Just purchased and external harddrive Seagate FreeAgent USB 2.0 250 GB, there are no instructions in the box as how to use it, just how to hook up the cables. Anyone know how to use this to backup my Win XP complete SYSTEM, thanks.Once you have installed the hard drive (i.e. connected it up) it will show up as an EXTRA HDD in WINDOWS Explorer/My Computer.
You can then drag and drop or copy and paste files onto the drive to make sure you have a copy of them there as well as on your PC.
If you want to back up your entire system, including the OS, your files, and all your settings, you will need a program such as Acronis TrueImage (which I highly recommend).
This can be trialled for 30 days, after which you will have to buy it (it's not too expensive).
You can then follow the instructions to create an "IMAGE" of your system drive onto the external drive, preserving everything just as it was.
This can be easily updated, and restored when necessary.

Hope this helps.Thanks for the help, I'll download it and try it out.Purchased Acronis TrueImage it worked easily, thanks again.Under the Tools options in Acronis there is an option to "Verify Images"....
Make sure you do this with your backups before burning them to CD/DVD.
Nothin more aggravating than counting on an archive that has errors.
Congratulations on your choice...Acronis has saved my Bacon more times than i could count ...

P.S. It may sound as if i'm biased towards Acronis...but i've used and tested them all thru the years. You made the right choice.You're more than welcome, 06Honda.
patio also has a good point, the verify image option has saved me burning bad images several times now.
I've been a fan of Acronis too, recommended to me here actually.
I did use Norton Ghost, but I could never get the hang of it.
Acronis all the way.