I'm new at this...

[crispy]

Okay, as long as your writer is working properly, the good news is that your writer can write almost all protections EXCEPT safedisc2 (sd2).

I'm pretty sure that AOEII is safedisc2 sadly.

Your read error you report may be because easyCD may not be able t read the disc errors on a sd2 disc.

This is my advice to you...

1. Completely remove EasyCD from your pc.
2. Install CloneCd and ClonyXL.
3. Analyse the cd with ClonyXL which will pass the right settings to CloneCD.
4. If it finds sd2, then your writer will give you a good image file, but CANNOT write it back to cdr properly.
5. If it finds anything else then you'll get a good backup.
6.And finally.... if it is sd2 protected, my advice to you is make your image file on your HD, then download Daemon Tools (www.daemonshome.cjb.net) and mount this image with it. You'll be able to run from this image as if it was an original cd in a real cdrom.

Hope this helps.