Getting new HD; what should I back up?

Hi all,
My HD in my iBook is making some concerning sounds so I before death appears I am going to replace the HD. The question is in addition to the User directories, what else should I back up. I have the original installation CDs for Apps so I can install the apps from those.
Thanks so much for any help and advice.
Ed

You don't have to make a bootable "clone" copy of your hard drive. That's a convenient way to do it, but certainly not the only way. I'm assuming you can also connect to that Buffalo drive using USB.
Start up from your Mac OS X Installation CD. From the Installer menu, run Disk Utility. Select the internal drive on side bar. From the menu, select File > New > Disk Image from {name of internal drive}. Save the disk image file to the Buffalo drive which is connected by USB.
Once the process completes, restart normally. Find that disk image file and double-click on it to mount it on your Desktop. Inspect it to make sure it looks good, especially your user directory where your personal files are located. Now, you have a copy of everything. Even if you decide to reinstall the OS and apps, it's good to have everything.
If you want to restore from your backup... After you install the new drive, start up from the Mac OS X Installation Disk, and run Disk Utility. Select the new drive on the sidebar. First, go to the Partition tab to format it, selecting Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format type. After formatting is completed, go to the Restore tab. At this point, connect the Buffalo drive by USB if not already connected. Find that disk image as the Source. Drag the new drive's one partition (under the drive) from the sidebar to the Destination field. Click Restore.

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