PC requirements for LNC?

Windows XP is no longer being produced as of last month but you may still find it available at places with large inventory. They were going to still let large companies like Dell install it and Microsoft is going to continue making patches/support/upgrades for it.

You need a computer that will do what you need it to do without being bogged down and taking forever to think. If you get a legal software program and other complementary softwary programs you will need large amt of free hard drive space in addition to the RAM. The best that you can afford, even if you don't think you'll need it is the best way to go and not have a frustrating surprise later.

You can start out on your "home" computer but there is a caveat: you could get a subpoena to submit the computer you did work on for inspection.

As a consulting expert, generally your work is not discoverable. But should you attend a medical evaluation or do any expert work - that is always discoverable.

As one LNC on another forum found out recently - they have requested EVERYTHING she has: billing of clients, client list, etc. - things that generally are not discoverable.

To be safe, it is better to have a separate computer for work unless you want someone to be able to see all the info on your personal home computer.

Also, when you take certain deductions for taxes, the IRS is very strict about keeping personal and work stuff separately, including computer usage.

Exactly, RN1989.

I would never consider working on any computer that blended business/personal issues.

Also, one needs an external hard drive to back up all work. I learned the hard way. Embarrassing to say, I had only about half of my business backed up and suffered a systems failure complete with hours and hours and hours of tech support which resulted in losing EVERYTHING I had on the computer.

So, I invested in an external hard drive and never ever fail to back up everything.........and, often.

XP you can still buy, if you buy a new PC you may need to "downgrade" it to Windows XP. I take issues with vista as it does not "play" well with some of my software, Casemap has issues sometimes, and Dragon Naturally Speaking it has issues with. If you do not have to many peripherals that are old, IE printers, scanners etc. then Vista should be ok. If you use a backup harddrive as someone suggested, definitely encrypt the data.

Dell makes decent laptops, in house service where they come to you. Agian caution if you buy it from a chain store, make sure your coverage allows for in home repair, otherwise say good buy to your laptop for a month or 2.

If you do a lot on the road with your laptop, I use an IBM Lenovo Think pad, it has encryption, fingerprint scanner and everthing built in, harddrive drop protection. For home use I just bought an off the shelf HP laptop with 3 GB of RAM, large harddrive, for $800.00 so there is a lot out there, I know we should not recomend one product over another on the forum so I won't, please feel free to contact me if you need more information.