Best Way to back up laptop

I have a Toshiba laptop that is probably wanting to 'retire' (but I'm not quite ready to let it!) Knowing that I might be on "borrowed time", I know I need to get those files that I believe are irreplaceable backed-up.

I guess what I'm looking for is advice and possibly instructions (if necessary) on how to best back up the contents of the HDD. I probably don't need to back up the OS, since if this computer 'tanks', I'd get a new one, but everything else, for the most part, probably needs to be retrievable (usable) ... such as my picture files, documents and even some programs that maybe should still be executable (I have no disk for them - legal downloads, etc.)

For the record, I do have a CD burner but not a DVD burner on this machine. Some of my pictures, etc. I have put on CD's already (just to make space on the HDD), but I think I'm looking for software suggestions, etc. to make this process actually work...

Thanks in advance...
Maggie

 

The best option without a DVD burner is dependent on how much in MBs/GBs you want to back up.
My personal preference is to use an External HD and just copy the files you want to save over to the HD (no burning needed)
External HD are no longer expensive, or if you have a smaller amount you want to save you can use USB thumb drives,they come in various sizes up to 8GB
and you can use the same system,just "copy to" this is a cheaper but more limited way.
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