Ok. I got me an new laptop which is actually 10 years old but it has XP (SP2) and I wanna upgrade to SP3. I noticed it says to back up files before you install. But I have nowhere to back them up to. My friend says that if you don't back the files up, and your battery dies or your computer turns of in the middle of upgrading, you computer crashes and you might not be able to use your computer any more.
But will I still lose files if I don't back them up and complete the installation without my computer turning off?
Also, I don't have internet on it and I'm not sure if that will affect installation.
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You should always have a backup method for your PC. Generally an external hard drive, but a flash drive for just the really important stuff is acceptable. Online backups are an option as well. But you should *ALWAYS* have an up to date backup stored outside of your desktop or laptop. Sooner or later, you'll have a hard drive die (often without any warning), or a laptop dropped, or a motherboard burnup... it's not a question of if, it's when. I've lost work to it before.
All that said, generally as long as your laptop doesn't crash, SP upgrades are smooth. Just be sure to check your whole drive for errors first, fully charge your batter and keep it plugged in.
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