New CloneCD v4.0

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As most people will have noticed it has been rather quiet at Elaborate
Bytes, Oliver Kastl or better known as the people behind CloneCD. CloneCD is well known amongst the burning community
and doesn't need an introduction anymore. For those who don't know CloneCD (shame on you!) here's a brief introduction:

"..CloneCD is a powerful CD replicator software that will allow you to make perfect back-ups of most current
protected CDs. This can be performed because it writes in Raw Mode, which allows it to have total control on the written
data.."

Sounds great but what does this mean? Well in short it means that CloneCD can copy discs that normally can't or won't be
copied. This is a very simple definition and although CloneCD was one of the first programs to use this 'Raw Mode' it's
not alone anymore. New programs have been launched and the last CloneCD version dates back three months ago (January 3rd).
Since then many questions have been asked when a new CloneCD version will be released and what the heck is going on at
Elaborate Bytes. Well we have the scoop for you:

Currently a new CloneCD version is being developed with the codename CloneCD X. In this (p)review we will show you what
this new CloneCD has in store for you and why people have been waiting so long for an update.

Please note that the version we received from Elaborate Bytes is a beta version and still needs retouching!
The final version may be different from ours but with this (p)review we want to show you what lies ahead...

Please also note that in this (p)review we will not test how CloneCD handles various copy-protections like
SafeDisc 2, etc. because this CloneCD version is still beta and there's no point in testing something that hasn't
been finished yet.

Please use the links below to go the next sections of this (p)review:

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The first things that's completely different from the previous CloneCD versions is the way it installs. There's a new
setup-icon (as you can see on the right) and CloneCD now uses a customized install procedure.

Setup:

The customized install procedure will be language dependant: so if you, like me, live in The Netherlands the installation
will be done in Dutch. In this (p)review I've used English for obvious reasons; most CD Freaks visitors people don't
understand Dutch... Of course if CloneCD hasn't been translated into your language yet the installation will be done in
English.

When starting the setup-icon the install menu will appear. After a legal license agreement you can choose which files
you want to install. Our version is a beta version so the final version may contain more options:

As you can see CloneCD version 3.5.3.2 will be installed on our computer. After pressing the 'Next' button you
can select a directory where CloneCD will be installed:

You can now press the 'Install' button and CloneCD will be installed. If a previous CloneCD version is present on your
computer this version will first be uninstalled. The installation of the new version only takes a few seconds: a lot
faster than the previous CloneCD versions:

The setup screen can now be closed and CloneCD has been installed. Your computer might have to be restarted but
afterwards you will find a new desktop icon (if you didn't unselect it during the setup options, see first screen),
the CloneCD Tray (except if you live in America or Japan where this option has been disabled due to legal restrictions)
and a new folder will have been created in your Windows Start menu:

As you can see Elaborate Bytes have changed some small things. The desktop icon now also has the 'sheep' look. The tray
icon has stayed the same and the Start menu group now only has a few options.

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Now that CloneCD has been installed we can start the program. A new CloneCD version has been born:

The first thing a 'trained' CloneCD user will immediately notice is the new default skin CloneCD uses. The lay-out has
remained the same:

• Read to ImageFile
• Write from ImageFile
• Copy CD
• Erase CD

Let's check the version number:

The rest of the options have remained the same. The usual options can be found under File, Tools and Help. The CloneCD
LOG-window has also remained the same although now we can set two more options:

Now let's have a look at the new interface CloneCD uses to setup the reading and writing process. Use the menu
below to go to the next section. Our next step is the 'Drive Setup':

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When choosing any of the main buttons (Read to ImageFile, Write from ImageFile, Copy CD or Erase CD) you can choose
which drive you want to use for the process:

When right clicking on any drive a small window will appear with some options. Notice that a CD-reader has an icon
with glasses and a CD-writer an icon with a pencil:

• Settings ... : Settings of the current drive.
• Eject ... : Opens the CD-tray.
• Close Tray : Closes the CD-tray.
• What's This? : Some more info about the current screen.

All options are pretty self-explaining. The 'Settings ...' option will take you to the advanced settings of the
currently selected drive:

These options should be pretty familiar for experienced CloneCD users. In this screen you can select if you want
to allow the drive to read SubChannel Data and if you want the drive to read CD-text. The next screen is also very
familiar:

Here we see the well known 'Fast Error Skip' settings. Please note that every drive now uses its own settings
(hardware dependant). The settings listed here only apply to the, in this case, selected Mitsumi writer.

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Let's have a look at the first CloneCD button: Read to ImageFile. After pressing this button you will get a new screen
where you can choose the desired device for reading. On the left of the screen you can choose the device, on the right
of the screen the device capabilities will be mentioned. Same as always. After selecting our desired reader we get to
see the new CloneCD interface:

Hey? Where have all the options gone to? Well as you can see CloneCD has undergone some radical changes here. It now
focuses more on the use of Profiles and the advanced settings are now 'hidden'. This was done to make CloneCD easier
to use and you can now just select the type of disc you're trying to read:

• Audio CD
• Data CD
• Game CD
• Multimedia Audio CD

After selecting the type of disc you can just press the 'Next' button. Before we do that we will of course first show
you where the advanced options have gone to and how you can use the Profiles. When right clicking on one of the Profiles
you get the following options:

• New : Creates a new Profile.
• Edit ... : This will take you to the advanced settings.
• Copy : Copy the current Profile.
• Rename : Rename the current Profile.
• Delete : Remove the current Profile.

All options are pretty self-explaining. You can modify existing Profiles, create new ones and remove them. The 'Edit ...'
option will take you to the advanced settings of the current Profile:

As you can see the advanced options have now been divided into three sections: 'Data Read Settings', 'Audio Read
Settings' and 'Error Handling'. The 'Data Read Settings' let's you set the read speed for data disc and gives you the
option to read SubChannel Data or not.

The 'Audio Read Settings' let's you set the read speed for audio discs. Besides that you can select the 'Audio Extraction
Quality' which will help you get better quality when extracting audio discs. This feature is currently still being
developed.

With the last two options you can choose if you want to read SubChannel Data and select another new option: 'Only read
the first Session'. We think this option will help to back-up multisession discs like audio+data. In this case only the
audio part will be extracted and the (possibly protected) data part will be left alone.

We have another settings here which deals with the way CloneCD should handle errors present on the disc. A simple
Off, On or Automatic setting:

The 'Automatic' setting which is enabled by default will switch the 'Fast Error Skip' option on and off automatically
depending on the contents of the media. This will help users back-up disc with the SafeDisc protection for example:

If a number of good sectors are read, the 'Fast Error Skip' option will be switched off again automatically (and an
event will be written in the CloneCD Log). This greatly eases the use of CloneCD, and the quality of the copy increases
dramatically. In a nutshell: leave it to automatic all the time, and you'll be happy.

The 'Intelligent Bad Sector Scanner' is still present and the other two options ('Abort on Read Error' and 'Don't
report read errors') are also familiar.

After checking the advanced settings we can continue to read a normal data disc:

 

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After read the disc to an image file we can write it back to a CD-R. After pressing the second button we can choose
where our image file is located and select if we want to delete it after a successful write. After pressing the 'Next'
button we again see the new CloneCD interface:

In this screen you can set the desired write speed and if you want to do a simulated write session. Below these option
you once again see the Profiles:

• Audio CD
• Data CD
• Game CD
• Multimedia Audio CD

And like in the read session you can right click on the Profiles and choose from the same options:

• New : Creates a new Profile.
• Edit ... : This will take you to the advanced settings.
• Copy : Copy the current Profile.
• Rename : Rename the current Profile.
• Delete : Remove the current Profile.

The 'Edit ...' option will take you to the advanced settings of the current Profile:

The write speed option of course let's you set the desired write speed. For the 'Audio CD', 'Game CD' and 'Multimedia
Audio CD' Profile the recommended write speed is set to a safe 8x. You can of course change/increase this speed if you want
to. As you might have noticed on the first screenshot above there's another write speed option. The lowest of the selected
values will be used when writing.

The other options are also present in the previous CloneCD versions. Depending from which Profile you choose to write
different options will be enabled. This should be a lot simpler to use, especially for people who are not familiar with
CloneCD.

After pressing the 'OK' button the write process will begin:

 

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The 'Copy CD' menu is the same as the 'Read to ImageFile' and the 'Write from ImageFile' windows except of course now
both windows are used. After selecting the desired reader we get the same options when reading to an image file:

After selecting the desired Profile to be copied you can select how you want to copy the CD:

And then you can of course select the desired device for writing the image. After pressing the 'Next' button you can
select the desired Profile again:

And that's it. After pressing the 'OK' button the disc will be copied:

 

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The final window to take a look at is the 'Erase CD' window. After pressing the button we can select a writer which will
be used to erase a CD-RW disc. After choosing the desired writer we see the following screen:

We can just select here if we want to do a 'Fast Erase' (and thus only deleting the discs Table of Contents) or by
unselecting this option we can do a 'Full Erase'.

After pressing the 'OK' button the disc will be erased:

Well that's it. As you can see CloneCD has become a lot easier to use. Let's go to our final words...

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First of all let's start with some things to keep in mind: the version we received from Elaborate Bytes is a beta
version and still needs retouching! The final version may be different from ours. In this (p)review we didn't test how
CloneCD handles various copy-protections like SafeDisc 2, etc. because there's no point in testing something that hasn't
been finished yet.

Installation:

Well as you might have noticed during the (p)review CloneCD has undergone some major changes. The first big difference
is the way CloneCD installs. It's very fast and very simple. The installation procedure will now even be done in your own
language, of course depending on whether or not CloneCD has been translated into your language or not.

Usage:

CloneCD has undergone some major changes in the way it is used. The focus is now on Profiles and people/users don't have
to figure out the proper settings for each disc. A major advantage for less experienced users of course. The Profile-focus
may be a little odd for experienced users but luckily you can still access the advanced settings. With the new CloneCD
version it's possible to create your own Profile for each type of disc or even for each title. The Profiles are very easy
to use and users with no experience at all should be able to operate CloneCD with ease. The user interface has remained the
same in this CloneCD version and the four main buttons are very easy to use.

Copy-Protection Scanners:

With the new focus on Profiles there won't be much need for copy-protection scanners like ClonyXXL. Oliver Kastl let us
know that the old command line options can't be supported anymore in this new CloneCD version but two new command line
options for protection scanners have been implemented. But like said, the need for these scanners is now questionable...

Graphics:

We liked the new 'sheep' look and the orange icons but that is of course entirely a personal opinion. If you don't like
the look you can of course just install a new skin and use that one instead. It's too bad we couldn't show you the animated
pictures this new CloneCD version uses when a disc is examined for example or when a write is in progress. They simply look
cool!

CloneCD Tray:

The CloneCD Tray hasn't been discussed further during this (p)review but it's still present in this new CloneCD version.
It hasn't changed.

Conclusions:

We liked the new 'look and feel' of CloneCD X. We think that past questions like 'Which settings do I use with disc XXX?'
and 'Which error correction method do I have to use?' have all been solved in this new version. CloneCD has never been easier
to use! But that's our personal opinion.

Please post your feelings/questions/other remarks below! What do you think about the focus on Profiles for example?

Signed:
G@M3FR3@K

Our thanks goes to Sven Rohde and Oliver Kastl from Elaborate Bytes for sending us this preview version and providing feedback! Please don't e-mail me if
I can send you this new CloneCD version because I won't.