How to back up certian files

Hey. My computer is overrun with spyware and other junk. I'm planing to clear my hard drive so I can start over, but I need to back up some files. I was going to burn it on a cd, but my cd burner (Iomega) sucks and keeps crashing. I'm wondering where or how I can back up my files so it won't be destroyed along with the rest of my hard drive. Can anybody give any suggestions?

 

I always install a second hard drive in any system I build, just for this purpose. A backup drive can even be a drive that was yanked from another machine due to an upgrade.

I just move all the files I want to backup to the backup drive, then proceed to wipe the main drive and reinstall everything.