Vista Home Premium crash

My Dell desktop computer with Vista Home Premium OS crashed. I can boot in safe mode, but cannot get on the Internet with it. When I boot in normal mode I get a blue screen that tells me the system is gathering information for a crash dump, the below that I am told that the system is initiating a crash dump. To get out of that screen I have to do a soft boot procedure. I have the recovery disk that came with my computer when I bought it in 2008. I am told that I reinstall windows that I will lose all of my saved files. Before reinstalling windows I would like to figure out a way to transfer them to an external hard drive if possible. I also wonder if it would be good idea for me to format the hard drive before reinstalling Windows Vista. Can any of you give me advice and guidance on dealing with my problems?