If you choose not to backup data with the included Backup tool, it is very easy to do this manually. There are several important folder locations that you will need to know, which will enable you to make a copy of important parts of your data:

My Documents:

This is probably the most important folder for most users, as it will contain all of the work created using many data processing applications (i.e Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and many Music/Photo files. The folder location is:

C:Documents and SettingsUser NameMy Documents

You will need to backup all files in this folder to make sure no data is lost.

E-Mails:

The most common e-mail clients are Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, both of which are easy to backup data from. The location of the data files for Microsoft Outlook is in the following folder:

C:Documents and SettingsUser NameLocal SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftOutlook

If you use Outlook Express, the files are located in:

C:Documents and SettingsUser NameApplication DataMicrosoftOutlook Express

All of the files in the respective folder should be backed up (usually *.PST and *.DBX)

To restore all of these items, you simply need to copy your backup files over the existing files to revert to the backed up version.

There are a few other folders which may prove useful for more advanced backups:

Favorites :
C:Documents and SettingsUser NameFavorites

Desktop :
C:Documents and SettingsUser NameDesktop

Start Menu :
C:Documents and SettingsUser NameStart Menu