Tron

Thank you MJ (and everyone else who answered)! MJ, you seem to be a pro at this. What selection of programs would you recomend to cover ones needs for disk copying purposes?

ImgBurn can only be used to wite an .ISO file to a disc. Again sorry for what will seem very obvious to you... but what is an .ISO file? And if ImbBurn can only write those, do you use Nero for other jobs? An .ISO file is a CD or DVD image. It contains everything that is on the CD or DVD. There are programs that can read the entire disc and make the .ISO file. That file then can be read and burned onto another CD or DVD. Thank you is DVD Shrink such a program (an .ISO file maker)? Or maybe you could recomend a better one? By the way, does ImgBurn have an IRC channel where people can talk more normally than exchanging one sentence per day?

ImgBurn can only be used to wite an .ISO file to a disc. Again sorry for what will seem very obvious to you... but what is an .ISO file? And if ImbBurn can only write those, do you use Nero for other jobs?

There are a number of products that will clone your hard drive. Two that come to mind are Acronis True Image and Norton Ghost. I have never used any so I can't tell you if they are any good. I'm sure there are others out there as well. Your best bet is to do a search for "Clone Hard Drive" and look at some of the products. Once you decide on which one to use just follow the instructions that should come with it. You might also be able to download the instruction before you make your decision. That way you'll be able to see if you can understand what to do. I am familiar with Norton's Ghost but not with Acronis Tue Image. Could someone who is familiar with both (and maybe some other good ones - perhaps something good is out there as freeware and open source), recomend which to go with and why. Now, coming back to ImgBurn. Can you copy forlders with it or just files? Could someone do a "compare and contrast" of ImgBurn and Nero?

New to this product... Sorry if the question sounds dumb but I can't figure out how to make a back up image of an entire drive for back up purposes? Would I be better off to install and use Nero for that?