GETTING INFO FROM OLD HARD DRIVR TO NE LAP...

if i were you i would take out the hard drive put it in a usb enclosed case then connect it but it does take alot of power

Hard Drive requires lots of power to load. If you have purchased only the IDE cable to connect it to USB port, USB port will be unable to initialize the Hard Drive.
To make it work,you require an external casing for IDE Hard Drives with external power support. Like this one --  
http://shopping.rediff.com/shop/productdisplay.jsp?3.5Inch-USB-2.0-EXTERNAL-Casing-For-SATA-/-IDE-Hard-Drives&prrfnbr=10209520&source=browse&frompg=Hard%20Disk%20Drives

If you already have this casing with external power support, please let me know. 

If you cannot power on the old laptop, you'll have to remove the old hard drive and put it into a USB external drive casing. (I think you can find them for $1-$20 on Ebay, and they should be around 15-30 at a name brand store) Boot up your new laptop, once you're at the desktop plug in the old hard drive in its USB casing, then proceed to move the old files over. Laptops do not have two drive bays (generally), so you'll have to make the old HD into a USB external drive.