ISO image = cloning ?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by ErikAlbert, Jul 15, 2007.

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  1. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    Hi guys,
    1. If I create an ISO-image of a DVD/CD and
    2. If I write that ISO-image back on a DVD/CD
    Is that the same as cloning or creating an exact copy of a DVD/CD ?
    If yes, which is the best software to do this (free or paid) ?
    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. Seer

    Seer Registered Member

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    Yes, ISO is cloned CD/DVD.

    ISO is also convenient if you want to use it as a virtual CD from your HDD. With something like DAEMON Tools...

    I believe a free one that can produce ISO images is CDBurnerXP Pro. Good burning software...

    ISO
     
  3. lucas1985

    lucas1985 Retired Moderator

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    Not always for Audio CD :)
     
  4. Seer

    Seer Registered Member

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    Hello lucas :)

    What exactly do you mean? Never tried it with audio actually...
     
  5. Jo Ann

    Jo Ann Registered Member

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    To address your 2nd question, I would strongly suggest getting a specialized ISO program such as MagicISO, PowerISO, UltraISO, or WinImage (rather than standard burning software) Specialized ISO programs can create ISO <---> CD/DVD (in either direction) as well as many other powerful ISO manipulations.

    There are surely others in this category and I wouldn't know which is best. If anyone has compared them, I would be very interested in learning what conclusions you came to. ;)
     
  6. eniqmah

    eniqmah Registered Member

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    Magic + PowerISO allows you to edit the iso file once it has been created. More reliable, IMO, is Alcohol 120. It is also lighter on resources.
     
  7. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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    I dunno whats the best but i've used ashampoo burning studio for a while now to create/burn iso's without any problems. I just use the free versions that they give away from time to time.

    I've never tried to create an image of an audio cd, i simply rip the tracks.
     
  8. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    UltraISO for creating and ImgBurn (or your prefered burning app) for writing :thumb:
     
  9. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    Hi girls and guys,
    First of all, thanks for the help.

    I have already CDBurnerXP Pro (CDBXP) and I can create ISO-images (.iso) with it, BUT I'm not convinced that CDBXP creates an EXACT COPY (CLONE) of the source CD.

    The ADD function in the lower part of CDBXP copies the files for the ISO-image, but these files are SORTED alphabetically, which is IMO not necessarily the sequence in which the files were burned on the original CD and that is bothering me.

    To illustrate this, I created an ISO Image of my original WinXPproSP2-CD and burned that ISO-image on a blank CD to make an extra copy, using CDBXP. So far so good.

    When I put the original WinXPproSP2-CD in my DVD/CD-drive and I reboot, I get this extra line during the boot procedure : Press any key to boot from CD... and I have a few seconds to hit any key.

    When I put the cloned WinXPproSP2-CD in my DVD/CD-drive and I reboot, I don't get that extra line and the boot procedure continues as normal.

    So there is obvious a difference between the original and the so called cloned CD and that's why I think that CDBXP doesn't make an exact copy of the original CD.
    This is important to know, at least for me, because I expected the same WinXPproSP2-CD, acting the same way as the original one and that didn't happen.

    So it seems to me that I need another software than CDBXP to make an exact copy of original CD's in the form of an ISO-image.
    (I only have one DVD/CD-drive in my computer).
     
  10. mrhero

    mrhero Registered Member

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    Hi, You can try Alcohol, Blindwrite and CloneCD
     
  11. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Hello,
    Some CD / DVDs are protected by comparing the angle between the first and last bit written on the disc. This cannot always be easily reproduced by the standard home burner - only commercial ones.
    Mrk
     
  12. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    After recovering from my deep disappointment regarding CDBurnerXP Pro and its function "Save Image as ISO File",

    1. I installed the trial version of Alcohol 120%
    2. I created a new ISO-file based on the original WinXPproSP2-CD, using Alcohol 120% this time.
    3. I burned the new ISO-file on a blank CD with the function "Write Disc from ISO File" of CDBurnerXP Pro.
    4. I rebooted my computer with the cloned WinXPproSP2-CD in my DVD/CD-drive.
    5. And YES, I got the extra line during the boot procedure : Press any key to boot from CD... and it even worked after pressing any key (I used Enter).

    Conclusions :
    1. The function "Save Image as ISO File" of CDBurnerXP Pro does NOT create an exact ISO-file to clone CD/DVD's. It probably creates a ISO-file with SORTED objects in alphabetical order.
    Only the function "Write Disc from ISO File" of CDBurnerXP Pro seems to work properly.

    2. Alcohol 120% creates an exact ISO-file from a CD/DVD and I will buy that software very soon.

    So far my extraordinary adventures with ISO Images :)
     
  13. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    All ISOs are not created equal. A few weeks ago I bought Magic ISO and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Even when it worked on audio file comparisons with the original showed differences. Asked for a refund and had no reply. Asked again and still no reply. I'm aware that all software fails in some circumstances but a company that can not or will not reply to e-mail should be avoided in my view.

    The really embarrassing thing is that Nero 6 handled the disks without working up a sweat.
     
  14. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    Thanks for the warning and I fully agree with you.
     
  15. mrhero

    mrhero Registered Member

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    You can also write ISO's with Alcohol. And Alcohols own imaging format(mdf-mds) is better than .iso.
     
  16. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    Yes, I still have to get familiar with Alcohol 120% and all these formats, but that is just a matter of time.
    It seems to work properly. I created 6 ISO-files and each cloned CD had the SAME number of bytes of the original CD. I burned them with Alcohol instead of CDBurnerXP, because CDBurnerXP didn't recognize 1 ISO-file, created by Alcohol and refused to burn it. Alcohol burned them all without any problem. So I'm satisfied with the results of Alcohol.
    Thanks to everyone who participated in this thread. :cool:
     
  17. Franklin

    Franklin Registered Member

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    Sorry for coming in late but maybe you could also look at ISO Recorder which is a tiny program and seems to work ok.

    ISO Recorder
     
  18. lucas1985

    lucas1985 Retired Moderator

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  19. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    Dear members,
    For the record : my question had nothing to do with audio CD/DVD's.

    When I bought my computer, I got a few CD's with WinXPproSP2, ATI drivers, NVIDIA drivers, CREATIVE drivers, etc.
    The problem was : I have only ONE CD of each and I wanted a backup of these CD's, including my seven-years-old MS Office 2000-CD-1+2.
    One day I might lose one of these CD's due to physical damage and it will be hard to get them back.

    I created ISO-files of all these CD's with Alcohol120% and now I can create these CD's numerous times, even when I lose the original CD's and that was important to me.
    Since I have only ONE DVD/CD-drive I can't clone these CD's on another DVD/CD-drive directly and that's why I needed a good ISO file creator like Alcohol120% and it did this job very well.
    CDBurnerXP Pro is good for normal burning jobs, but is NOT good for ISO-files.
    That's what I wanted to tell other members.

    As a second backup, I copied all these ISO-files (10 in total) on one DVD and I feel more safe now. :)
     
  20. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    from what i have heard and read CD's and DVD's quickly deteriorate.
     
  21. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    Well I bought MS Office 2000 Pro (= 2 CD's) in year 2000 and both CD's are still good. If you find SEVEN years quickly then you are right.
    For each software CD, I have now :
    1. the original CD
    2. a cloned CD made with Alcohol120% and tested.
    3. an ISO file of that CD also made with Alcohol120%
    4. 2 backups on a Verbatim DVD's of the ISO files
    5. 1 backup on my external harddisk of the ISO files
    So each CD is stored 6 times.
    If the Office-CD is still working after seven years, I'm not really worried anymore. :)
     
  22. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    But this has to be done over different locations. I.e. a bank vault, relatives house, buried in the woods, uploaded to a server, sewn into a coat that the recipient is unaware, coded in pig latin with Oreos inside a paper mache. Then your data might be safe. :D
     
  23. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    I would expect pressed CD's and DVD's to last longer than burned. Even so I have working burned CD's from 1996 and burned DVD's from 2002 onwards.

    The claim that CD's and DVD's deteriorate quickly is based mainly upon the use by most of poor media. The writer used, the firmware, the program used to burn, the speed of the burn (not too slow as well as not too fast), the way the disks are stored ( not too hot, not too cold, correct relative humidity, kept in the dark), all are important BUT if you start out with crap cheap media then there is more chance that they will deteriorate.

    Many like Verbatim. My own preference is for unbranded Taiyo Yuden 8X
     
  24. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    LOOOL. I won't go that far, but different places is safer.
    My main concern is that I can damage these software-CD's accidently, like :
    - scratches
    - a cup of hot coffee over a CD with milk and sugar.
    - falling on the floor.
    - whatever.
    I don't know how much a CD can take.

    If I would lose an audio CD or video CD, I wouldn't care much. That is only annoying, not a disaster.
     
  25. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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