Tennesse is having a tax free weekend where there is no sales tax on school supplies, clothes, and computers; so, I'm gonna get me a new desktop because the one I have now is going slower than dirt. However, considering that it's a little over four years old, it's not too surprising. Now I want to be able to put some old stuff; emails, etc.; on the new computer; is there a cable or something that will allow me to transfer the data or will I have to burn the info on a CD? BTW, should I use CD-RW or will CD-R suffice to copy the data?
No cables... you might be able to hook the old HDD into the new computer though.
Other wise CDs are your best ... or you could get a 1GB + flash drive and speed things up. I'd go with CD-Rs over RWs, because it will take 50x longer because you will also need to reformate the RW each time D:
I actually do know of a cable that does this for you, but it costs like $50. At that price, you could just nab a cheap external HDD and use it to port the files over manually... or just manually move the internal HDD into the new computer, either way.
Still, if you want the cable, I believe it has the word "Tornado" on it and I found it at my local Staples (actually my workplace, but still).
I'd tend to go with using CDRs because they are cheap (about 10 for £1) and you'll also have a backup collection of your stuff incase anything goes wrong with either system. Backups ftw! 
Or you could just do the sensible thing and get an Ethernet crossover cable which will set you back maybe $5 or less, connect the two computers together thus networking them, and transfer your stuff directly at nice high network speeds which will be faster than any other method detailed so far. Ask in any good electronics store for one and you should have no problems.
Ethernet crossover cable? Is that just a regular ethernet cable, cause I have one from my DSL modem, another from my wireless router, and one I got when I got my 360, or is that a specific kind of Ethernet cable? Anyone?
Hmmm...my guess is it it's a different kind. But i'm really not too sure man. Sorry. =/
Thanks, Hiro! BTW, my sister's wanting the old computer for her room so I'll have to get a wireless adapter for it, and if I set up a wireless connection between the two computers could that do the transfer or would it still be better to use the Ethernet crossover cable?
Crossover should be better, IMO. Sure, you can do wireless, but the crossover cable will be much faster.
There is an advantage to using CD-Rs though, I've found. And that is, you have limited space. Yes, that's an advantage. Or at least, you can turn it into one.
How? Easy. Since you're limited by space, you really think twice over everything you move over to your next computer. I found that's an excellent way to clear out a good gigabyte or two of old files, photos, music, videos, etc., that you know you'll never read/watch/listen/use again, but would probably just shrug and move anyway otherwise.
Naturally, you could just go through your files and delete them anyway, but I find some people, myself included, work better at that when they have that kind of incentive. =P
