How do you do an ubuntu 8.10 fresh install w/o losing all data?
 

I have an Ubuntu 8.10 system that has gotten messed up. I *have* to reinstal but I do not want to have to reinstall all the applications and data saved on the computer. Is there a way to do this?

Nope.
I always re-install - I found Ubuntus upgrade to be less than satisfactory. Has been for years. The way I manage it is to have /home on a separate partition - then upgrade using the same username/password. Eveything "just works" - applies even if you need to go back a (*one*) release.
To manage the packages, try "aptitude search '(~i !~M )' > myPackages" on each system (before and after). Still need to manually compare.