work on. What is it about musicians? A general paranoia? 

sharke
I know it's a personal preference and everyone has reasons for what they do, but it still interests me how musicians seem to stand alone in wanting to keep their workstation offline. It's weird but I never hear anyone else say "I never put my computer online ever." There are plenty of other professions which rely on the use and maintenance of very complex and expensive software suites - graphic designers, web designers, movie editors, architects etc - and yet they're all pretty liberal about surfing the net on the same computer they work on. What is it about musicians? A general paranoia? 

Every antivirus I've tried bogs down my laptop. I get dropouts, and latency issues at the worst times. I gave up and now it's fast and Internet-free.
Thinking about trying Craig's idea though...

I don't know how to trick you but I can make you feel bad:
 
If you're "sitting up straight" at a desktop computer to surf the internet you are a looser and should "kick back dude" like normal people with a laptop and a footstool or recliner to interweb.
 
There does that help?

my sole laptop caters for all of my online and offline needs... But, yes, interwebs can sometimes be a bit of a distraction (I am supposed to be working right now...)

OK.
 
The problem is if you leave your DAW online and/or use it for surfing then a particularly evil group of hackers will start altering any tracks you have recorded to make them sound more like whatever is in the current Top 40. Note that being pure evil, they will make any changes gradually so that you don't notice any interesting melodic, harmonic or rhythmic content gradually morphing into endlessly repeating loops and a single short phrase that repeats as often as possible to serve as "the hook"
 
Pretty soon you find yourself mindlessly tapping your foot when you happen to overhear tween girls giggling along with their music.
 
IMO it's just not worth the risk.

sharke
I know it's a personal preference and everyone has reasons for what they do, but it still interests me how musicians seem to stand alone in wanting to keep their workstation offline. It's weird but I never hear anyone else say "I never put my computer online ever." There are plenty of other professions which rely on the use and maintenance of very complex and expensive software suites - graphic designers, web designers, movie editors, architects etc - and yet they're all pretty liberal about surfing the net on the same computer they work on. What is it about musicians? A general paranoia? 

In my case, there is no "paranoia" as such...
 
Before I even knew what a DAW was, somebody I knew who was into video editing met a guy who supplied the BBC with the software and systems that they used for making tv programmes and decided that he just had to have some of that himself, so he did. It was quite unusual (mainly due to the high cost) for a regular Joe to have this kind of thing, so as part of the deal he also included several one-to-one tutorial sessions where he would come to his home and walk him through it all. The guy not only knew the software inside out and backwards, but was also something of a PC guru too and his first ten rules were.....this pc is for video editing, not www surfing. Keep it that way and it will be problem free and you won't be paying me to come back and sort it out for you when it doesn't work any more. So he obeyed the first ten rules and never had the slightest hint of a problem in many years of use. I simply took this rule on board when I discovered the world of DAW pcs and also have never had a single problem that wasn't caused by PACE/ilok software and resolved by removal of same, bar one instance of a hardware component failure.
 
So, in my little world the keep it off-line team has had a 100% success rate so far, where all the other pc's in the two houses that are used for www stuff have not. Good enough for me.

Really... It's like this....
 
Your DAW is tricking you into using your desktop for surfing the net. I mean really think about it.... You seem powerless to stop because your DAW has you addicted. First, it was downloading software instruments. Next, it was updates. After that, it was looking for the next trick thing to add to your recording set up.
 
It had you from the start and you didn't even know it till it was too late...
 
Just sayin'.....