This is the last forum for my research on this project, everyone's advice here has always been most helpful. Although i haven't needed too much advice lately (since linux is sooo stable !) I have an old pentium 3 with ide hdd that i have been using for many years. It is a little slow (to say the least) especially running multiple apps. I was just given a dell optiplex mini form factor w/pentium 4 and sata drive connectors. (*no hdd*). It looks like there are two options here; i can get ide to sata connectors and use my old drive so nothing really changes and it seems easy, however the hdd is old (maybe 10 years) so i risk eventual hardware failure. or i can get a sata drive and copy everything to it. seems best way to me. not that much more expensive. will last longer etc. question: if i go for option two, is there a way to copy (like mirror) my old drive stuff to the new one so it works and looks the same to me???, if so how do i do that? (the old computer does not have a working cdrw) or do i need to do a new install and copy my files over :( thanks for your patience and help in advance. -- betty i. www.webcanine.com information for people who care for dogs. --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss