What was I thinking?

Ever been so fucking OBSESSED that it persistently clouds your judgements and every decision seems "rational"? I think the last two weekends have been like that with that bloody media PC. I was up until after 3am last night trying to get WIN 7 to consistently work on the reconstructed media pc. It does, but "blue screens" all the time, especially on windows updates! :(
After establishing that a linux install can...

1. access my home network; and
2. play sound and video OK

...I've wiped the Win Partition and am going to replace it with Ubuntu/Mint.This does of course mean even MORE time spent on setting up, but this time around I know there's a finite limit to it (instead of a bottomless pit of obsession that kills off all over activityZ).

Finally

We Have Mint Linux. I debated installing Ubuntu, but Mint runs better on the Lounge PC. Whichever idiot had the default audio/sound settings set to MUTE should be blown up!