Robert, this will do it for you. Sabrent USB-DSC5 Serial ATA or IDE 2.5-/3.5-Inch to USB 2.0 Cable Converter Adapter with Power Supply. http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-USB-DSC5-3-5-Inch-Converter-Adapter/dp/B000HJ99DI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1289851519&sr=8-5
"This adapter turns any SATA or IDE hard drive into a convenient external drive."
Russ

[quote name="mfillpot"]You should be more than Ok to just swap the hard drives, the only potential exceptions is if you are using a custom kernel or some finicky proprietary drivers. In general most Linux distro use a generic kernel that has support for nearly every piece of hardware by default. If a generic kernel is used then it should be easy enough to swap the drives and watch it boot up.

Now, if you wish to transfer the files onto the new HDD then you may want to get an adapter like Russ recommended so you can wire the original as an external for the transfer process, plus it is nice to have an external adapter around.[/quote]
thanks mfillpot i was unsure because ive had problems doing this with windows xp oh and i thought of an adapter first but none of the stores near my house had any

[quote name="mfillpot"]Your prior issues with switching hard drives that used windows were due to the limited installed drivers and the fact that the copy of windows was registered to the specific hardware. Because most Linux based used use a modular kernel with many drivers and do not require single machine registration those issues should not exist.[/quote]

yeah i know its reasons like that that made me stop using windows and switch to linux. in the last 5 years ive had a shitload of problems with xp and only 2 or 3 with linux and they were minor problems

I've swapped Linux drives on systems many times before. They don't even have to be the same hardware setup. They work fine 99% of the time. The Linux kernel is more than capable of dealing with most hardware on its own without the need for outside-source drivers. As Matt F. mentions, MS Windows would not work in this situation for just that reason. Its drivers are proprietary and the OS doesn't like being dislodged from the system it was installed on initially. With GNU/Linux, you'll be fine.

Luck!

~Eric