Well, thanks for a multitude of answers: I’m not confused, nope….
I’m collating your comments into a Word document so that I can respond “intelligently”!
Lizzie:-
The way I do it is to load all your old files onto a portable hard drive called a "Passport" , then upload those files onto your new system. That way you also have your files saved on back up which is a big advantage.
Ron:-
I don’t have a Passport thingy and cannot afford one after buying presents for my Omega over the last few months!
Deviator:-
If you are comfortable moving a hard drive from PC to PC, then it's straight forward.
YES, I CAN DO THAT.
Otherwise, if both computers can access the internet, then there is a network link between them.
NOT SURE IF BOTH COULD – I HAVE “SKY WIFFY”
As mentioned above, that is probably the easiest method, but you need to buy a HDD. This isn't a bad thing, as you should keep a backup of stuff anyway.
BUYING ANYTHING IS NOT AN OPTION AT THE MOMENT…..
With regards 'not taking the operating system', under c: drive, there is a 'Documents and Settings' folder under that should be a folder of the same name as the username you log in with. All of your Docs etc; SHOULD be under here. Please note, there is no easy way to transfer installed programs from one computer to the other.
HMM, I FEAR THAT I MIGHT MAKE A HORLIX OF THAT!
Entwood:-
1) If your "new" PC has the correct connections for additional hard drives .. and your old ones are probably IDE connectors, just use the cables you have now and plug the old drives into the new system, then you can copy and paste the files from the old drives to your new one.
NOT SURE ABOUT THAT AS I HAVE YET TO OPEN THE CASE – IT’S AN ACER X1430
2) If your new system only has the smaller "SATA" connections then this article might help, but it will involve buying a few bits and bobs
AS ABOVE, I DON’T KNOW YET.
https://www.howtogeek.com/182452/how-to-get-data-off-an-old-hard-drive-without-putting-it-in-a-pc/3) Lastly, dead simple but very time consuming ... if the "old" system still works and has a USB socket .. plug in a portable memory stick and copy and paste all the files, in turn from the old one to the new one ... easy to do but will take a while
I HAVE A 32GB MEMORY CARD, SO THAT COULD WORK.
BTW .. have thought of option 4) .I have something similar to one of these that I use for getting data off customers systems when they have problems ... very useful piece of kit .. Mine cost a tad more but this would probably work for you ...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-5-3-5-IDE-SATA-USB-2-0-Dual-HDD-Hard-Drive-Disk-Docking-Station-Base-GT/282828125803AH, NOW IN A SAFE PLACE SOMEWHERE (VERY SAFE AT THE MOMENT!) I BOUGHT ONE OF THOSE DOCKING STATIOINS AGES AGO, BUT DIDN’T TRY TO USE IT. IF I CAN FIND IT…..
TheBoy:-
I suspect the old XP is PATA, and new one SATA, so simply putting the disks in new machine might be challenging
YES; MAYBE THAT DOCKING HUB COULD HANDLE THAT?
To move shit like this for a non techie, I'd probably consider cloud sync type services, if the t'interweb speed is decent enough. Zirk seems to be our resident "find freebie cloud storage" guru...
I DO HAVE AN ENGINEERING BACKGROUND, BUT IN GENERAL ELECTRONICS AND RADI9O, NOT COMPUTING – CAN YOU TELL?
Ron.