New desk top

[randr]

I am concidering a new computer and want to know if there is a way to move files and programs from the old one to the new one.
My current is running windows 98, is over 4 years old and still runs good. I am just getting a bit nervous about the age of my hard drive.
Any help?

[hobbit709]

1. No real way to move programs

if you're going to upgrade the OS from 98. The easiest way to move the files is to jumper the old drive as a slave and hook it up on the new computer and copy everything you want. If you have a burner on your old one, just make a CD and move it over. You can use a USB jump drive if you don't have any files larger than what the USB drive holds also. The age of the old drive is not as important as what you've done to it. I can wear out a drive in 3 years but I work them hard. I've also had drives that worked fine for 10 years but didn't get worked as hard.

[randr]

2. And a USB jump drive would be?

One of the reasons I need a new computor is that I can no longer copy anything to a CD. For some reason when I start to format a CD it stops after a few minutes.

[FormerDittoHead]

3. You could use one of these $8 cables to transfer your files:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLU-USB-DIRECT&cpc=SCH&srm=0

As was already stated, (almost all) programs have to be INSTALLED into Windows, but this $8 cable will transfer all your files over without having to take apart both computers or even setting up a network connection...

You should keep that "program thing" in mind for the future - programs (usually) can't simply be "backed up" and then restored onto another system.

There ARE a few programs which promise to do it, but the best strategy is to always keep (a copy of) the original install program. You'll then have to (re)install the programs one at a time (I know) into your new system - and there's no workaround if you're moving from one OS (Win98) to another Win2k/XP).

[lpbk2713]

4. That might be because your HDD is almost filled to capacity.

Have you ever cleaned out the extraneous files on your hard drive?

There are a number of free utilities that will do this for you. Check download.com

After you've cleaned out as much as you can, do a defrag.

[randr]

5. I have cleaned the hard drive as a routine

And still have 58% of system resources available.
I think the drives to the cd-r/rw drive are missing.