ok.. i tried to move some Time Machine Backups...it wont let me do it!

[edgarbc1]

ok..
i have a 300gb FW drive partitioned into 3 "disks" sections
>iMac backups using Time Machine
>iBook backups using Time Machine
>Tiger OS install

and I want to wipe the drive and reformat to one "disk"
and my other FW drive has no Time Machine backups and is my scratch drive.

I would like to copy/move the Time Machine backups from
the two partitions and place them on the scratch FW drive, then
reformat the Time Machine FW drive and then copy/move the backups
back onto the newly formatted disk.

However, even though I am using the Admin account, the process bombs
out and will not allow it to happen...

Is there a way around this?
Could it be the applications which are part of the backup?
I could be more selective in what is transferred... e.g. only do home folders
Where does the Mail for each account reside.. so I can also copy those items?

any input and/or suggestions on this is really appreciated!

tia!
Edgar

[Doc]

Recent versions of SuperDuper supposedly clone TM volumes successfully.

[guitarist]

Have you tried reading Time Machine Help files, or instructions, or Apple material about this? It's usually the last place a person looks.