I am moving a zillion humungobytes of stuff from the old computer {OS: WinME] over to the new Presario {XP, Media Edition.] Can I put the old hard drive into the new machine as a second drive, then open XP and cherry pick stuff fromt he old drive? If so, would XP use its own file management/explorer to view the old disk? Thanks very much.

Yes, but you will only be able to transfer the data files and no installed program files The easy way would be to use a crossover cable between the two and use the transfer wizard located at ; start>all programs>accessories>system tools In The Matters Of Style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, Stand Like A Rock

If you are capable of installing the drive as a slave then that is the way to go. It will show up in "My Computer" just as your current drive does (probably called "C:") and you can just go in and move stuff from it to your primary drive ("C:"). On a side note, if you don't need the old computer anymore, you could just ,eave the hard rive installed as a slave permanently and not even worry about copying files. -Ryan Adams http://members.cox.net/rtadams89/

Great, thanks very much for those replies. I've switched a hard drive out before, which seemed rather like changing a car battery. I 'have' to copy data files, because we are re-installing programmes from CDs, and have already done a few. Hmmmmm......... I thought that you could transfer data but not programmes, or maybe techies won't do it for copyright reasons, which I respect. Of course, some programmes have files in a hundred places around the computer, so I suppose that is another reason for doing an install from disks and then data transfer,yes? It's transferring the hundred bits of data which is problematic.

Each program has associated entries in the windows Registry. That's why they can't be copied and have to be installed. Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

As said several times, you will have to reinstall programs from the install disks. Copying files only applies to things such as MP3s, Word Documents, pictures, etc. -Ryan Adams http://members.cox.net/rtadams89/

You usually need to reinstall programs because apart from files being put all over the place (like the windows system directory) the install process will write loads of things to the registry, which won't be on your new system's registry. Another option for the old disk is to buy a USB enclosure for it (not expensive) and run it as an external drive. Once you have copied your old files off it, use it as a backup drive, the advantage being that you can physically separate it from your PC and store your backup data safely away from the machine.