I just learned about VGA-Copy, a wonderful disk imaging and copying software that allowed me to duplicate a disk that WinImage couldn't read, due to copy protection.

I then started using it as my primary imaging utility, until I noticed an issue with one of the disks. When this software encounters weird bits on the disk, it narrows the visual display of tracks, makes an audible sound on the PC speaker to alert you, then carries on copying. I thought this was strange because I didn't think that this particular disk had copy protection.

I was lucky enough to have a duplicate of this disk, and started comparing the two. The one disk was actually damaged and not reading properly. Instead of VGA-Copy, I read the disk again in WinImage until it started reporting read errors, hit "Retry" a bunch of times, popped the disk out and back in, performed a few incantation and minor sacrifices, and finally got the disk to read completely. I then compared this image to the one made by VGA-Copy and verified that it had copied bad data.

I can confirm this, because the disk contained self-extracting archives that had CRC checks on their contents. Running this file from the VGA-Copy image resulted in it reporting errors, but not from the WinImage one, as it had refused to carry on copying until satisfied.

I'm not sure what the best course of action is at this point, other than to use this software cautiously. If you're certain that the software isn't copy-protected, WinImage will help you to identify whether the disk is bad and needs some extra care to read. If you know that the disk does have copy-protection, then your only choice is to use other software.

I guess the only way to know for sure is to make an image, with either software, and install or run it to verify.