Oh, also, I take your point about MS ceasing to support XP, but if you're using the machine as a dedicate music server, then presumably you'll not be connected to the net, and this will obviously diminish the potential exposure to risks.

That's interesting, thanks for that Shane. Yup, getting three to four hours out of mine too, not bad considering it must be at least seven years old now. Netbooks may not be all that speedy but I can honestly say it has been the most reliable and dependable computer I have ever owned. With XP installed and 2gb of memory onboard it fairly flies along, as long as one doesn't expect miracles of it, for example, running AutoCAD might challenge its capabilities somewhat...   Another thing, it would boot up into XP in around 15 to 20 seconds which is pretty impressive for such a lowly specced machine.

A fair point Alan so let me clarify why I'm confident about using it for its intended purpose:

1: It was purchased as a back-up machine in case my main lappy went west so has seen minimal use (In fact it has out-lived two laptops since I bought it).

2: It will be playing files stored on two, two terabyte WD external hard drives which hold all my media files and their back-ups.

3: The only software to be installed on the machine will be that which it needs to play those files.

4: I don't believe in chucking perfectly serviceable equipment in the bin if it is still of use and working to spec. And finally...

5: Last December the netbooks hard drive failed, However because I had the foresight to take out an extended warranty, which I renewed a couple of years ago, the servicing company installed a new one for me and also replaced the screen as it had a patch of dead pixels down in the bottom, lefthand corner.

I think that just about covers it...

For interest, I have just put a Samsung 830 SSD into an old Samsung N210 Plus netbook. For a laugh, I put W8.1 on it too, to see if it would work. It found all the drivers (including graphics, usually the stumbling block for older machines) and installed perfectly. It's pretty fast and very stable. Impressive!

This one is going back to my partner's daughter, but it would make a very nice music server.

Now then, reconfiguring a netbook with an SSD and Linux makes a lot of sense.

If anyone is looking for an inexpensive SSD to play with, the Sandisk range are fine, I have had one running in an auxiliary computer for a couple of years. Performance is good.

You need to try it Dave to be blunt, as it does make a difference and not just from a speed/performance angle. If you are serious about getting the best from a FBA system, it needs a bit of an investment trying things out, but I have tried pretty much all combinations of drives (SSD & mechanical), different partitions, running drives from the MOBO and powering independently with a linear PSU, USB and via a network server. Netbooks and laptops are a quick workaround and easy option for many as they have one so don't need to do much, but again they can often hamper the sonic abilities - there is far too much going on in a laptop/netbook that can have a detrimental effect on the sound, you can improve them but it takes work. Linux is a good option but not for the faint hearted as this needs some knowledge if you don't know it or patience to learn it. But a tiny footprint server running Voyage MPD (like Keith does on AoS) will raise eyebrows amongst many regarding its sound quality and cost. For me I have found the best option (and this suits my personal circumstances, YMMV) is a dedicated board running nothing except the O/S (I use a tweaked Windows 8), fanless so silent and no interference from moving parts, an mSATA SSD for the O/S and media player software (I use JRiver 17 and am still happy with it having tried many alternatives) and a mechanical HDD out of the case on a long SATA cable and powered independently by a linear supply, I use a linear PSU (or occasionally a 12v battery) for the server, I am using mains power now as battery takes too much effort and I just want to listen to the music. I run it headless via the JRiver Gizmo app on an Android tablet, I don't like to have device drivers for unnecessary things like a monitor, keyboard or mouse - its lean and to me it makes difference, again YMMV. I have yet to try Server 2012 booted from a USB stick, but that is apparently as good as it gets with a Windows setup. Using a quality board can also make a difference regarding 'noise' from low quality components. I have stopped tinkering for now and have arrived at a happy medium of sound quality vs useability, as it can be never ending.

I read elsewhere you thought Foobar was better sonically than JRiver? I think you have missed something here or maybe it wasn't configured correctly, Foobar is certainly simple to use (and free), but as for audio performance you are in a minority that thinks it betters JRiver, that certainly has not been the case for me and I so wanted it to be, as I didn't want to spend the money!

If you want to do it well the only advice I can give is try things out, especially if you don't want to throw a lot of money at it. I'm reluctant to get into a protracted 'advice giving scenario' and from past experience it was taking up too much of my time and the net result is often a full inbox of requests, which I don't like to ignore as its a popular choice for audio these days. I have a lot on my plate right now - later on maybe I can get into it more

I did it alone by testing and reading loads on the net (there's plenty on AoS between posts made by myself, Welder and Gazjam) and the Computeraudiophile forum of course. But try stuff out before dismissing it thinking well that can't possibly make a difference . . . often it doesn't, but sometimes you will be surprised.