Assuming you have XP Pro...
The simplest and perhaps best way to back up your machine is the Automated System Recovery wizzard.
You get there like so:
Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Backup
If a window pops up that has text where "Advanced" is a underlined link and there's a check-box at tghe bottom of the window, un-check that box and then clikc on "Advanced"
Click the Button beside "Automated System Recovery Wizzard"
Browse to the media you want to back-up to. This can be any storage device large enough to hold your backup. Windows is stupid by default in that it assumes that you want to back up to floppy. Well, trust me you DO NOT want to back-up to floppy, ok? Back-up to a DVD-RAM, to a UDF packet writer, to a USB drive, to a Fixed Disk partition other than C:\ or to a network drive, but not to a floppy. Floppies are not reliable enough for you to tust you backups to them; besides, they are just too small to be practical.
Whatever you decide to backup to, I suggest that you make a folder there named ASR and puting your backup in that folder. If you plan on making regular backups of your system, then a sub-folder named for the date that the back-up is being made can make managing your backups a bit less of a hassle.
The ASR wizzard will take care of the rest.
You can thank me latter. :grin: