What is the best way to back up my data?

It's amazing how you want to use dvd's though you have no rom. Anyways,there are a whole lot ways to backup your valuable files safely and they will feel just as much or even better than putting them on a dvd. Take flash drives for instance, they are more versatile, less liable to damage and can be rewritten on as one desires. They can even be used as bootable drives but I hope it dees not come to that. lol. You can also check out free online storage websites such as microsoft's skydrive that provides up to 50 gb or so of free space. That will be anorther way to back up your files and the best part is you can access it from anywhere just by having internet access handy. If you talking about cheap then i think skydrive is a better option but if you still insist on using dvds then i am afraid you have to spend some bucks in prchasing an external dvd writer which ofcourse is quite expensive but you get the returns on your money when you start burning stuff. Good luck

What version of windows are you using? Do you have xp or vista? In xp there's a program called NTbackup.exe. This can be found on your original windows installation disk. I forgot to mention, this file is available in xp, not sure about vista. Anyway, as well as having that file you need to have some kind of external backup media like a hard drive or something. This is the best way I think, it's what I use. You can buy an external hard drive and plug it into one of your usb ports. The important things for you to back up then would be the system state data and My Documents and Settings. If you use the Ntbackup.exe file then this does it for you. If you want to go for the dvd option then you will have to purchase an external dvd drive that can be attached to one of your usb ports. I would say that this is a more expensive option. If you do this, make sure it's a dvd-w, a dvd drive that can be written to and you need to pick up some writable dvds obviously. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Andrew