hi,
I used CDR Win to create a .cue file ...(deleted)... please guide me the way how to backup protected CD data.

CDRWin is not a very good tool for making backups of all protected CDs. The correct backup procedure is performed in four steps:

1. identify the protection of the CD
2. select the proper application depending upon the protection you found
3. dump the image on your HD
4. burn the dumped image on a brand new CD-R

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
STEP 1. HOW TO IDENTIFY THE PROTECTION OF A CD (or IMAGE)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First, you have to identify which protection is used. To do that, download ClonyXXL. You can download it from Afterdawn's:
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/cdr_software/cdr_tools/clonyxxl.cfm

Clony is used to 'scan' the image or CD you want to identify.

Please note that you can scan real CD or an image (.ISO, .CUE/.BIN etc). If you have an image, you have to 'Mount' it first, using Alcohol, for instance.

A step by-step guide (with pictures) is located here:

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/28379

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
END OF STEP 1. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
STEP 2. SELECT THE PROPER BACKUP SOFTWARE
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


After identifying the protection method, you can choose the proper application to backup your CD.

We suggest:
>> Alcohol 120% (easiest) for backup of almost all type of protected CDs (except SecuROM 4.8x and - on certain cases - Safedisc 2.8x and above)
>> BlindRead/Write suite 4.2.5 or CloneCD (this one with the help of Twinpeaks) in order to backup CDs protected with NEW SecuROM 4.77.x or above (4.8.x in the following)
>> Discdump/Fireburner method is also known to be very good for backups of SecuROM 2.x (also latest 2.80), so you might give it a try. The full tutorial (w/pictures) is here:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/29452
>> Padus DiskJuggler is also told to be very good in order to backup CDs protected with Safedisc 2.8x and above (see Shoey's post at the end of this thread)

Download links for the software above mentioned are provided below:
> Alcohol 120%: http://cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_tools/alcohol120.cfm
> BlindWrite: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?threadid=61418 (for version 4.25) and http://www.blindwrite.com/download.htm (for latest version)
> CloneCD: http://www.elby.ch/english/products/clone_cd/download.html
> TwinPeak Tool: http://kickme.to/blackcheck
> Padus DiscJuggler: http://www.padus.com/downloads/demo.php
> Fireburner: http://www.fireburner.com/downloads.shtml

> Discdump Frontend:http://come.to/ddumpfrontend

If you are on US or Japan, CloneCD will have a 'regional lock'. You can easily bypass the lock by changing Windows 'International Settings'

Please note that you can backup SecuROM 4.8x with also Alcohol 120% (working backup, need Datatype: SecuROM NEW 4.x , which allows DPM on reading phase and 'Burn RPMS' on writing phase. The resulting CD will need emulation (Alcohol running with 'RPMS Emulation' option switched ON) when playing. For this reason the backup is called working but not perfect.

For Safedisc 2.8 and above, you must know that, so far, Alcohol 120% is known to be very easy-to-use and effective, but sometimes two other methods are duggested:
> Discdump/Fireburner
> DiskJuggler

DiskJuggler is the only software that is able to read/write the pre-gap (provided you have a good CD-Writer) needed to have a working Safedisc 2.8+ backup. Other software (Alcohol 120%, CloneCD, BlindWrite) might create working backups but since they emulate the pre-gap during writing rather than phisically write the pre-gap , the backup CD might become useless if, for instance, you install an update patch on the game. More in general, keep in mind that the chance of making Safedisc 2.8+ working backups is strongly burner-dependent so you might either not be able to backup a SD 2.8+ CD at all. Or, maybe, you could be able to backup a the CD, but needing to use the burner rather than the reader to play it... it's a kind of 'hit and miss' game.
Knowing if your burner is at least a '2-sheep burner' also helps a lot: http://elby.ch/english/products/clone_cd/writers/a.html


To keep things simple, we will stick on three basic methods: (Alcohol 120% for everything except SecuROM 4.8x, BlindWrite 4.25 for SecuROM 4.8x and Discdump/Fireburner method for Safedisc 2.8+ should Alcohol 120% fail).

The full Discdump/Fireburner tutorial (w/pictures) is here:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/29452

An optional procedure to backup SecuROM 4.8 with CloneCD / Twinpeaks is located here: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/26771

At the end of this thread you'll also find the proper R/W settings for DiskJuggler, that in some cases will help to successfully backup Safedisc 2.8+ should Alcohol 120% fail. Any other specific problem should be posted and answered separately.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
END OF STEP 2.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________




____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
STEP 3. DUMP CD IMAGE ON YOUR HARD DRIVE
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once completed steps 1. and 2. you should be able to know the protection (if any) that has been put on the CD you want to backup.

Here is the extraction procedure, depending on the sowtware you want to use. If you already have an image, jump to step 4.

Pleas note that if you're dealing with a disk protected by Safedisc 2+ and you want to use the Discdump/Fireburner method, you have to look at the full tutorial (w/pictures) here:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/29452


************************************************** Dumping images with Alcohol 120%**************************************************

If you use Alcohol, the 'Image making Wizard' will guide you through the whole process. Just select the proper 'Datatype' option according to the protection you have detected on the CD.

The step-by-step tutorial (with pictures) is located here:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/28469


************************************************** Dumping images with BlindWrite Suite **************************************************
BlindWrite Suite is the suggested software to backup SecuROM *New* 4.8x. Read a step-by-step tutorial (with pictures) here:

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/28472

************************************************** Special cases **************************************************

If you have a SecuROM 4.8x protected CD and you do not want (or cannot) use BlindWrite, you can use Alcohol 120% to make a 'non-perfect' (need emulation) backup. A very good tutorial is here:
http://clone.cd/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5
-----------------------------------------------

BlindWrite BWA file downloads for SecuROM 4.8.x cd protected games.
http://www.copybase.de.vu/

You can also burn a perfect backup of SecuROM 4.8x with ClonecD (thanks to Shoey for posting this), getting some help from BwaBuilder and TwinPeak.
Read the tutorial here: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/26771


____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
STEP 4. BURN THE IMAGE ON A NEW CD-R
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After making the image sucessfully, burn it on a brand new CD-R.

Pleas note that if you're dealing with an image of a Safedisc 2+ disc and you want to use Fireburner, you have to look at the tutorial (w/pictures) here:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/29452

A 'burning guide' for Alcohol 120, with pictures, is located in this thread:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/28487

A 'burning guide' for BlindWrite Suite, with pictures, is located in this thread:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/28488

Other info (BlindWrite 4.25 and 4.30) has been posted here by Shoey:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/24875
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
STEP 5. USING THE BACKUP CD
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

There are some specific issues regading very advanced protections and the difference between perfect backups (= run without emuation) and working backups (= run with some kind of emuation switched on) .

Here are some useful advices:

A) SecuROM 4.8x backups will never be 1:1 copies. The suggested software tries to 'cheat' the protection scheme in some ways.

1. BlindWrite and CloneCD bypass SecuROM 4.8x by burning 'out-of-standard' CDs, called 'twinpeaks CDs' (CDs with the same info - data and sector number - written on two consecutive sectors. These CDs, being out-of-standard, sometimes cannot be properly read by a CD unit. They are, therefore, useless for installing the game and can be used only to bypass SecuROM 4.8x checks. For this reasons you need to couple to the twinpeak CD, called Play CD an Install CD, basically a second copy of same disc but without the 'twinpeaks' part burned into

2. Alcohol 120% bypasses SecuROM 4.8x by writing some structural info on the CD (in a way so that the CD remains standard). This method is not powerful enough to completely cheat SecuROM 4.8x and therefore you need RPMS emulation switched on to play the game.



B) New protections like SecuROM 4.8x and Safedisc 2.4+ use ATIP check. They recognize if the CD is a burned CD-R (therefore a copy) or a printed CD (original). To bypass this you need either:

1. CloneCd 'Hide CD-R' utility

2. Alcohol 'Ignore Media' emulation

and therefore you'll never be able to run those backups unless you
> hide the media (by emulation) or
> read the backup CD from a unit that cannot read ATIP (that is a non-writing unit, like CD-ROM units or DVD-ROM units)



C) Safedisc 2.8+ checks some pre-gap info, too.

1. Pre-gap is bypassed by emulation in CloneCD and Alcohol (but you need the same emulation you need to bypass ATIP - Hide CD-R or Ignore Media - to play the disc)

2. Pre-gap is correctly read/written by DiskJuggler if your burner has the capabilities. So, if you have a capable burner and you don't want to use emulation, you might want to use DJ, and play the game (to bypass ATIP) on the CD-ROM unit.


D.) When making backups od Safedisc 2+, knowing if your burner is at least a '2-sheep burner' helps a lot.
If you have a '2-sheep burner' (see http://elby.ch/english/products/clone_cd/writers/a.html ) you might need to modify manually some default Safedisc2 settings (for instance, by UNCHECKING the 'Bypass EFM error' Alcohol checkbox). Read this article http://clone.cd/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=583 to learn more about this issue.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Revision history:
21-2-2003 - Marked this thread as 'sticky'
4-3-2003 - General rearrangement. Added BlindWrite 'perfect backup' guide for SecuROM 4.8.x
5-3-2003 - Added Alcohol 120% 'imperfect backup' guide for SecuROM 4.8.x
12-3-2003 - added link to ClonyXXL v2.0.1.4c
13-3-2003 - cd-rw.org/afterdawn.com updated to 2.0.1.4 (this usually happens within 36h, so no need to modify links
25-3-2003: added links to sub-tutorials (with figures)
27-3-2003: added step 5. of the guide (very useful!!)
4-2-2003: added Discdump/Fireburner tutorial for Safedisc 2.8+

How to backup Safedisc 2.8.x using Paddus DiscJuggler 4.x After installing PD 4.x, use the images to help with your settings.

DiskJuggler Safedisc 2.8x read settings





DiskJuggler Safedisc 2.8x write settings









This is the best method to backup Safedisc 2.8.x for those using a "2 sheep" burner.
Paddus DiscJuggler can read& write the "pre-gap" data on the Safedisc 2.8.x protected. Other "dup" programs like CloneCD, Alcohol 120%, BlindWrite Suite can't. What's the advantage here? Read this thread and find out.
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?s=ada92cf6c6d36cecbd401202bfa9e2b6&threadid=66445&highlight=discjuggler

Paddus DiscJuggler 4.x:http://www.padus.com/downloads/demo.php
Images provided by FutureProof, courtesy CD-Freaks.
*Alternative read/write settings verified to work for Paddus DiscJuggler 4.x:
READ
Check Scan gaps and indices, Ignore read errors and Raw read.
Read Speed - Any.
Leave other settings unchecked.

WRITE
Check Raw write.
Write Speed - Any
Leave other settings unchecked.

Shoey

Very good Shoey! We had the same idea (adding tutorials with figures). With your permission, I'll create separate sub-threads that will be linked to this guide (in order to avoid loading tons of images in just one thread).

One question: your method can also be used to backup latest Safedisc 2.9x ? (according to CDFreaks forum only DJ and CloneCD are able to backup SD 2.9x)

Well Safedisc 2.8&up are causing some serious problems for 1 sheep burners. CloneCD is a "hit& miss" for "some" 2 sheep burners because the program can't read/write "pre-gap" data. For those using a "2 sheep" burner, I endorse PD 4.x as 1st method to backup, Alcohol 120% as the alternative. "1 sheep" burners I endorse CloneCD (with the aid of amplify weak sectors\hide cd-r).
Shoey

dRD is 'Da' boss, I'm just a moderator :P

BTW I changed the picture links, in order to avoid linking directly to another forum...

It’s your choice. Use CloneCD within limitations, generally hardware related, or use another application. The fun is in trying it all out and becoming better and good at it. CloneCD can backup your game CD or data CD unless it’s a rare protection like StarForce
Right now, you have choices with CloneCD.
For SafeDisc v2, you can “Ignore” the protection, “Amplify” it or “Emulate” it.
For SecuROM v4.8x you can use the twinpeak method and CloneCD or use another application like Blindwrite.
LaserLock is dead meat as is Ring Protech
In all cases, you can get your backup onto a writeable CD. Some apps just can't cope with errors. Only DiscJuggler is second to CloneCD for Error Reading. Some applications can only emulate the protection when playing from an image on the hard-drive. This is not a criticism of Daemon Tools which has been developed to play from an image; it’s the best tool for defeating copy protection in a way BUT it does not write and was never meant to write. Some burning apps write emulation code onto the CD-R without telling you; CloneCD does not do this, save emulating the pre-gap for SafeDisc v2 which all apps, except DiscJuggler, will do. This is why DJ either works...or it doesn’t and is unforgiving. Alcohol120% will soon be the best all rounder but CloneCD is unique. CloneCD was the first four - button, out of the box, success story. A lot of development time goes into making it fool-proof and virtually ‘click & go’. These are my words, objective judgement I hope because I don’t get paid for any of this and I have registered every burning app I use (and I love ‘em all!). There are other great products but this is the CloneCD Forum and it’s CloneCD I’m talking about.
Now some terminology
A CD-R/W is a writeable CD in general A write-once CD is a CD-R, although Session At Once means you can write more than once to a write-once CD; this is subtle, OK? A hard-drive is a disk A CD-R is a disc A rewriteable CD is a CD-RW We call a CD-RW optical device a “burner” – go figure. I believe it’s a contextual thing
The way to approach CloneCD is to choose the appropriate default profile in the Reading or Imaging window and ditto in the Burning or Writing window. If it works...don’t argue. Doesn’t work? Post here. Wanna have fun? Read on!
Backing up a CD depends on the burning software, reader, writer, system configuration and media CD-R(W)
Burning software – Roxio’s Easy CD Creator will just not do it...OK?! If you tell me that you copied The Sims Unleashed with it, you’re a liar or a naive warez user. You need a dedicated application like CloneCD
Reader - can be a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or a burner
a CD burner or a DVD burner will burn CD-Rs; the only device guaranteed to burn a CD-R is a CD-RW, OK?
System Configuration - you should have a fast ATA or SCSI disk, DMA enabled, correct IDE/SCSI cabling and Easy CD Creator v4.x or less ABSENT from your system; image (or write to disk) before writing to CD-R
Use good media; if it costs 3cents per disc, don't ask me for advice!
The latest copy protections abounding are:
SafeDisc v2.8x
SecuROM 4.8x
LaserLock 2 (known as just LaserLock, because, all burning apps take the v2 tweaks into account)
Ring Protech - not a problem for most readers
'Home Made' crap, like that found on some country-specific versions of Soldiers of Anarchy
The critical divisions between copy protections are:
Up to SafeDisc 2.4 - no ATIP (or CD-R) check; just about anything can write it
SafeDisc v1.x – a piece of cake for any RAW reader and writer
SafeDisc Lite – a piece of cake for any RAW reader and writer
SafeDisc v2.x – what protection?
SD2.4.x to 2.50 – ATIP Check introduced; weak (error) sectors are easily overcome by many, many writers
SD2.51.020 – lotsa trouble: some Plextors come to grief as do Acers
SD2.51.021 – just about everything except ASUS, Lite-On, LG GCE, BTC, MemerexMAX, Polaroid BurnMAX models and some Plex are able to write it without help
SD2.8x – whoops! Only ASUS, and some Plex can do it without help?
Protections go through iterations as do the burning apps and the Firmware coders for the hardware; it’s expensive stuff for the game software developers, little return for the burning app author and possibly not as good as it should be for the optical manufacturers but by golly, do we have fun! There’s more info in the other Read Me posts, please search, look around and make a post.
If you are in the market for a burner, check out one of these: Brand Model Firmware Revision
ARTEC CDRW241040+ -
ASUS CRW-1610A -
ASUS CRW-3212A -
ASUS CRW-4012A -
ASUS CRW-4816A -
ASUS CRW-5224A -
BTC BCE-3212IM -
BTC BCE4824IM 2002 11 21
BTC BCE-5224IM 2002 11 21
BTC CD-RW IDE4816 2002 08 26
BTC CDWRITER IDE4824 2002 11 21
BTC CDWRITER IDE5224 2002 11 21
CyberDrive CW099D 52x24x52 2002 12 02
LG GCE-8160B -
LG GCE-8320B -
LG GCE-8400B 2002 06 26
LITEON LTR-16102B -
LITEON LTR-24102B -
LITEON LTR-24103S -
LITEON LTR-32123S -
LITEON LTR-40125S -
LITEON LTR-48125W -
LITEON LTR-52246S -
MEMOREX 16MAXX 1040JB 2002 05 13
MEMOREX 24MAXX 1040 2002 05 13
MEMOREX 32MAXX 1240AJ 2002 05 22
MEMOREX 32MAXX 1240AK 2002 05 13
MEMOREX 40 MAXX 1248AJ 2002 05 22
MEMOREX 48MAXX 1248AJ 2002 05 23
POLAROID BurnMAX40 2002 11 25
POLAROID BurnMAX48 2002 11 25
POLAROID BurnMAX52 2003 01 31
SONY CRX175A1 -
SONY CRX185E1 2002 05 22
SONY CRX185E3 -
SONY CRX195E1 2002 05 22
SONY CRX220E2 2002 11 21
TEAC CD-W548E 2002 12 06
TOSHIBA SD-R1202 -
TOSHIBA SD-R1312 2003 02 18
TOSHIBA SD-R2312 2002 07 25
TOSHIBA SD-R2412 2002 11 27
TOSHIBA SD-R5002 2002 11 14
TRAXDATA CDRW-2440MB -
TRAXDATA CDRW-2440SD -
TRAXDATA CDRW-4824E 2002 11 21
TRAXDATA CDRW-5224E 2003 01 31
WAITEC FRISBYII 2002 09 26
The ASUS is most reliable in CloneCD. The Lite-On is cheaper and has more 'fun' FW upgrades. The Toshiba is a superb piece of kit - the 5002 and 1312 are 3 sheep burners

Information provided by FutureProof, courtesy CD-Freaks.
*Note* If you don't find your burner on this list, then go to this link and see if you can loacte your burner. If you do find your burner, the EFM encoding MUST have "2 sheep".
http://elby.ch/english/products/clone_cd/writers/a.html

Shoey

very informative... i really appreciate the visuals!! although the information is great just like cdfreaks.com, it does not give visuals for those who are beginners.

that list looks very familiar... =P