Down server upgrade 4 to 6.5 without tape backup

[cricket]

I am upgrading a server in situ from 4.11/4.2 to 6.5. This will require a "Down server" upgrade. I do not have a tape unit & software to do a full backup. I can copy all the network files to workstation, but I would like to also have a backup of user accounts and all settings etc. I can proceed without a backup and hope for the best.

How should I proceed in order to reduce my risks?

 

[terry712]

what's the hardware - if it's raid 1 (hardware) then i would maybe be inclined to pull the drive and then at least you can upgrade the server in interim recovery mode and then replace drive when finished - but this is only valid if only raid1

you would certainly need to take a dib.

you will need a tbackup as when you copy to a pc you will lose the trustees

it really depends how valueable the data is
is it the only server?