best buy vpr matirx 2.2 gig processor, 120 gig hard drive, 512k ram

- computer was shutting off by itself during use

- will not restart properly, scan disk comes up

- runs scandisk automatically on startup saying computer wasn't
properly
shut down, won't boot beyond final windows xp screen before desktop
comes
up, just hangs there

Can a new hard disk be installed, set as "Master" and the old hard disk
set
as "Slave" then all the files from the old hard disk be copied to the
new
one?