Swapping Boot Drive

[Neilden6789]

hello everyone-

Ive got kind of a weird problem:

I recently received my fathers old computer that has some data on it that i may need to access in the future, it also has programs on it that i don't have install disks for anymore.
Because the hard drive is somewhat temperamental and i don't want to keep an old desk top laying around, i would like to transfer everything to a new hard drive (ie i could boot from the new drive had have access to all the old software). Then i am going to mount it in my current desktop and hook it up when i need to access it.

So the question is: can i do this? and if i can how would i go about it.

 

[wii-ste]

This is probably more hassle than its worth.

The files and documents I would suggest putting on an external drive/flash drive.

The software is installed on your father's operating system. Your father's operating system is configured to work with his machine (drivers etc). Probability is that his operating system will not work on your PC without a reinstall (in which case you could lose the software you want to save).

What 'old' software would you need to keep? Can you not get new software that does the same?