How to Recover files from old Hard drive

There comes a time that you'll need to recover old files from your old computer.  Doing so I encounter different problems like windows xp not booting, incompatible file system, hard drive cannot be recognize etc.

Here's what I did to solve my problem.

1.  Made a bootable flash drive using linux
2.  Once the PC boots (using linux) I manage to recover all files.
3. I use another thumb drive to transfer my files.