I am thinking about building a computer. MY current one is getting a little old and things are starting to go wrong on it and I have a few questions for anyone who knows how to build them.
I am going to get a new case, motherboard, CPU, fan, and Ram and try and swap the rest from my current computer. I am wondering if I can take my current harddrive and place it in the new system without erasing everything on it. What would I need to do.
Logan, I have done this many times. It is a touch and go operation. If you are using 98 or ME, have your Installation disk handy. There are differences in MB's (PCI bridges, USB drivers, etc.) that may require drivers and files other than what is already on the hard drive. You may need the driver disk for the new MB as well, since these drivers and files may not be on the 98 or ME disk. With 2000 or XP, this is usually not a problem, since they load almost every darn file on the disk during install! 8)
My recommendation is to buy a new HD, the same size or larger and dupe the disk using a disk-duping utility like Drive Copy, Drive2Drive, etc. I use Migrate Easy. You get two things out of this. 1) you won't have to worry about messing up your original configuration, in case you have to revert back to your old pc for some reason. 2) you now have a complete backup! yay!This technique has saved my hide more than once. 
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If you DO have to reinstall the OS, at least you can put the spare drive in as a slave and all your data will be intact. You can then copy files on slave over to master drive or just leave the drive in as a slave. Either way, you will have to reload some apps because the registry just doesn't know they are there anymore. If you do leave in the slave, remember to reload apps onto that drive instead. When install asks you where you want to load the app, just change the drive letter to the the slave drive.
Also, here is a list of what I think I need and what I have. Please let me know if I am missing anything:
NEED:
Case and power supply
Motherboard
CPU
Fan
DDR Ram
Ethernet Card
HAVE:
DVD Drive
CD-RW Drive
1.44 mb disk drive
Video Card
Is there anything else I would need? Thanks.
If you get a Intel chip, make sure the power supply is P-4 compatable, They have a special voltage that requires a plug from the Power Supply to the MB. Intel chips just won't fire up otherwise. About the fan...don't be fooled by RPM's. Look for how much air the fan can move per minute. I have seen 3,200 rpm fans that move more air than a 5,000 rpm fan. And they are quieter too! Now a days, most decent MB's come with 100Mb ethernet onboard. Many MB's have sound built on too, but I have not been impressed with what I have heard so far. You may want to pick up a DVD-RW that handles both + and - formats. Thay are dirt-cheap these days.
Have fun! And remember, this may take a while.....so plan on doing it on a weekend, or be prepared to lose some sleep! LOL
Oh, one more thing...if you do decide to use your original HD, run Windows Update after everything is up and running. Even if you have done it recently. If you wind up installing any new drivers or files, your service packs and critical updates may no longer be valid.
