How to Copy a Copyprotected CD

This guide explains how to copy music CDs that are copy-protected with ‘copy control technology.’ You need a PC with Windows XP and a CD writer. 

Step 1: Download IsoBuster

The first step is to download and install IsoBuster, a program used to salvage data from damaged CDs and DVDs. IsoBuster is a commercial program, but you can run it in freeware mode, where it has limited functionality, which is fine for our purposes.

Step 2: Create a Folder for the Audio Tracks

The idea is to use IsoBuster to extract the hidden audio tracks from the protected CD and burn them to a normal CD, so the first thing to do is create a folder somewhere to store the audio tracks. I suggest your Windows desktop.

Step 3: Open the Copy-Protected CD with IsoBuster

First, start up IsoBuster and hold down your shift key while inserting your copy-protected CD.
I recommend that you hold down the shift key because it blocks the Windows ‘autorun’ feature, i.e., prevents the CD from launching programs automatically.

After inserting the CD, you should now see something like the following:



As you can see, the CD has two sessions, unlike a normal audio CD, which only has one. The actual audio tracks are stored in session 1. Session 2 contains files, which are used when you insert the CD into a Windows box or a Macintosh. For our purposes we are only interested in the audio tracks, so we'll ignore session 2 completely.

To get at the audio tracks with IsoBuster, click on session 1 on the left in the IsoBuster window. You should now see the audio tracks displayed on the right:

Step 4: Extract the Audio Tracks

Use your mouse to mark all the audio tracks in the right part of the window, then right click and choose ‘Extract Objects’ from the menu:

IsoBuster will ask you for a destination directory; choose the one you created previously:

Now wait for the files to copy...

Step 5: Burn the Audio Tracks onto a Blank CD

Now open your favourite CD burning software and use it to create an Audio CD. Drag the tracks from the folder where IsoBuster placed them into your Audio CD project, make sure they appear in the right order, and then burn. When you are finished, the resulting CD will contain all the tracks from the original copy-protected CD, but in a non-protected format. It should play on all players and can be MP3-encoded for use on your portable MP3 player.
Enjoy!

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