My mom had a digital camera...she took them and I had them on my old PC...then I had them on that hosting site that screwed so many people...can't remember the name, but I got them all off and got them on the imac. Then when we bought the new PC, I transfered them onto the new PC with the intent of burning them onto a CD...but never did.
They were able to recover my entire harddrive and put it on a new harddrive...so I got the chance and burned them onto a CD.
I'm glad you didn't lose them!
I really am considering getting a cheap desktop for backup and storage and such. I can almost justify it, with what I do.