newbie help (please dont hate me)

Ok, i was thinking of buying the coding cable to backup my games (my little brother had ruined 3 of my games already) and i want to know if it is really easy to make backups? i dont want to waste $25 for a cable, and then not to get it to work. Also, what software do i need, and how long does it take to copy the cd to your harddrive?

thanks