Hmm...in general this seems to be a step backwards. Win98 and WIn95 didn't seem to have these migration issues.
That program you mentioned Barabbas sounds like it might have helped, thanks for the info. Its just a pity
that the old motherboard failed. Which is why I'm trying to migrate it.
It looks like I'm going to have to use Knoppix and a LAN to move the data to a network storage device and do a clean re-install of XP.
Thanks for the replies people, your respones have been very enlightening and helpful!