upgrading e521 PC

[HATEMYDELL]

HI,I am going to upgrade my other e521 DELL and heres what i am going to do which is about the same thing i did with the first e521 DELL.
Put in a 500watt PSU, WIN7, SEAGATE SSHD HDD,the PC is using WINXP and what i want do is a 64GB USB to download all of the data off of the WINXP OS as i have about 54GB'S of data right
and if understand it right i should be able to download all of the data to the USB then transfer it to the new HDD is my thinking right.
I used a external HDD TO DOWNLOAD the data off of the other e521 had and trouble with the x-ternal HDD so thought using a USB will be easier,thank's

 

[C12Friedman]

Using a USB jump drive to transfer data is a very sound way to go IMO. You should be aware that you will not be able to move programs (most require an install routine) but data of all sorts can be copied and moved that way. I might suggest that after transferring the data, you simply put away the jump drive with that data still on it (just as back up)

 

[HATEMYDELL]

HI,C12Freidman,By programs are you saying things like MALWARE,VIRIUS,if so then what i should do is write down all of the names of each program then after doing WIN7 install start going thru my list and go straight to supplier and do a new install of each of the ones i want to keep which will also give all updates hopefully also it suggested to unplug the HDD that has WINXP on it as that is what i did on the other WIN7 install.
Is there any particular reason why the programs can not be put on a USB drive,thank's

 

[C12Friedman]

Although programs can be put on the jump drive, most require an install routine that isn't available from what is on the computer preventing simple drag and drop copying. If the files are there for setup (like downloaded zip files that contain the setup routine) those would be good to transfer since once brought over they can be installed fresh but they will need to be installed

 

[HATEMYDELL]

thank you