Long post from a beginner with a Jamma Cab

[willmame]

Hi, sorry for this long and constant barrage of questions, I'm new to this and have read so many guides recently my head is spinning and I could do with a little clarification.  If someone could offer any advice, I would be most grateful!

Bought a Jamma Cabinet (2 sticks, 6 buttons per player plus P1 start, P2 start) which I want to use the controls and monitor, and add a couple of extra buttons for emulator functionality (Exit [ESC], Options [TAB], Credit [5]).  Are there any other buttons I should add?

Have an old PC powerful enough to run all but the most recent games running a clean XP install from a 9 gig drive, which has a 20 gig drive that I am hoping to keep my Mame collection on.

What is the best way of removing roms from a collection so that I can fit it all on the 20 gig drive?  Would removing clones be the way to go?  Is there an easy/safe way of doing this?  Will there be any issues of having the Emu & front-end on the boot drive, but the roms on a second drive?

Any recommendation for front-ends?  Frontend needs to work on WinXP and be extremely easy to set-up and use.  Would like it to boot and hide Windows as much as possible (but would obviously need to get at Windows later if I need to make changes to my set-up).  Would prefer one that I can use to run multiple systems with later (might add C64 games to the cabinet at a later date).  GameEx looks awesome (with the videos, screenshots, favourites/recent lists, etc), but also looks like it might be difficult to set up.

I haven't yet bought J-Pac and ArcadeVGA but in the next few days I might have the chance of getting an old version 1 card cheap - are there any major differences between the two cards?  Would the old card work fine?  Does the new card make things any easier to get set-up?  (Trying to do this on a budget)  I've read some horror-stories about installing ArcadeVGA - Would it simply be a matter of getting my set-up working with the PC's existing gfx card, then switching the ArcadeVGA in and installing that last, or should I install the ArcadeVGA first?

Setting up J-Pac - is it as simple as fitting it in the Jamma slot, connecting it to ArcadeVGA, and everything should work?  Is it easy to get the complete set of player buttons working?

Am I going about this the completely wrong way?

Help

Thanks!

[willmame]

Been reading some more guides...  should I forget XP altogether and use Win98SE ? 

Thanks!

[vidmouse]

Bought a Jamma Cabinet (2 sticks, 6 buttons per player plus P1 start, P2 start) which I want to use the controls and monitor, and add a couple of extra buttons for emulator functionality (Exit [ESC], Options [TAB], Credit [5]).  Are there any other buttons I should add?

A pause button would be good.  Also if you plan to add any other controls (trackball, et al)
you will need buttons for those.
I peronally liked pinball buttons on the front and side of my cab too.
If you don't plan on using a coin door mechanism you will need buttons
to give player credits or set all games to free play.

Have an old PC powerful enough to run all but the most recent games running a clean XP install from a 9 gig drive, which has a 20 gig drive that I am hoping to keep my Mame collection on.

What is the best way of removing roms from a collection so that I can fit it all on the 20 gig drive?  Would removing clones be the way to go?  Is there an easy/safe way of doing this?  Will there be any issues of having the Emu & front-end on the boot drive, but the roms on a second drive?

Shouldn't be any issues with what you said.  And I think 20 GB is enough to hold complete romsets.
If you're still stuck on trying to weed out clones, try CLRMamepro to organize your romsets.

Any recommendation for front-ends?  Frontend needs to work on WinXP and be extremely easy to set-up and use.  Would like it to boot and hide Windows as much as possible (but would obviously need to get at Windows later if I need to make changes to my set-up).  Would prefer one that I can use to run multiple systems with later (might add C64 games to the cabinet at a later date).  GameEx looks awesome (with the videos, screenshots, favourites/recent lists, etc), but also looks like it might be difficult to set up.

I haven't used GameEx.  I've used MameWah and Mala and prefer Mala.
Hiding Windows is really more a function of how you setup Windows vs what
front end you use.  Per the question in your second post, it is easier to hide
Windows (load screens and such) using Win98SE than XP, but it can be
done in either.