I think the power supply is going - sometimes when I turn it on it begins to startup and then dies. I also have a vague feeling that my HD is about to go the way of my power supply. Anyway, besides Quicken data and relatively easy data to back up, how do i deal with much larger bunches of data, like my 500 song files. I don’t have a cd burner so that’s not an option. Is the only option to buy a burner or get another computer and link them before this one dies. What other things should I consider doing? Thanks,
KC
Just get a CD burner. You can pick them up for cheap, around $60 for a top of the line Lite-On 40X CDRW drive, and $5 for a 10pack of 700MB CDRs if you buy them at standard office supply store rip-off prices. If you have a friend with a computer, the necessary harddrive space, and you both have network cards, you can buy a crossover network cable, network the two PCs, and transfer the files over. You can probably find a throwaway CD-RW drive for around $20, though it will be a slower speed, and probably fail within a short time.
There really aren’t any other options that don’t involve borrowing the same hardware mentioned above from a friend.
If you can find a a very good computer hospice, they deal with this sort of thing all the time …(joke)
I think you’d want to ask yourself if you’re buying a new one or going with the “we can repair him -make him: stronger, faster, better” method 
aka repair it again. If you are only worried about your data then this not such a problem as you can’t trade in your old computer to get a discount on your new one and that would provide you your new hardrive to transfer your info on being most harddrives in newer computers have more storage space.
Don’t rule out a CD burner if the music files are your main concern, you wouldn’t have to buy one perse. You just need a new best friend Just borrow one or if you don’t know anyone find someone and befriend them with money to rent it- although I must say CD burners go for next to nothing these days, especially if you have the extra time for a low speed copy.
Basically different storage mediums are going to be my suggestions be it large or small. Things like Jazz drive (1GB) and zip drives(100/250MB) are also an option if you can borrow them as well, they work bit slower than my harddrive in my experience. By far your cheapest solution (really)would be to buy a nice harddrive. Harddrives are one of those things in computers that you can never have enough of and if you don’t feel you need to to install it into your new or old computer in the future it can always be combined with a USB2/USB casing to provide you an exact duplicate of your current hardrive. My thinking was, buy the harddrive, install it in your bays (most computers have more than one space for added storage) set the harddrive as your slave drive and set it up (format and partition it) per the instructions included and voila. No links, no disks, mu-ch quicker. Then it’s only a matter of transferring your files from your master harddrive (the old one) to the slave (the new one). If you decide to burn your computer and enter the rest of what remains into a battlebots episode, just slide out your new harddrive and slip it into your new computer (provided you’re getting one). You might want to include more information on your dilemna as I can’t help but feel I’m guessing on much on your specific situation. Hope this helps.
Tank-out
If you are considering getting a new computer soon, just move the hard drive from the old into the new, copy files over and then use the old hard drive until it fails, or just trash it.
Still a good idea to have some kind of backup strategy for the new rig. I have a hard drive that I use solely for keeping current backups of my main drive. I figure the chances of both failing at the same time are unlikely. The benefit is that backups are very quick and I don’t need to keep switching out media. I also make a hard copy (on a RAM-DVD drive) every few months or so, just as a further precaution - more in the event that the computer itself is stolen.
I had an old computer that I thought was getting a burned out power supply. I dismantled the power supply and found that it was full of cobwebs with a lot of dust. You know, the kind of stuff you see in basements and attics of old dilapidated houses. Well, I cleaned out all that junk with my vacuum and lo and behold, it was like a new power supply. Many times, problems are just because of dust and I suppose spiders who spin the webs and destroy things. My power supply was just shorting out from the webs and dust.
A power supply is cheap. There are three types: AT, ATX and “Special” (like some Dell, HP and other non-standard systems). Depending on your Wattage needs, $15-$40. AT PSs have 2 connectors to the MB, note that “the black wires are back to back”. ATX PSs have one double row connector. Usually held in by just 4 screws and the rest are plug-in connectors. But pay attention to how the switch is connected to.
If you are getting a new computer, the plan of moving the old HD out and into the new PC is a very good one. Read up about jumper settings for master/slave etc. You new PC probably has stuff pre-installed, so you just want to copy the data files. If you have a new blank drive, go for a “partition” copy. Such utils are available from the web site of the new HD maker or comes with it if you buy just the drive.
Besides using 2 network cards and a crossover cable, you can use a parallel or serial comm. cable. Laplink and such programs can do it but Win9X etc. have “direct cable connection” to do file transfers.