I thought I had this figured out, but now I'm not so sure. My plan was to have a writeable CD-ROM temporarily installed in my old computer (it will then be permanently installed in my new system) and burn some CD-ROMs with the things I want to save. Four questions:

1. Would my old system (Pentium II, 233 MHz) probably have enough power to do this?

2. Win 95 partitioned the hard drive into three sections. Would there be any problems copying things from different partitions and then pasting all into C:\ (or the appropriate folder) in the new system (things like "Bookmarks" or "Address Book").

3. Would it be preferable to use the original installation disks for commercial software and reinstall rather than copying the program on a CD-ROM and pasting it in?

4. If I don't have the original installation disk, would copying it via CD-ROM also work?

I can answer a couple of your questions. Question 1 is a "yes" as I have seen a 200MHz processor burn CDROM's. Just make sure you have the CD's. Question 3 - It is preferable to use the software that came with the program to install on a new computer. You can go either route, but I would personally use the software that the manufacturer sends.

On your question 2, I don't foresee a problem, but since I have never done this with a partitioned drive, I don't know. For question 4, some programs will copy fine and others will not. That is more of a trial and error scheme. Hope this helps some.

Since you are thinking about a new system, perhaps the time has come for a complete update, including the OS and software. Windows 95 may not be suitable for a new system. However, If you want to try using Windows 95, I'd suggest a fresh installation of it on the new computer. A reinstallation of your programs from the manufacturers disks would also be the thing to do.

Use the CD rewriter only to copy to a disk(s) all your created work, files, downloads and anything else that might be difficult to replace.

Copying everything across to the new system as a working operating system isn't likely to be successful. It could conceivably work but the whole installation might end up very messy and buggy. It would involve installing extra drivers, files etc from the installation disk (providing it has them). This is because an operating system installation is tailored to the hardware in the particular computer it is installed on.

Also, to make the transfer, it would be necessary to get hold of some sort of drive imaging software. I'm not sure how these cope with copying a drive complete with partitions. I don't think partioning will be necessary on the new system.

In summary, I'd say that new installation is the course to take. It gets rid of any bugs or malware and dross the system may have gathered over the years. No point in transferring that to a new computer. Be prepared for Windows 95 possibly being a bit too dated to run on a newer computer.

EDIT: Depending on where you get your new system, XP may come pre-installed. Unfortunately, some older software isn't suitable for XP. The good news is that XP does have a feature called 'Compatibility Mode' for installing older software. This can often work OK.

I recently went through a similar procedure when I bought a computer with Windows XP. Instead of moving the new CD writer to the old machine I moved the hard drive from the old PC to the new one. If its a tower case there's normally space and connections for a second drive. Once it was in place I copied all my created files and downloads to the new drive - much quicker than burning a CD.

As TW recommends it's wiser to install software from the original disks as there are often important changes made to the Registry during the installation process. After I had copied all the files I wanted to keep to the new drive I formatted the old one and left it in my new PC as a backup and regularly copy files I can't afford to lose to the backup drive. Hard drives can fail suddenly and without warning - even new ones - but with this arrangement I'll always have the backup.

I don’t think you said what you new operating system is, I will assume XP.
I transferred some files from one of my old compute with The CD temporally installed in the old computer. But I agree Installing the old HD in the new computer is easy and will allow you to copy what ever you want to your new disk or just keep the old HD installed. If your new operating system is XP I doubt many programs will launch from any drive other than C.
With widows 95, you may have some DOS programs, I still do. And they will copy and work. I don’t think any copied windows program will work without being installed from an install program.
And,, lots of programs that worked with 95 will not work with xp.
If you have downloaded programs on your old hard dive they may install from those file, but with a newer operating system it is not likely.
Good luck.
Jax

You could always have the old hard drive moved into the new computer - either replacing the new one or being the 'slave' (secondary) harddrive. You wouldn't need to move any files this way.

If you want to keep the old harddrive in the old computer, I'd suggest what others have been saying - just reinstall the programs with the installation disks and put the *personal files* you need on the CD. What I've found is that when you try to copy all the files on your computer onto a CD, it misses the hidden files. (Sort of like when you try to copy some installation CDs - you need a program like Nero to find all the files.)

Also, Windows XP and newer versions of your programs will run better and faster than your old programs. Even Windows 98 and 2000 were improvements upon 95, and XP has fixed much of the instability that was in Windows 2000 (although I still never really had a problem with ME, I'm actually happier with XP).

If some of your programs don't work with XP, you can always see if there are free/cheap upgrades or you could use a website like download.com or tucows.com and download some free programs.

Edit to add: One tip I started doing is that whenever I download a program for my computer, I keep the install file in a specific folder. Then, when I backup my computer, I know exactly where they all are and can put them on a CD. If my harddrive ever crashes or I get a new ocmputer, I won't really have to spend a whole ton of time downloading programs, I can just install them and update them later when I have time.

It sounds like installing the old hard disk in my new computer would be the way to go. But I've heard conflicting advice on leaving it in there. The "yes" people say it could be a backup drive in case the main drive fails. The "no" people say my computer will default to the "slowest speed" (not sure what this means). My new system will have an AMD processor. Any advice?

It can slow your computer down if you use the old disk on the same bus (cable) as the newer faster drive. If the secondary drive is put on the secondary IDE socket of the motherboard, it won't slow things down.

When the drives are fixed and wired into place, the computer should boot from the new disk because it is the master (primary) drive on the primary IDE cable. This is providing the operating system has been previously installed on the primary drive. I have seen a computer get confused by the fact that there were two entire operating systems on both disks. However, I'm not sure how the jumper plugs were set on the disks. The friend who owned the computer wasn't sure either. It could have been something to do with that. Probably safer to set the second drive to 'Slave' on the secondary IDE cable, at least to start with.

It isn't desirable or necessary to have a whole operating system on the second disk. Whilst you could just delete all the unwanted/unneeded files, it would be better to rescue all the files you do want from it and place them on the primary (C:\) drive or a CD and then format the secondary drive. Programs, as discussed already, should be re-installed on the new drive rather than copied across.

If you decide to just delete the files, it might be necessary to do it in Safe Mode since Windows may see some files as system ones and not let you delete them. Difficult to say for sure until you try it.

It is easy in XP to format a drive from within Windows. Go to: Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management. Choose the secondary disk right click on it and chose 'Format'. I think you may also be able to format a secondary drive from within Windows 95 (if you plan on continuing to use that). If you can't, Fdisk will have to be used from outside of Windows.

When the format is complete, the old (secondary) drive is clean and ready to use for storing files, downloads etc on.

EDIT: Re-hashed first paragraph.