I won't lie, there is a CHANCE it is pooched. Better chance you can retreive the data files, though. You'll need to use an adapter to mount the old hard drive in. You should be able to use it as an external drive then, and pull your pics off along with your other critical data. However, if you aren't comfortable opening your cases, this is a job best left to someone who knows how and already owns the adaptor. Shouldn't cost too much.

The other option is to download something like BartPE or Knoppix or another bootable OS that has USB drive support with the new machine, burn it to a CD, and get everything off onto the external 40 using that OS. Again, I have to ask if you are comfortable with this procedure. It isn't terribly hard, but it is intimidating becuase most of the OSes in question are LINUX based.