Update:

I was able to back up my data with a usb to SATA adapter. But before i could do it i had to install Windows 7 on my imac. I ran into an installation bug that was resolved with a tech document that amirm (forum member) pointed to.

I pop the HDD back into the lenovo and run the restore feature. The damn thing installed windows vista. We specifically ordered XP for this laptop but it looks like they didnt bother putting XP in the restore partition.

At this point i decide to install Windows 7 on the laptop. I receive an error asking me for drivers for the CD/DVD rom. I cant continue installation without them. Weird part? The DVD drive is spinning/reading the Win7 disk.. the message asking for drivers are coming from the drive that supposedly needs drivers :)! This appears to be some bug also.

While that was all going on i also lost ftp access to about 20 websites in filezilla. I spent a couple hours with email/phone/chat support getting that all straightened out. I was also informed about the neat little export feature that will allow me to painlessly move to another PC in the future. I also wasted about an hour with roboform.. then i found out the data was stored in mydocuments so i had the old one backed up :).

After a day of screwing around here i have win7 on the imac, software installed. On the laptop i have vista installed and im ready to start loading software. The only thing i am missing is Adobe CS4 suite. Im going to have to contact them about a replacement disc or i might get CS5.

I moved away from the 2 computer (desktop & laptop) model a couple of years ago because syncing data was such a PITA. I use a dock and large monitor at home with my laptop. Getting the imac screwed this up a little but without it i would never have been able to 'fix' my laptop.

Thanks for the tips about backing up and the info about linux. I am looking into a solution to keep my desktop and laptop data synced plus mozy. I actually already have mozy installed/running but i start the backups manually and i didnt run it for 100+ days :).