Have a machine running Fedora Core 4 that has been used as a mail/web server. Now want to transfer drive to a newer machine. Can this be done without having to re-install fc4 and what becomes of current network settings

Very new using linux but must get this done soon

Best advice I can give you is to get a new hard drive, and install the new version of Fedora on it. The latest is Fedora Core 12. 4 is ancient, and even if you manage to install this old drive onto a new system, chances are it won't work correctly, if at all. Why? Old OS software doesn't know about new hardware (SATA controllers, etc.), and it'll just not work. Add to that, the fact that this hard drive has been in use for years...it's already way down the road to failure. Replace it while it's still working.

Do a fresh install, on new, current hardware. Mail/web services are fairly easy to configure these days, especially if you've got a working configuration now. The mail/apache config files can be moved over from the working box, to the new one, and tested/adjusted as needed, with no loss of service.

If you're not comfortable doing this, and this is for a business, it's worth hiring a consultant to do it. The move/build should take no more than a day or two, and you can get documentation out of them at the same time, telling you basics on how to manage your box.

If you're not stuck with Fedora, I'd also strongly suggest using CentOS. It's a 'server-class' distro. Fedora is updated very frequently, so if you don't want to continually be upgrading your box, use something that's built to stay fairly static for a good while.