Trying to find out if my install CD is bad

After reading about how people had bad install CDs, I decided to test mine to make sure it was readable. It failed Nero CDspeed's disk checker. And when I tried to copy the i386 folder to my hard drive, the following files produced read errors and would not copy:

i386\asms\1000\msft\windows\gdiplus\gdiplus.dll
i386\asms\10\policy\msft\windows\gdiplus\gdiplus.ca_
i386\asms\10\policy\msft\windows\gdiplus\gdiplus.man
i386\asms\60\msft\windows\common\controls\comctl32.dl_
i386\asms\6000\msft\windows\common\controls\comctl32.dll
i386\52\msft\windows\net\rtcdll\rtcdll.dl_
i386\52\msft\windows\net\dxmrtp\dxmrtp.dl_
i386\winntupg\oem\digi\isdn\bri\digiupg.dll\digiupg.dll
i386\winntupg\oem\digi\isdn\bri\netmap.inf
i386\win9xmig\iemig\symbols.pri\retail\dll\migrate.pdb
i386\win9xmig\pws\symbols\retail\dll\migrate.pdb
i386\win9xmig\pws\symbols\retail\dll\migrate.sym
i386\win9xmig\pws\symbols.pri\retail\dll\migrate.pdb

This is on a green and white XP Pro CD from Dell, labelled "Operating System." My Media Direct DVD also produces errors.

I called up Dell to see about having the CD replaced, and after being transferred twice the tech told me that was normal. He had me boot off the install CD and run chkdsk /r from the recovery console prompt. I don't see how that does anything at all because it's checking the hard drive, not the CD, and I told him so. He insisted if there was anything wrong with the CD the problem would show up by chkdsk not completing. Then he said it would take 45 minutes and ended the call.

I do not want to be in a position where I try to do a clean install and end up hosing everything due to a bad disc. And doing a Google search for files like gdiplus.ca_ finds posts like this
http://usenet.p2preactor.com/index-t-1306113.html
where someone was trying to do a reformat/reinstall and got this error:

And they told him he had a bad CD and should have it replaced.

Short of actually reformatting and reinstalling from this CD (and risking my current installation) is there any way to tell whether my CD is good? Is what the tech told me true? It seems to me that a chkdsk wouldn't check every single file on the CD.

The tech told me this was an anti-piracy "feature," but I don't see how people would be able to slipstream their Windows CDs if they were unable to copy them.

 

You already know it is bad: it failed the Nero CD-DVD Speed test.

Regarding the slipstream issue: most manufacturer provided OEM disks can't be used for slipstreaming, because they contain updates that will be installed during setup. Here's a great guide that explains the entire issue:

http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/winxp-sp2-bootcd.html

 

Thanks for the link.

If anyone is interested, I tried installing XP from the Dell CD inside of VMware and it produced this message:

So if any Dell tech tries to tell you that successfully booting off a CD and running a chkdsk /r proves a CD is good, he's full of it.

I called Dell back today and got a tech who was very agreeable and didn't give me any argument. He said the replacement OS and Media Direct CDs would be shipped out tomorrow. I'll be checking those when they come. Good thing I thought to check them before actually using them.