Kernel panic with High Sierra

I own a MacBook Pro late 2011 15 inch. Successfully downloaded and installed High Sierra. After 2 security updates, my unit started to reboot after every ten minutes.A system report indicated kernel panic. Instead of reformatting my SATA hard drive, I transformed it into an external drive and replaced it with a formatted SSD drive and installed OS X Sierra.

Problem is I am now unable to open my photos APPS from my old drive. The balloon prompt tells me that in order to open my photo files I need to install High Sierra. These are very important files. I am afraid to go back to High Sierra because I might experience kernel panic again. What should I do? Appreciate your help.