Newbie here. Does the CD drive matter in backing up a game?
 

I am trying to back up Star Trek Elite Forces. Does it matter what kind of CD drive I have? I've got a...

Philips CD4801 CD-R/RW.

I would appreciate any tips in backing up Star Trek Elite Forces as well.

You have a better chance if your burner supports RAW DAO write mode. CloneCd is not compatible with all burners although it is one of the best game duplicator software.
If nothing works, try BlindWrite software