how to make a copy of OS 10.4

Hi, Sorry if you've had this question before but I need to upgrade my Macbook 10.4 to 10.6. I have ordered 2x 1GB of memory but I need to now purchase the Mac Box set to upgrade. But as a backup I need to copy the OS 10.4 just in case everything comes crashing down. Can I make a CD copy? and how do you do this?
This has all come about as my son has just brought me an iPad and I would like to access the iCloud.

You can do this through Disk Utility.

Burning a disk image file on a CD or DVD in Mac OS X

You'll need something like Carbon Copy Clone or SuperDuper if you want an exact copy of your HD. Those apps will create a bit for bit copy of your internal HD on a connected external. Visit their websites to see if they have versions available for 10.4.

Oh, sorry. I thought your question was about copying the 10.4 OS disc, not the hard drive.

do you want to back-up your 10.4 system but dont have the original restore disks?

copy of 10.4

Yes.....It was a computer that was given to me and I've got no set up disks

Your best bet, as vansmith said, is to clone your old drive to an external disk, they are very inexpensive and you may already have one

The upgrade should be painless, but when you install Snow Leopard, it can get your user folder back of a disk cloned with Carbon Copy Clone or SuperDuper, it would be best to wipe the disk from the Snow Lepard install and do a clean install and restore from external disk

Otherwise, its an open secret that a retail copy of Snow leopard will install just fine without the need to buy a combo of leopard and snow leopard