Need Web Hosting Help

[NewAtThis]

Well i'm not much of a software man, more into hardware. But recently I have been trying to get back into programming, and software and such. I had a class where I learned html and some xml and such. But I never continued in that direction. Recently I have been getting into web desgin and started my own webpage on geocities for my book, and games I make in flash. But I decided I want my own web address and rather than paying geocities to host it I was hoping to turn my old computer into a dedicated server so to speak. But I must admit I do not completly know how to go about this. I know apache is one thing I will need because its a web server. Will I need php and mySql aswell? How do I go about this, and where on the site do I download the apache file? All I saw on the mirror section was change the mirror, no links to actually download it unless I missed it. Any help and or links would be helpfull. And sorry if this is a repetitive question.

[filburt1]

It will be easier if you simply pay for hosting. It ranges from ~$3 a month to, well, hundreds of millions. This site costs $163/year to host at http://www.hostmatters.com/ .

You'll also need a domain name. I strongly recommend http://www.namecheap.com/. The domain name is what people will enter in their browser, and the hosting is where your files will acutally be stored and publicly accessible.

[planetgman]

Yes, good advice.........don't try and do it on your own.

For most novice people that I come across, I tell them to just use GoDaddy.com.
Most people consider them the anti-christ in this industry, but for a novice you can do everything there (domain, hosting, email, etc.) Plus, they have a pretty good customer service department.

Good luck....