At the risk of sounding like an ass, Angel slayer, have you considered getting a mac? You can't Play SFC, but most name brand games are on the mac. Also, no viruses, no spamware, no malware, etc etc, it's considerably more secure than windows, easier to use with alot of nice features. The apple community is very open and helping, also, unlike the PC community at large, where places like this tend to be a very small safe haven for those with PC issues. The point? Though we are lucky to have kind hearted people on these forums, most people using PCs cannot find the type of help we have here. The mac community, though, will help you out in a sinch.
Low end laptops start at $999 at apple, with discounts for students, educators, government employees and veterans.
The new mac mini starts at $499, and will work with your current keyboard and monitor. If you have a CRT, though, you may need an adapter. Not sure how much they are, i think less than $20
On the PC road, store data on a second HD. STOP USIING EXPLORER. Get firefox or something. Maybe netscape. Make sure you have a third party firewall installed and activated. Don't leave you puter on the net when you aren't using it. That's all I can think of right now.
Good luck