I want to build a new computer, but i want to keep my harddrive, is there any way to just transfer the harddrive to the new computer?

 

Yeah, just un plug all the cables remove the screws holding it in. Then just reverse the process on your new computer

 

If your old HDD is IDE (long rectangle plug with one pin missing in the middle, and a ribbon cable), make sure that your new Motherboard that you are going to buy supports IDE, as some new MB's only support SATA (the intel 975 chipset, if memory serves). If this is the case, you can retrieve all your data from the old HDD, by getting a USB enclosure (about $25) that supports IDE, and put your old HDD in it, then using USB (or firewire for that matter) you can access the old HDD on the new PC.

 

yes my old hard drive is ide. I thought that becuase of the hardware configuration that you couldnt just move harddrives from one system to another

 

It may or may not work. This is the way it use to be years ago --- The problem is that the boot info is usually on the same drive and it is NOT part of the normal formatted data area. I remember that some people would install a small primary hard drive to configure the boot and OS. Then add their old drive as a secondary drive so they did not loose all of their data. I believe that there is a setting on the drive for primary and secondary IDE device

 

You may luck out and Windows will plug and play all of the new hardware it sees on the first boot in the new computer. But chances are the motherboard chipset is so different, it won't boot at all.

If you want your old data, just install the drive as a secondary drive in the new computer. Then you can access the drive and copy all of your old data to the new drive in the new computer, or just leave it as a secondary drive.

You may need to take ownership of your old files, before you are allowed to access them.

EDIT: Newman beat me to the punch...

 

If you are going to run your hard drive as a secondary device you just need to follow the jumper settings on the back of the hard drive, and plug it in to the secondary IDE slot on the mother board. When I built my new computer it came with both IDE, and SATA hard drive connections. So it depends on the mobo you choose to use for your build.