Or: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316941

Backup favorite (assume you use IE6):
You can backup your links by opening up the Favorites folder in c:\Documents and Settings\Username\Favorites and copying the links to a floppy disk or some other media.

To do this, navigate to the following folder: c:/Documents and Settings/username/Favorites. Here you will see all your links. There may be other folders or links to folders that have nothing to do with the Internet such as My Documents. Highlight all the links you want to back up by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking the links you want to back up. Then right click on any of the highlighted links and choose Copy. Double click on the My Computer icon. Right click on the device you want to backup your links to, for example the floppy drive, then click Paste. That will backup your selected favorites to the floppy disk.

Backup Email (assume you use outlook 2000):
Outlook data is usually stored at the following paths:

C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\
C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\
C:\Windows\


Outlook data is usually comprised of the following items:

Personal Folders (.pst) files. The most important Outlook files. Your personal folders .pst file contains all of your local Outlook folders, such as Calendar, Inbox, Tasks, Sent Items, Outbox, Deleted Items, and user-created folders. When running, Outlook usually keeps its .pst folders partially locked, so it is recommended to close Outlook prior to making a backup.
Use PicoBackup that can download here:
http://www.picobackup.com/plugins/microsoft-outlook-express-backup.html

For data, I suggest you should have to copy to CD/DVD or external drive.

hey Mel, if you want to install XP, did you check if the hardware meets the minimum norm at least?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865
i would suggest NOT to try it if you don't have :
a cpu of 500 MHz or higher
256 Mb Ram (512 Mb is best)
a disk of 40 Gb