I'm thinking of replacing my C:> (system) drive with an SSD. I foresee two problems with this.

1) I have no more available SATA ports on my motherboard. The current system drive is IDE. I could free up a SATA port if there is another way to connect my CD/DVD burner as I need a new one, mine will no longer burn CDs, although it plays CDs and burns/plays DVDs with no problem.

2) I am really reluctant to nuke and repave the C:> drive, I have a lot of software and drivers installed (in Control Panel, my "Programs and Features") folder shows 109 items, at least 80 of which I would reinstall in a clean system, and my "Downloads" directory has 280 folders of which I would keep at least half.) Can I make a byte for byte copy of my C:> drive to an SSD drive (using an external eSATA dock to make the copy), then replace my old IDE C:> drive with the SATA SSD and have it work? If it does, will Windows see the replacement drive and decide it's now in a different computer and make me jump through hoops with Microsoft to re-authorize it?

I have a bootable Linux Live DVD (Knoppix). Will that make things easier? I would need very detailed and explicit instructions for that option to work for me.

Of course, the rational thing to do would be to get the SSD drive and use that as an excuse to change over to 64-bit Windows 7, but that Nuke and Repave thing is something I want to avoid if possible. As contemptuous as I am of Vista, I have spent enough time tweaking and installing service packs and devising workarounds for some of its shortcomings that it is actually working pretty well for me now.

So, to summarize, can I:
1) Get a CD/DVD burner that will work in an IDE port?
2) Make a byte-for-byte copy (using an external eSATA dock) of my C:> to an SSD?
3) Put the SATA SSD in place of the old C:> IDE drive and have it work as a system drive?
4) Will Microsoft give me trouble about my copy of Windows being on a different hard drive?
5) If 1), 2), 3) and 4) are possible, will a Knoppix Linux Live bootable DVD be of use to me?
6) Would I be crazy to not upgrade to Windows 7 when I do this? (No, I won't switch to Linux, sorry, Mark )

tanstaafl.