Q: ...and i would like to beable to not have to spend a lot to use old computera and hard drives?
A: hi andrew yes,you could easily set up a basic home network and use the pc as a server for the home network then you could simply configure the network so you could save all data to that p.c and when needed move files and folders basic home networking is quite easy and windows has wizards to set up home networks,alternatively check out this : http://www.geekgirls.com/windowsxp_home_network.htm good luck mate !