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macornomac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 25, 2007
346
0
Hey guys I have a quick question. I want to make back up copy of my two install disks that came with my macbook. Is this even possilbe and what is the best way to do this??? Anyone want to lead the way for me? Thanks so much.
 
Should be possible and legal ... I would try Burn, it's free, and just copy the disc.

They may be dual-layer discs though, maybe someone else can confirm?
 
Yeah I'm pretty sure it's legal since they are my own disks and just to be used for backups. However whats the dual layer disks mean?? Not possible?
 
Dual-layer (DVD) discs hold ~9GB per side instead of 4.7GB.

My 10.5.2 restore DVD 1 looks to be a dual-layer, since it has a DL's capacity.
 
Yes, it is certainly possible to make backup copies of your MacBook install discs.

Dual-layer discs means that the DVDs hold up to 8.5gb worth of data instead of 4.7gb for a single-layer disc. The MacBook install discs are dual-layer. So you need to use dual-layer DVDRs when making the backups. Either DVD+R DL or DVD-R DL will work.

Note that Install Disc 1 is a hybrid-DVD. It has Leopard and the Boot Camp windows drivers on it. You can copy the discs using Disk Utility. Just make sure you select the DVD drive as the source.

See this thread for a discussion on this topic:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/404670/
 
Hey guys I have a quick question. I want to make back up copy of my two install disks that came with my macbook. Is this even possilbe and what is the best way to do this??? Anyone want to lead the way for me? Thanks so much.

Why bother. If you lose them or whatever, if you ask nice enough they will send you new ones for free.

Should be possible and legal ... I would try Burn, it's free, and just copy the disc.

They may be dual-layer discs though, maybe someone else can confirm?

Yes they are dual-layer.

Dual-layer (DVD) discs hold ~9GB per side instead of 4.7GB.

Apple's retail DVDs are single-layer, as are the restore DVDs.

Dual Layer is 8.5GB and Dual Side is 9GB :D

And both are DL, because mine as 7.65GB, unless you're telling you can fit 7.65GB on a SL disk.
 
Yeah I'm pretty sure it's legal since they are my own disks and just to be used for backups. However whats the dual layer disks mean?? Not possible?

Double layer disks are like those used for most commercial movie DVDs now and simply refer to the amount of data that can be stored on a single disk. The data is stored literally on two layers of the disk.

And no that would not necessarily make that impossible- MOST recent DVD burners can write DL disks fine- just look for the Disk Burning section in your System Profiler (Apple Menu at the top left of your screen-->About this Mac--> More Info) and see if it lists -R DL and +R DL to verify your optical drive can.

HOWEVER you probably won't even need to worry about that. Take each of your disks and insert them, then do a File--> Get Info on each and note the number listed as "Used:".

If that number is less than about 4.7Gb it is a standard single layer DVD. Greater than 4.7 then would be a DL disk. I just checked the #1 disk from a G5 restore set for example and it was 3.91Gb, indicating it could be copied onto a single layer disk without problems.
 
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