Time to wipe out hard drive...Backup question

[Raydee]

Hello guys, I want to make a complete backup of my hard drive that my Windows XP is on and then reintall XP to start over. What is the best way to do this. I want to back it up to my DVD drive.

[SuperSparks]

I presume that you mean you just want to back up your data files? If that's the case then simply burn them to DVD using your regular burning software.

Otherwise, if you want to take an image of the drive as it is now, then you need imaging software. I've used Norton Ghost for years, but Acronis True Image has a good reputation, and there's also Powerquest DriveImage (which I dislike, personally).