Question : CREATING A BACKUP

I NEED TO BACKUP SOME FILES IN ORDER TO DO A FULL RESTORE FROM MY D DRIVE.  I WANT TO START OVER WITH A FULL RESTORE.  MICROSOFT BACKUP WILL ONLY BACKUP TO DRIVE A AND GIVES NO OPTIONS (CD DRIVE IS READ ONLY).   USING FLOPPIES IS AT BEST IMPRACTICAL BUT IN REAL TERMS INSANE.  CAN I USE AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE (MAXTOR ONE TOUCH 4) CONNECTED TO THE USB 1.1 PORT?  DO I HAVE ANY OPTIONS BUT FLOPPIES?

Answer : CREATING A BACKUP

MUST YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPS?  IT"S CONSIDERED "YELLING" AND IS VERY HARSH ON THE EYES WHEN READING.

With possible rare exception, yes, USB 2.0 devices are backward compatible with 1.1 - they will just run MUCH slower.  I can't speak for the maxtor tool.

Most if not all off the backup programs listed will just backup to files and as long as they can see a drive letter to save things on, they will backup fine to anything.  Since they are free, it costs you nothing but time to try those programs mentioned above...

Backing up is important, obviously, and there are many methods one can use.  I suggest you review my page on backup - http://www.lwcomputing.com/tips/static/backup.asp