Cloussau:
I've just persuaded my wife to buy the new computer. A USB drive would have been pushing it!
The £5 cable wasn't a problem.
*The old computer is USB1 too: transferring the files would take about 3+ hours.
Mastertech:
Thanks for the advice: I'll look into it. But there was no need for the comments. I spent last evening with my mate from school who has a degree in electronic engineering, worked for IBM for years in networking, spent the last few years doing computer course after computer course and now works in IT support for the local university- and he couldn't get it to work!