Do I HAVE to back up my computer before installing OS X Mountain Lion?

I know you should be doing this ayway but I dont have Time Machine. So could I safly install OS X Mountain Lion without loosing any data? I am curently running 10.6.8

andyalwayswins wrote:
So could I safly install OS X Mountain Lion without loosing any data?
Lets say this, if you don't and you have a problem with the 10.8 installer that requiring erasing the entire Macintosh HD or drive, then your looking at spending a great deal of time and money trying to get your data off before erasing.
It only takes a few minutes to copy Users folder or a few hours of software working to set up a TM or bootable clone, but god if you need it it's a lifesaver.
Take the time to prevent a possible problem, because computers and hard drives can instantly die and take all your data anyway.
Most commonly used backup methods

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