do i burn an operating system as a data disk. could i use roxio. and i have nero 7 if that will do it too.
No you'd most likely want to burn it as an image file onto a disc. What format exactly is the OS in, or are you talking about copying a disc?
If you have an ISO of your OS, open Nero Start Smart, go under "Backup" and select "Burn Image to Disc" . I chose mine to burn with Nero Burning Rom.
No don't use Nero, I recommend Img Burn, it's free and a much more reliable software, especially if your burning OS's, you don't want any screwed image sectors.
I never had a problem burning with Nero, video or OS images. The only time Nero chockes is dual layers.