Backup Discs

[steje]

Hi there... I expect some people may view this thread with skepticism - so please read this for what it's worth and try not to dismiss it out of hand.

I own the CD's... at some point way in the past I made backup images of the discs and used Daemon Tools to mount and play them. I currently use MagicDisc to mount those old images but have been considering an upgrade of my laptop and moving from WinXP to Win7 and may also want to change my virtual drive emulator as well to one that doesn't seem to support the older img/ccd/sub files created by CloneCD (I "think" that what I used to create the backup images - it was a loooong time ago).

In any case - I'm fiercely protective of these CD's and want to have a current backup in a more standard format that I'd always be able to re-burn if I ever wanted to... or otherwise be sure to be able to mount virtually regardless of virtual drive program.

That said - I cannot get ImgBurn to read the disc in order to create a new "ISO" of the discs - and I absolutely refuse to try downloading from torrents or some other such source... I want to use my official discs that I know are safe. I'm sure ImgBurn is choking on whatever copy protection the discs use. Can anyone suggest a current tool/application that can make a valid ISO backup of the CD's? I know the CD's themselves are ok - I re-installed directly from them the other day as a test.

On a side-note... while there was a post recently about the game and forum in general not being very active. It was still nice to come across it. I don't play the game "regularly" but every so often get the urge to do so and fire it up and ignore the wife and kids for longer than I should with my little guy walking around spouting out "Atreides"... "Your Command?"... "Time to Move"..."Mongoose"... "Construction Started"...

[athanasios]

Why don't you try with other burners. There are many around.

[Gruntlord6]

That said - I cannot get ImgBurn to read the disc in order to create a new "ISO" of the discs - and I absolutely refuse to try downloading from torrents or some other such source... I want to use my official discs that I know are safe. I'm sure ImgBurn is choking on whatever copy protection the discs use. Can anyone suggest a current tool/application that can make a valid ISO backup of the CD's? I know the CD's themselves are ok - I re-installed directly from them the other day as a test.

What error is it exactly? I can message you a safe torrent.

[erjin999]

I am sure you can make a backup with pretty much any copy app, nero for example and use Daemon tools to mount and remove any copy protection. To be honest I dont think I have ever done an install like that.

Why dont you instead install from your CDs and then use the NoCD patch (google it) to ensure your cds never get ruined? Although your option would be good in case you ever lost the CDs completely. Alternatively look at something like UltraISO to enable you to convert your current CD image format to something like .iso.

[Voodoo Daddy]

Westwood used an old version of Safedisk, if memory serves. I would recommend "Any DVD" by Slysoft. It will remove the safedisk on the fly. I have used it for years and it has NEVER failed me. I think it is still a free app.

[steje]

Thanks all... yeah, I was looking for a recommended app only since ImgBurn wasn't able to handle the discs. I'm sure there are many out there - I had downloaded BlindWrite after reading some other forums... but lo' and behold - I tried the "Make CD/DVD Image" option built into my current virtual drive emulator (MagicDisc) and that seemed to handle it - but it took HOURS. I recall having tried that before but had killed it assuming that the reason it was running for so long (at least 10 minutes) with the progress stuck at 0% was that it was likewise choking on the copy protection as well.

Anyhow - I installed from these new ISO images and everything worked fine - thanks for the suggestions. Now it's time to peruse these forums some more to find out what servers are around that you guys play on.