Screw CD's for storing data. a 8gig flash drive costs $20 and will hold everything you could ever want and more (most likely)

A 1 gig can be found for less then $10

~Nate

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Yep, I'd use a flash drive (or portable hard drive) those are big and cheap too. The question remains which is better for archival storage. I'd probably say hard drive....powered down and stored in a safe dry location the data could probably last close to forever on one....

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O.K I moved all of my stuff into My Documents.But i am running Firefox and everything i moved is in FF.When i transfer them into new computer [without ff installed] what will happen to all of that stuff?

Over time computers collect a variety of items which increases the time that the computer needs to scans things. In addition, programs are added, the search path is sometimes altered and there is an endless series of viruses and spyware which may play a role as well. They can all conspire to make the computer dreadfully slow

Four year old computers are highly subject to a variety of failures. First is the hard drive, next the power supply, next the fans. Often the video card will go as well. These all represent the state of the art in planned obsolescence and will fail starting at about 3 years. As the fans age their cooling ability slowly diminishes and as that goes the wear of other parts accelerates If you want to successfully extend the life of the computer, replace these parts.

If you are competent you can DIY for about $200. Next rebuild the OS, install service packs and programs and use it for another 4 years. If you are not competent, just get a new computer.

Re adding memory, this is a good idea to help speed up to a point. Most computers of your vintage will accommodate a max of about 4GB and only use about 3.5 Gb. Some will accommodate more. Windows XP has it’s own memory limitations too.

I take the above to mean that you wish to save your bookmarks for use on the "new" machine.

Go to "bookmarks", "organize bookmarks", "import and backup", "backup" and save the bookmarks into a folder under "my documents". When the machine is running again, you restore the bookmarks from this location.

O.K Bookmarks was my next question which you just answered.What about all of the shortcuts,files,ect i transfered into My Documents that are FF?

I just purchased a new(refurbed) Dell 530 desktop. 4gb memory, Intel dual core 2.4 processor, 350gb hard drive, CD/DVD RW drive, 19 in 1 memory card reader, Vista home premium. Full mfg 1 year warranty w/in home service.

$281 dollars tax and shipping included. For that price, upgrading my 4 y/o desktop wasn't worth the effort or expense.

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Must i install FF first before downloading My Doc.?

I'm not understanding the question. When you state that "shortcuts", "files", "etc." are FF.......I don't grasp what you are doing.......??

All of my important sites such as Bank for paying bills,my stocks,this forum etc.are on my desktop in a shortcut.I sent all of them to My Documents.Since i am running Firefox,everything in My Doc. is in FF. When i get my new HP with Vista it will not have FF installed.

Firstly, all of your important sites should probably be in the Firefox bookmarks. The shortcut simply directs the machine to those bookmarks. You can easily recreate the shortcut back onto the desktop from the bookmark.

However, if you saved the shortcuts somewhere in "my documents", you'll be able to easily restore the shortcuts to the desktop after the reinstall. But, first you'll need to go and get Firefox and install it. Then, you'll need to get the bookmarks and restore them. Finally, you restore the desktop shortcuts and they should properly work with the reinstalled bookmarks.

It's a bit of a process when you do it for the first time.

Thanks for the great info.