Not necessary, although doing so is handy so that the gaps are displayed in the log.  The final result of the rip will be the same whether you manually detect gaps or not.  Compare rips yourself, if you don't believe me.



Test and Copy is no guarantee of a 100% accurate rip.  In EAC, when C2 is not used, EAC reads the disc at least twice.  T&C (with no C2) just means that the disc is read at least four times.  The only real benefit of this is that it will tell you if there is a consistent error.

Let's say on the first T&C, you get two CRC checksums, CRC1 + CRC2.  So you rip the disc again, and get CRC2 + CRC2.  You will assume that CRC2 is correct.  There is no guarantee that CRC2 isn't a consistent error.  The only way to know for sure if it is accurate is to run it through AccurateRip, and if you're going to do that, there's no need to waste your time doing Test and Copy.

If the disc is not present in AccurateRip, then I suggest you rip the disc again using a different drive, preferably one which has a different chipset.

No C2 + Test and Copy is a complete waste of time.

Again, I would like to point out that when C2 is not checked, EAC makes sure that there are two consecutive reads that match.  In other words, EAC Secure Mode with no C2 = read + re-read.  Test and Copy is meant for Burst Mode, or if C2 is checked.



The only EAC guide I recommend is the Hydrogen Audio one @ http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Exact_Audio_Copy

Finally, I recommend just using Cueripper.  It is free, with Cuetools, and is a better and faster ripper than EAC.  The only drawback is that you can only rip entire discs with Cueripper, but I don't think that would be much of an issue with people interested in archiving CDs.