dapper install

[Me - Atlantic]

I have a workstation running breezy that i'd like to bring up to dapper.
I've had problems with the dist-upgrade, and was able to successfully
upgrade my laptop to dapper with a fresh install (i used this box as a
guinea pig)...

I have my mail accounts and alot of files that i use daily on this
particular box, so trial and error isn't really an option here.

mail, firefox bookmarks, firefox extensions and plugins, and working
data files are all very necessary, along with desktop settings, etc.

is there a way that i can preserve these and restore them after the
dapper install? (Due to the number of problems i had with the
dist-upgrade, i'm paranoid about using it on this machine and i feel
comfortable doing it from a fresh install)