There comes a point in time when trying to save certain files, emails, etc creates more trouble than it's worth. When I'm set to format, I select all the emails I have saved, and forward them to myself then close Outlook. I can then format, reinstall and go check my mail, there are all those emails waiting for me.
In your case, why not just remove the 9 gig, fdisk/format the 30 gig, do a clean install of ME, then add the 9 gig as a slave. You can then move any files you need over to the 30. Yeah, you'll have to re-enter passwords, that's why I use the same one for all my BBS type stuff! I really think you'll be happier with a clean install of ME rather than an upgrade over old 98.