BleepingComputer.com: Easy Trasnfer Xp To Vista With Existing Hard Drive

I just received a new PC with Windows vista home premium. My old machine had XP pro.
My XP machine does not stay for more than 5 minutes, it shuts itself down and then gives me long beeps from the MB (which I THINK is from overheating)
So, I want to transfer all my settings (email, accounts, internet shortcuts, etc.) to my new machine. I want to take out my old HD, use and external USB/HD cable (new machine does not have an IDE port only SATA) and connect it to the new PC to do the easy transfer. Will the Easy trasnfer program work like this, with out it being installed on the old machine? Can Vist pick the files without the easy transfer software on the old drive?
The reason I want to know ahead of time is I don't have a USB/IDE device yet and don't want to buy one if it's not going to work.

My other option is to leave my old PC case open with a large external fan blowing in, use a cross over cable for a network connection and keep my fingers crossed that the old PC doesn't shut down 1/2 way through the operation.

Quote

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/cleaning-the-inside-of-your-pc/

Actually, your second option sounds like a really sensible approach to me.
(Using the fan on the open chassis). As long as the air is blasting hard enough
on the motherboard and CPU, it will probably work. That's what I'd try to do first.

I don't know about the "Easy Transfer" program, but a simple networked connection
to copy the files over to the new computer could work. I'd keep it as simple as possible.
After all, XP and Vista are totally different operating systems.

I did some more research and found out that the Easy Transfer program MUST be installed on both the old and new computers.
I did the cleaning already, over the weekend, and I haven't touched it since. I'll give it a go with a fan blowing directly on the components.

The Easy transfer program allows you to dump all the settings (email, internet shortcuts, user accounts, etc.) onto an external hard drive. From there you can import it to the new Vista PC. The one fear I had was that if I was transfering the data via network, or cross over cable and the old PC crashed again, it would screw up the OS on the new PC. Using the external HD approach, if the old PC crashes, no big deal, just try again, transfering the data to the external HD. Once that's done, I'll be home free.