bclab4

I want to install XP on my old P3 933Mhz Dell, but am afraid I'll loose everything in the process... so I purchased an 80gig external HDD to backup my entire 40 gig internal HDD onto. QUESTION: How do I make sure that my old Win ME and ALL of my old HDD will transfer unchanged to the new HDD. AND will I be able to access them after I reformat my internal HDD and install XP on it? I'm concerned about losing my Microsoft Money information (my wife would kill me) and all of my on-line checkbook stuff. Plus all of my settings. ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED! Thanks