Creating OS 9/OS X 10.2 reinstall discs

[TheMacGuy]

I would like to be able to create some reinstall discs for my eMac and Cube since I can not find retail discs (they are getting harder to find!). Preferably a set on DVDs and a set on CDs. I would like to keep them for backup purposes. The Systems I would like to make copies of are 9.2.2, 10.2.8, and 9.X.X. I know I have Roxio Toast installed on the eMac, the Cube I will find out when I turn it on. The only thing I could find from Googling this was an article from 2002 saying the PowerMac G4 MDD didn't come with an OS 9 restore disc, and that using a CD and Toast they were able to make a bootable copy of OS 9 via the System folder. 1, does this still work in 10.2.8 and 2, will this be a restore copy, or will it boot the disk like an external HDD with the full System?

 

[Dennis Nedry]

This DOES NOT work that easily with any version of Mac OS X unfortunately. You can't copy the OS X System folder anywhere and expect it to work because of permissions, hidden folders, etc.

You can make a disk image of your hard drive using Disk Utility, and then at any point in the future, you can use this image to restore the hard drive back to when you made the image - OS X and all. To do this with a CD or a DVD, there will be additional steps including reducing the size of the image and making the disc bootable.

May I suggest getting an external USB or FireWire hard drive and storing a disk image of each Mac on this drive? You would then be free to restore the Macs from these images at any point in the future.

 

[TheMacGuy]

Darn. I wanted to make OS X discs for reinstalls really. Seeing the price of a normal, spinning HDDs falling, I might go to Frys or Best Buy and pick one up and use SuperDuper to clone the HDDs. But it will work with OS 9?

 

[Dennis Nedry]

You can't make an actual, normal installer disc of any Mac OS unless you copy an existing installer disc.

With OS 9 you can make a copy of the System Folder, burn it to a CD, whatever you want, and it will be bootable when you copy it back to a hard drive, i.e. a manual install. Making the CD bootable from the System Folder is sometimes tricky when you burn it from Mac OS X. Your chances are better at making the disc bootable if you burn it using Toast in Mac OS 9.