No matter when you run an upgrade of an operating system, you would be
foolhardy not to make a complete backup of all your files onto a removable
medium such as tape or writable CDs.
It is sometimes the case in an upgrade from Windows 98 to XP that e-mail
files, while not normally deleted, have some of their locations changed, and
must be found on the hard disk. Be sure to back up these files especially.
However, in normal circumstances, which represents the overwhelming
majority of Upgrade operations, your files are not damaged or deleted in any
way.
But make that backup anyway.
