uninstall/reinstall issue

[siaho]

everytime i've had to uninstall and reinstall freelancer i lose my charaters.
with the new version out i need a clean install of freelancer in order to install 4.86
but i know from past experiance that a clean install will cost me my ships and credits

i've looked at account manager, but i don't think that's what i need, and it won't launch for some reason.

bassically, if anyone can help, how do i export my current characters and/or account information, and then import it into a clean install?

EDIT: so i found a file that showed me my account number. it wouldn't let me copy and paste it to notepad or anything simple like that, so i just copied it by hand into notepad.
uninstalled the game, reinstalled it, enter the game, go to the account screen....
it will not recognize my account number.
two level 63 characters.... gone