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Whoah! Dilbert! You are obviously a guru and a computer whiz, and I would (and have) take your advice on matters relating to a lot of things. I was simply thinking of the OP, who gave us no info about the systems involved or his level of competence/ comfort with moving drives, resetting jumpers, and such. I have a feeling that the OP is probably not running a server farm that needs to be backed up, but rather a home desktop in a dorm room somewhere. I would guess that a lot of the HD is music and videos, along with a bunch of programs (if he was messing with Vista) that he is trying out. It sounds like there is a bunch of stuff he wants to preserve while taking out the trash, and if it would take 679 DVDs to do it, then the OP's system may not have enough space to help anyway.
Yes, DVDs and CDs scratch easily, that's why they sell a variety of media to put them in for protection. I have all my music backed up, but I don't run from the DVDs, I run music from the HD. The backup is a backup. Same with my programs. I don't run Office from the DVD, it is just a backup. I don't know how you back yourself up, but you obviously have a lot more stuff and capacity than the average Joe.
If you have never moved a HD from one computer to another, or built a system, it can be intimidating. I don't think anyone that has built a system has just intuitively felt the force telling them that this is a jumper, and this needs to be set here. It takes some trial and error. If the OP doesn't have that experience, and I'm guessing maybe he doesn't since the original post was requesting help with a solution that did not involve opening the box (if he had your experience, he wouldn't have been asking in the first place), I was trying to offer some suggestions that were along the lines of not opening the case, regardless of time.
You and I and every other poster's personal preference is not the issue here. Offering solutions is. Let the OP decide which path is best for him in his situation. It could be that opening the case will void a warranty or god knows why else he may not want to do that. I think everyone here totally respects your computer savvy and knowledge, but not everyone is at the same level as you. While it may not be germaine to your situation, please think of those of us that have to look at the "X for Dummies" books when it comes to their systems.
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The difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference.
"God made man, but he used the monkey to do it." DEVO
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