We are well familiar with the tools at the
www.answersthatwork.com site. Perhaps you have had better luck. But we have found that very small tool (147k) only provides repair for the four boot sectors. The damage we find which stops the boot install are nearly always found elsewhere on the disc. Any scratch anywhere on the disc prevents the read.
Of course, bypassing the boot sectors it is worth a try.
When he said it "doesn't boot" I may have assumed too much in thinking it would not detect either. Of course, if he only wants to bypass those first four (or so) sectors, he might get by with a little juggling.
I assumed that, but without the broader knowledge and long experience of a professional tech, I suspect he would never have been able to create the image from a damaged disc when it is in such a state that it will not boot. The average high end user still does not have the types of drives and setup necessary to copy or create an ISO image from a damaged disc. Most optical drives nowadays, when used with Roxio, Nero, Record Now, or Sonic still scan the entire disc and refuse to act if their scan picks up damage anywhere... even high end software will not copy the defective parts of the disc, where files and folders exist that are damaged. You need a copier that does bit by bit transfers. There is software that will help do that, but is very time consuming.
It is much better to repair the entire disc and damage with one of the $25 repair tools. They do not require that the scratch be entirely removed... just that the scratch reflectance and edges be polished.
He doesn't need a sceond PC, but rather a PC with a second burner.