MB/CPU/RAM/VideoCard Update; Must I format?

[Glenn9643]

My old desktop crashed. FIC PA2013 MB, AMD K6III 450 CPU. I've decided on a Chaintech PCI-E motherboard and AMD 64 3000 CPU, moderate/low priced PCI-E graphics card, and 1g Crucial ram.
In an effort to salvage data on my hard-drive I would like to know if I can get by with starting the system in "safe" mode, removing all hardware drivers from the system, and restarting. Would Windows then pick up the correct information to operate properly with the new hardware?
If not, is there any way to salvage the data as the old system is dead. I hate to have to format and lose it all. Thanks.

 

[Fokks]

What version of Windows is on that drive? Windows XP is pretty good at doing what you're asking, so it's worth a shot. I would recommend a reformat after recovery though.
You apparently have computer access right now, why not just connect your old drive up as a secondary drive on a working system and get your data off that way?

 

[Glenn9643]

Win XP SP2. I'm using a laptop for access right now, so adding the drive as secondary isn't an option. However, I do have a USB external HD kit that I hadn't thought of. It might be safer to hook up that drive to the laptop and copy data I want to save to the laptop. Then replace the boot drive in the desktop with the drive from the USB kit. After setup I should be able to transfer data from the old boot drive via the USB kit.

 

[Raduque]

Couldn't you also just budget in about $90 give or take for a new HD with a faster interface, higher spindle speed, and bigger cache? Then you could connect your old HD as a secondary to the new HD and pull the data like that.


Edit: fixed link