Hello I'm doing a fresh new install of Ubuntu 10.04, dual-boot with Win7 on a single SATA drive and I need some assistance. I'm also upgrading all hardware and I 'm wondering can I (a) take some or all of my old settings from the previous install on an IDE disk and (b) can I somehow carry over extra software from my old install? Is it better to install Windows first? Any information on GUI appliances to help set up new mount positions for Win7,setting up screen resolutions etc..I don't have the time for changing data documents etc.All help greatly appreciated

Point #1: you have to install Windows first, or it will overwrite any prior installation in the MBR. From there on, your best bet would probably be to use some cloning facility (recommend Clonezilla) to clone your whole Ubuntu installation to an external hard drive and then clone that to your new SATA drive. That brings the whole thing over to the new drive, software, documents, and all.

and second even the 10.04 LTS is getting old
unless you 100% MUST USE the rather old 10.04 LTS
please use 12.04 - or the NEW 12.10
and it is is NOT the Long Term Support - LTS 10.04 ???
then please use a current and supported operating system

Cloning idea sounds great, only....will Clonezilla work for clonig to a system with changed hardware, on a hard disk with diffeent parameters to the original?

If the hardware is capable of supporting it (sufficient RAM and partition space, no missing components), it should clone properly. Check the Clonezilla documentation on the site, and read a good variety of forum postings to get an idea of what others have encountered.

I agree with John VV, that you ought to consider the latest LTS version, 12.04, instead of sticking with 10.04. 10.04 will only be supported until this coming April, at which time you'll just have to switch again.