External hard drives are very good for that too John. I have three computers going & have two externals that I transfer back & forth.. all except for one computer which simply will NOT interface with it. All are XP & have adequate memory etc..just one of the GRRRR moments with computers
That's generally what I do with my original hard drive when I'm reinstalling to a new drive: I put the old drive in a USB-connected external drive adapter. That way, copying my old data is pretty easy.