Help on backing up computer to dvd..

i need a little coaching on how to back up my computer with a dvd. any help would be appreciated.

There are several different ways to backup files. Any of the files inside your "home" folder (the one that contains your Documents, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites folders) could be lost if something happened to your hard drive. You could re-install Mac OS X and the additional software from your install disks, but you'll want to back up the files in your home folder or you might lose them.
First, you'll have to have a back up plan. How much space does your home folder take up now? You can "Get Info" from the File menu after highlighting your home folder in any Finder window (even the shortcut on the side bar of a Finder window). If it takes up less than 700MB, you'll be able to back everything up to one CD. If it takes up less than 4.3GB, then you'll be able to back up everything to one DVD. If your home folder takes up more than 4.3GB, you may have to back up the individual folders (Documents or Library, for example) to individual CDs or DVDs depending on how big they are. Before we can recommend a technique for backing your files up, we'll have to know how many CDs or DVDs you're going to need and how we're going to distribute the files across the disks.
Usually, it's as simple as inserting a blank CD or DVD and giving it a name and the dragging the folder full of files you want to burn into the disk icon on your Desktop. Then you can burn the disk from the File menu. Also, iPhoto can make CD or DVD backups of your pictures for you. iTunes 7 now will help you make CD or DVD backups of your music files as well. If you're a member of .Mac, one benefit includes a Backup application that will help you schedule backups to CDs, DVDs, your iDisk or hard drives.
If you want to make a complete, bootable backup of ALL the files, including the System folder, you will probably need a FireWire or USB hard drive. You can use Apple's Disk Utility to make a complete backup to an external hard drive all at once or there are third party utilities to make incremental backups (only the files that have changed since the previous backup).
-Doug

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