Good thing yours are as they are, mrsD

.
I'll elaborate (in case someone else may have the same Q)...
Documents, mail boxes, contacts, pictures, etc.: Drag and drop or save as well to CD, external HD, flash drive, or similar.
Once upgraded, the machine won't "hand-shake" with compressed files; it doesn't "recognize" them any longer.
What my friend had done was asked techies to upgrade using the option to keep the files (types I mentioned) and not to over-write everything. But, the techies didn't care and ... wiped out everything.
Before taking the machine for the upgrade, however, I had saved the personal files. So all isn't lost, yet would have been a lot easier and quicker if the backups could have been used.
I hope the tip may help someone, and spare some headaches.
__________________
".... This world wasn't built for people in wheelchairs ...."
.