[Gllug] Help!! XP CD copying problem to change linux partitions - what tools to use to copy a failing install CD?

[M.Blackmore]

Help!! XP CD copying problem to change linux partitions - what tools to
use to copy a failing install CD?

Funny that John should pop up with a Vista question as I hit a very
similar sort of brick wall yesterday trying to alter an XP partition on
a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop.

Suggestions as to what tools I should use to do a precise duplication
(or two or three for safekeeping) of a dodgily reading XP installation
CD will be gratefully received before it flakes out altogether, as K3B
won't read the format of track 0 and refuses to do a "clone" as a
result.

Background of what I was doing: We've got a couple of these Inspiron
8200's and they each came with some sort of CD disk marked Windows XP
reinstallation disk SP2. 

I'm not sure that - well I'm pretty sure they aren't - original disks as
the laptops were second hand and the CDs look like the label might be
printed - but they installed OK onto the blank hard disks as supplied in
both machines then a couple of linux partitions were put on each. Alas
one CD is mortally scratched by kids, and the other isn't in great shape
either. So I've only got one dodgy XP install disk for these Dells.

Notably the XP installation didn't ask for any serial number to be
entered, which is *convenient*. 

So out of pure curiosity I installed the only readable CD onto another
machine and it installed fine, with no serial number query, this being
an old ShuttleX AMD2200+ box with a replacement blank disk ready to go
for my wife to upgrade to (tho' she will never need or use XP, I was
just curious to see what happened). 

Why should this be? The laptop hard disks had no partitions at all on
them when obtained as they had been nuked.

So... I went to resize an XP partition last night and it wouldn't and I
hosed the partition and XP to, err, not boot, being bold and foolish and
impatient (this is Windows after all and *I* don't want it!!) and
defragged with XP and then resize with Ubuntu 7.10 wilfully ignoring
that the hard disk part with XP had a ruddy big block of red just like
John's bang in the middle of the XP "disk". So I vaped things with fdisk
and started again.

That's when I found that one disk is mortally and visibly physically
damaged. Great.

Dug out the second one and that did install but was grunting a bit to
say the least (no idea if anything installed is thus corrupted as yet).
Thus be the dangers of letting the kids near your desk if you haven't
wrapped up all CDs in case hardened steel boxes beforehand - the penalty
be scratched CDs :-(

So given that I now only have only one dodgy XP CD for these Dells to
work from I thought I'd better make a backup or cloned copy of it. I
attempted this using K3B.

Problem number #1: The matsushita CD burner fitted to the Dell won't
support cloning according to the error message. Why ever not?

Remove and stick into another box with and LG DVD burner in it. 

Problem number #2: This burner will support cloning but K3B cloning
fails as track 0 is unrecognisable format or something (I've forgotten
the actual message it was getting rather late at that time).

Alas I do - or more precisely my daughter - *really* needs an XP
partition and I *do* need to make a backup of this disk which was
proving to be a bit difficult to read on 3 different cd and dvd drives.

Now, what would they have done to track 0 of this CD? 

How can I do a bit by bit copy of the CD under Linux seeing as K3B won't
read the track? Or do I have to use windows tools? 

Is this unreadable format on track 0 relevant to creating a couple of
bootable backup install CDs to install XP from in the future?

The contents of the CD were all read off onto hard disk OK, despite some
grunting, so its something to do with the format as per the specific
message. But What?

Suggestions as to what tools or methods I should use to do a precise
duplication (or two or three for safekeeping) of this dodgy CD will be
gratefully received. 

And what would this unreadable format in track 0 be doing, or for,
seeing as I am pretty sure that these CDs were created by the second
hand dealer for supply of the laptops, the hard disks of which had been
nuked?

Malcolm


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