Best way to back up a hard drive without time machine

[xkmxkmxlmx]

I am trying to help a friend save his files before his HDD completely fails him on his PowerBook. What would be the best way to go about grabbing as many files as possible without using time machine?

Could I just back up his entire Mac folder?

 

[blevins321]

Do you have a Mac as well? If so boot his into target disk mode with a FireWire cable and use your Mac to image the drive with disk utility.

 

[xkmxkmxlmx]

I don't have a mac near his mac (at his house right now).

Can I do that with a firewire external?

Also, he is on snow leopard, and will probably be getting a Lion based system soon. Will the backups have any incompatibility?

 

[aristobrat]

I'd use SuperDuper! It's capable of making a full backup of the Mac's internal drive, and even makes it bootable.

Carbon Copy Cloner is a similar product.