On my custom machine I have typed the codes in and I have run a Cat5 to the computer to let it register, and then I disconnect it.  My DAW has no anti-virus software or firewall on it. 

And at 3 years old now... it still runs as fast as the day I first turned it on. 

kmchiodo@optusnet.com.au


thanks herb, i tried but failed as have many others,but its all good, i am loving the sound of my guitar[ibaneze les paul] going straight in.also pulling out my old stomp boxes to try.baz

 if you happen to have any old line 6 hardware lying around like a pod xt live you can download gearbox from line 6. once you install it copy the dlls from the vst line 6 folder into the Sonar default folder. Now you have an amp sim to get you buy until you can try some others
 
If you have any Pod X3 device you can download pod farm for free and use that. Same thing copy the dlls uinto the default cakewalk vst folder.
 
The Pod hardware will need to be plugged in USB in order to unlock the features. You will find gear box to be even with amplitude. Pod Farm will be better than both of those. Right now you can find some of those old Pod devices pretty cheap on craigs list.
 
Everyone wants to upgrade to the HD series.

thanks for replys. have been reading as much as i can about music only pc,looks like guitarhacker has it sorted,no internet,anti virus etc .i asked the i/t guy about this he told me no need as computers are a lot more powerful now.might try another i/t guy.can you explain cat5  also do you have extra usb2 ports or usb3 as well. any info very welcome as i dont wont to overspend nor do i want to send the thing back if not up to it.

thanks for replys. have been reading as much as i can about music only pc,looks like guitarhacker has it sorted,no internet,anti virus etc .i asked the i/t guy about this he told me no need as computers are a lot more powerful now.might try another i/t guy.can you explain cat5  also do you have extra usb2 ports or usb3 as well. any info very welcome as i dont wont to overspend nor do i want to send the thing back if not up to it.

have no line6 gear just boss peddles and tech21 gt2 sansamp  +wahs. line6 hd mmmmm...hd. i suppose the previous stuff should be able to get good price soon.

Cat 5 simply refers to the basic internet cable ..... yeah the computer has a bunch of USB ports on the front and the back.

If I download a file from the net I use one of my other internet connected computers and run a virus checker on that file then load it to a USB stick to make the transfer. The USB stick gets a virus scan as well. 

USB is USB2

are you saving files to exterernal hard drive as well?

yeah... I use an external hard drive for back up purposes.  All the samples and audio files are on an internal storage drive but I use the external as a backup 

thanks,herb realability is a big factor,will look at options.a music only  pc is the prefered and if yours has proved itself for over 3 years,hope to get something similar.maybe not that price.