Hello to all and thanks in advance for your help.

I am planning my new DAW based on the following hardware and software:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Gigabyte K8NS Ultra 939
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
(2) 1GB Crucial DDR400
(1) 160GB Samsung SP1614N (PATA)
(2) 160GB Samsung SP1614C (SATA)
Sony DRU-720A DVD +/-RW

UAD-1 Ultra Pack
Mackie Onyx F400
Alesis Photon X49

Traction 2
Ableton Live 4
Stylus RMX
Scarbee Imperial Drums XL
Scarbee Vintage Keyboard Collection
Native Instruments B4
Native Instruments Pro 53

A few questions:

1) Am I correct in assuming the following hard drive configuration?:

Drive 1 (IDE) - O.S. and Programs (Windows, Live, Traction, NI VSTi's)
Drive 2 (SATA) - Audio files
Drive 3 (SATA) - Samples and Romplers (Stylus, Scarbee)

2) As I will have only one computer and would need to connect to the internet, what is the best way to achieve seperation between the DAW and general purpose parts of the computer? Dual boot? Is it possible in a dual boot configuration to completely isolate the DAW from the perils of being connected to the internet?

3) How should I partition the system drive, i.e., how much space to allocate to what.

Thanks again, your help is greatly appreciated.