Slaving a Hard Drive

[Ferris]

So, here's the deal:

My Dell Dimension 4700 (XP... I don't know if it's SP 1,2, or 3) no longer boots up, giving me the following error:

loading PBR for Descriptor 2...done

Well, that's it... stops there. I don't have an F8 option, so I'm unable to boot to safe mode. Also, when I use the recovery CD to boot from, it checks the hardware configuration, and then... well, that's it.

I've got a new PC (Windows 7) that's just arrived at the house today (Dell Studio XPS 8100 with Core i7-860 processor) and I want to get some of the files off of my old Hard Drive. As I understand it, this is possible by slaving the old internal HDD to the new internal HDD... I have an external HD, but haven't backed up to it in nearly 12 months (lesson learned).... I also have

I've found about a dozen different articles explaining how to do this, and it's making my head spin. Has anyone here slaved their hard drive before? If so, what tools (aside from a screwdriver) might I need to accomplish this? Also, if you happen to know of a preferred step-by-step or set of reference materials for me to use, I'd greatly appreciate it...

I just REALLY don't want to botch this new machine.

Thanks, in advance for your help!