Making a copy of Leopard Install Disk

Question

Making a copy of Leopard Install Disk

Hi there,

A while back I copied the contents of my Leopard install disk by simply dragging the files from the Disk into a new folder on my Desktop with the idea of making a back up copy in case I lost my original DVD. So recently my G4 started to slow up a little so I decided to de-clog it by doing a clean erase and install. However when I double click the "Install Mac OS X.app" icon and a dialogue appears saying:

"The application "Install Mac OS X" cannot be used from this volume. To install Mac OS X, please use the application provided on the Mac OS X installation disc."

So I went to find my original disk and it has simply disappeared.
So my question is If I make a disk image of the copied Leopard disk files that are on my desktop then burn it, can I install then from that Disk.

All and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

PowerBook G4, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Nov 25, 2009 2:57 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 25, 2009 3:12 PM in response to Garreth Joyce1

Just dragging files from the install disk is unlikely to work as it won't copy the invisible files which are necessary to the System. You would have to clone the intstall disk - this can be done; I cloned the DiskWarrior DVD to a partition on an external hard disk for starting up and running tests (the DVD takes 15 minutes to boot...) but if you've lost the install disk you're stuffed. You can probably get a replacement from Apple.

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Answer 2

Király

Level 6

10,017 points

Nov 25, 2009 3:13 PM in response to Garreth Joyce1

Unfortunately, your drag & drop backup copy of the OS X install disc is no good. An install disc, like all bootable Mac OS X volumes, contains a bunch of hidden files and directories that are essential for booting, and a Finder drag & drop copy misses all of those. So the backup you thought you made is incomplete, and there's nothing you can do to fix it.

You'll have to get your hands on a replacement set of install discs. If it was a retail Leopard DVD your only option (if it is truly lost) will to be to buy another one, I'm afraid to say. 😟

In the future, a good way to make a backup copy of the Leopard install disc is to use Disk Utility to make a disk image of it. You can then burn a copy of the disk image to a DVD+R DL disc if you want, and boot from that.

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