Transfer files to a new computer but my old computer is dead

Certainly...but you won't be able to use the nifty XP (or possibly Vista) "migration" tool, and you'll have to reinstall all the applications. The files, however, you can move very easily by installing your old hard drive into the new case as the slave or secondary drive. You may need to play with jumpers on the drive to get it to read properly, but once installed, it will come up as the "D:" drive (usually). Navigate to this drive from "My Computer" and you can transfer the files over that you need.

I hope this helps,
Ric 

Ric's solution is by all means the best approach.
however you can buy an IDE to USB adapter or a hard drive enclosure (they're about $20-$40 U.S.) then you can attach it to the hard drive you have and simply plug it in to a usb slot. it works like a jump drive. you'll either need an IDE adapter or SATA adapter
here's a picture of the two types:
http://archive.64bits.se/guider/pcbyggar...
the one on top is SATA, the one below is IDE.
if it's a laptop hard drive, take it in and they'll tell you which adapter to buy.

Thank you for your quick reply. I was looking at Acronis Universal Restore and it seems like it will work okay. Again, thanks for your very quick reply!

One problem with transfering a windows installation from one computer to the next is all of the embedded drivers that were installed based on the components on that motherboard. Unless the new motherboard is identical, even Acronis may have problems allowing the system to boot to windows. If it does transfer and boot there still may be other registry issues as well. I would never discourage anyone from trying, but be aware that a clean install would maybe be more work but much more stable.

Thanks to everyone for their replies...I really appreciate it! I did in fact, use Acronis Universal Restore and it worked great, but only after I performed a clean install first so that Universal Restore could "see" the drive on a dual-booting system.

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