Will I loose data if I upgrade older touch running ios 2.2

I have an ancient Ipod running 2.2 Itunes offers to update, but gives a message warning of dire possibilites

"Updating on this computer will only preserve contacts, calendars, text messages, and other settings. Please do not interrupt the update, which may take an hour or longer to complete. iTunes will verify the software update with Apple."

It asks to only be updated on the computer where the ipod has been synced, only it hasn't been synced on a computer for a year, and we've upgraded since then. The notes are super important to the member of the family who uses this touch, and when I chatted with Apple today we spent a lot of time on how Email and notes are interrelated (I was trying to transfer the data to a newer touch) only for me to realize that they had never asked me about what the old touch was running, and there is no connection to mail on 2.2.

So if I sync it to one of the upgraded computers will it keep the data? How do I do so before I upgrade? Itunes offers me a manual back up option but says nothing about synching.

Thanks for the help.