Can I do this?

[HOCP4ME]

I have alot of information on my current system that I want to keep when I build my new system. (Might be today, or Monday). So, rather than spend hours putting everything I want to keep on a stack of CDs, spend hours more opening every file on the CDs to make sure they copied correctly, then get my new PC set up and realize I forgot something...etc.
So, I thought I would just put my old hard drive into my new system, along with the new drive. Then, I would gradually move the things I wanted to save from the old drive to the new, until I knew I was finished, when I would take the old drive out. The thing is, I don't want any spyware, adware, or viruses copying themselves to my new drive, and I really don't want the PC to try to boot from the old drive. So is there a way in Windows XP Pro X64 to make the old drive act like a really big CD, so that nothing can access it except me? So that it would be like the entire drive was in one big .ZIP file, unable to do anything until I "extract" the files I want from it?

 

[StorageJoe]

Throw the old drive in as a slave drive / second drive ect. Boot from the new drive. Then transfer everything you want off. As long as you boot from the new drive you'll be fine.

 

[TeeJayHoward]

I agree. Just install windows and antivirus on the new drive, and slave out the old one. Run a virus scan on the old drive, and copy everything you need over. So long as you don't copy the Windows directory, Documents and Settings, or Program Files, nothing spyware related will copy itself over.

 

[hulksterjoe]

moving things like data will work fine.. but if you had an installed app on the old drive you just cant drag and drop the folder, you'll need to reinstall it

 

[HOCP4ME]

Okay, thanks. Oh, and yes I know that you can't copy over programs, I'm only copying data.