Burn OS X Install Disc 1?!

The standard MacOS X Tiger install DVD is a single layer disc, and can be copied just fine by Disk Utility (I made a safety copy long ago.)

This sounds as if it's a "Software Restore" disc that came with a new Mac.

Right... this must have come with a new Mac, correct?

As far as I know, there's no such thing as an off-the-shelf 10.4.3 DVD.

Here's an idea. Make a copy of 10.4. Then run a combo to upgrage it

I was reading here a month or so ago about making a copy of the 10.4 disk so I went ahead and did it.

When I Get Info on the disk I made it says 2.52 Gig

By a Combo I mean the update from Apple that will update 10.4 to 10.4.4

No, it was the original 10.4.0 Tiger DVD

The easiest way to create an exact bootable copy of your Mac OS X installation disc or Apple Software Restore disc is to purchase a copy of Roxio's Toast 7 Titanium. Toast 7 will allow you create an exact copy that includes the special track needed to make the disc bootable. If you have Disk Utility, you can make an image of Mac OS X installation disc or Apple Software Restore. However, the image will NOT be bootable and will only mount on your desktop.

It is legal to make backup copies of both your Mac OS X installation discs and Apple Software Restore discs. This falls under "fair use," provided you don't sell or distribute the discs in violation of their respective EULAs.

Toast 7 Titanium is available as a paid download from http://www.roxio.com.

Instead of worrying about making a duplicate of your OS X install disk (because the OS gets updated you wind up getting the newer version disks anyway) why don't you consider cloning your perfect boot configuration to a external drive?

This way you get everything, all your iTunes tweaks, iPhoto's, software updates, program installs (even copy protected ones, some require re-registering) and everything on your boot drive. You can even boot from it and grab your files from a funky OS and reverse clone.

The OSX install disk should very rarely have to come out of it's protective package this way so it will be preserved for a real emergency.

To learn how to clone your boot drive with maximum reliability read my text documents on it

http://homepage.mac.com/hogfish

There is no way your Mac OS X installation disc is 5.5GB. I just put in my Tiger Family Pack Installation Disc and it was well under the 4.7GB limit (10.4.3 also).

Now, the Apple Software Restore DVD may be over the 4.7GB and in fact ship on a DL (Dual Layer) disc. That would make sense considering it contains both iLife, additional applications and the operating system. However, I can't verify that.

If your computer supports DL (Dual Layer) burning, then you could purchase a set of blank DL DVD+R media (still a bit expensive and not readily available in most electronic stores) and using Toast create a bootable backup.