Burning your data to a cd or a dvd is a good idea. But to go a step further, get an external hard drive and save your important info in both places. My children have taught me that a scratched cd or dvd simply will not play. Relying solely on disk backup is far from totally secure. On that same token, we all know that a hard drive can fail. Something about all your eggs in one basket... Though the principles are different, the concept is the same.

June 30, 2006 will bring a close to Extended Support for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me as part of the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy. Microsoft will retire public and technical support, including security updates, by this date.

Existing support documents and content, however, will continue to be available through the Microsoft Support Product Solution Center Web site. This Web site will continue to host a wealth of previous How-to, Troubleshooting, and Configuration content for anyone who may need self-service.

Microsoft is retiring support for these products because they are outdated and can expose customers to security risks. We recommend that customers who are still running Windows 98 or Windows Me upgrade to a newer, more secure Microsoft operating system, such as Windows XP, as soon as possible.

Customers who upgrade to Windows XP report improved security, richer functionality, and increased productivity.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/support/endofsupport.mspx