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  1. I was wondering what is the best (preferred) format to store DVD's on a hard drive. I will rip them to the hard drive using DVDFab full movie mode. I would like to create a library on the hard drive and then watch them on the tv using Western Digital's TV Live Plus with an external hard drive.

    Also, I have not purchased Western Digital's TV Live Plus yet, so is there a better way or device to accomplish this? Thank you.
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  2. Member yoda313's Avatar
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    Are you doing just the movie then with no menus? You should be able to save as a single vob and that is all you need to do. I have the first gen wdtv but I haven't played a vob in a long time so I don't know if there are any issues like seek issues in a vob file. There shouldn't be.

    Just remember if you rip a movie with only a dts audio track you can only play it back on a dts receiver only - the wdtv won't convert it at all - only pass it through.

    if you're looking to convert to save space anything from divx to xvid will work and you can use mkv or avi as a container. It handles just about anything out there.
    Donatello - The Shredder? Michelangelo - Maybe all that hardware is for making coleslaw?
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  3. I am looking to copy the movie with menus. I am not looking to save space. What program would you recommend to rip the movie to the hard drive to accomplish this or how would you do it? Thanks.
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  4. Member yoda313's Avatar
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    If you want the whole movie you rip to iso would be the best approach (otherwise you'd rip to a video_ts folder on your harddrive). The free edition of dvdfabdecrypter or payware anydvd.

    However I am not 100% sure if full movie menu is incorporated into wdtv live plus yet. You'll have to check around to find out if full menu support is now available. It wasn't in the first gen model.
    Donatello - The Shredder? Michelangelo - Maybe all that hardware is for making coleslaw?
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  5. How do I rip to an iso file? Dvdfabdecrypter rips to a video_ts folder. I didn't see any options in dvdfabdecrypter to change from copying as ts files to iso. Thanks.
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    Something to think about is the format of the hard drive. Media players will accept NTFS but dvd players(including the PS3) will only accept FAT. So if you intend to play these on something else as well thats something to think about.
    With FAT drives an ISO may not work(if larger than 4gb) so you would need to use DVD folders (VideoTS). I don't have the newer WD live. my older version will play ISOs as well as folders. For DVDs I like folders because I can use drives formatted with Fat so I can view these movies on my PS3 or my 3 Philips 5990 players.

    For Blurays I use the MKV container in drives formatted NTFS. These will only play on my WD or Seagate player.

    As far as a better player than the WD, let me say that the WD has made considerable improvements since my version but it still uses the same remote so I assume that it still uses the same or similar menu. So on that basis alone I would not recomend the WD. The WD menu has an option button that gives you other menus so doing anything is always more complicated than it needs to be.


    Tony
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  7. My external hard drive is formatted NTFS. My cousin has the Western Digital TV Live Plus and says he likes it and added he has not had any problems with it. I asked about the menu on it and he said he doesn't have any problems navigating with it. Again, that is just one person's opinion. He downloads movie and tv shows via vuze. I am not looking to do that, at least not at this time.

    How do I rip a DVD movie from disc to my hard drive in iso?

    Cal_tony, if you don't recommend WD, what do you suggest? I don't own a Wii, XBox, PS3, or anything similar, so at this time this is not a concern for me.
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  8. Originally Posted by robrpb View Post
    My external hard drive is formatted NTFS. My cousin has the Western Digital TV Live Plus and says he likes it and added he has not had any problems with it. I asked about the menu on it and he said he doesn't have any problems navigating with it. Again, that is just one person's opinion. He downloads movie and tv shows via vuze. I am not looking to do that, at least not at this time.

    How do I rip a DVD movie from disc to my hard drive in iso?

    Cal_tony, if you don't recommend WD, what do you suggest? I don't own a Wii, XBox, PS3, or anything similar, so at this time this is not a concern for me.
    http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=832

    According to the link above:

    "Supports DVD Navigation - View all the content included on your DVDs, including complete menu navigation, chapter listings, special features, and subtitles. "

    IMO, the best media players out there are the DUNE's, new model coming out:

    http://store.duneplayer.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=12

    The Dunes offer complete menu navigation with DVD and Blu-ray ISO's or folders. More expensive ($255) than the WD plus but much, much better. However, if all you're looking for is DVD, not Blu-ray full menu support than the WD should suit you just fine but if you're going to do Blu-ray in the future than the Dune is best.

    As far as ripping to ISO...I don't know if Dvdfabdecrypter rips to ISO, I would imagine that it would, but if not you can easily convert the video_ts folder to an ISO with ImgBurn which is free.
    Last edited by bbanderic; 22nd Aug 2010 at 13:52.
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  9. Member
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    What do I recommend? Not sure?
    I would not recommend my earlier version of the WD. The Live version is much improved but it still has the same remote with it's limited and convoluted menus. For example, with most remotes you can select the next or previous chapter from the remote by pressing one button. With the WDs you have to pause the movie, press the option button, select the chapter selection from a number of other possible selections. Once you select chapters menu you that are given a list of the chapters you than have to select the chapter you want. Press the option button again and your at the place you could have been with The Seagate player with just pressing one button. That's my only complaint with the WD.


    http://www.iboum.com/artkill/chipsets.php

    Lists all of the Media players and how they work that might be a good place to start before making a selection.

    I also have 2 Seagate Fat+ Players. I like them very well. They have a remote with functions more representative of what you might find on a standard DVD player. However the new Seagate comes with firmware that is encrypted and it will not let you go back to previous un-encrypted versions. My units have the previous version firmware. So I'm happy. Some users with the newer firmware are not so happy.

    Another place to go prior to selecting a purchase would be the MFG user forums to see what actual users have on their minds. Both the Seagate forum and the WD forum have lots of complaints on them from users.


    Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that most of these units are made in China and the firmware to make them work also comes from China. So, the US sellers are at the mercy of the original mfg for firmware updates. Also, updates are slow in coming and they usually end up not being a perfect fix.

    Tony
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  10. Dvdfabdecrypter does not burn iso files, as far as I can tell it only burns ts files. I will rip with dvdfabdecryter and then convert to iso files with imgburn.

    I will research the media players. At this time I am not sure about Blu-Ray. Thanks for all your help.
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  11. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    ISO -- an image file.
    It saves all contents, file system formatting, etc. It's a perfect backup.

    This WDTV plays ISO files: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003MVZ60I?ie=UTF8&tag=thdifa-20&linkCode=as2&camp=17...SIN=B003MVZ60I

    I don't understand the dislike for WDTV menus.
    Most DVD players and DVD menus are more complex than the WDTV boxes are.
    Last edited by lordsmurf; 23rd Aug 2010 at 00:48.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
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  12. I have not yet purchased a media player, but I have started converting some of the movies to iso files. When I click on a movie in iso format I get the message Windows cannot open this file. What program can I use if I want to watch the movie on my computer from the hard drive in the iso format? Thanks.
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  13. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
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    VLC wil play DVDs from ISO files.
    Read my blog here.
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  14. Thanks. I already had VLC on my computer and I thought the movie would start automatically when I clicked on it. When I opened the VLC program and then opened the movie file the movie started playing.

    Is there a setting I could change in VLC so that when I click on a movie it will associate the movie in the iso format with VLC and start playing the movie? I clicked on tools, preferences but I was not sure what to do. Thanks.
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  15. From Explorer, right click on a file you want to associate with VLC, select Open With -> Choose Program. In the dialog that pops up select VLC and near the bottom select "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file". This works with all file types and all programs.
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  16. When I select open with VLC is not an option. How can I add VLC to that list so that it will be an option? Thanks.
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  17. Use the Browse button (on that same dialog) and navigate to VLC.EXE.
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  18. Thanks. I got it to work.
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  19. I got vlc to work on my desktop to play movies in iso format from an external hard drive, but I can't get it to play any movies in iso format on my laptop. When I click on a movie a window for vlc opens and there is a cone (vlc logo) in the center of the screen, but nothing else. I have an msi laptop with an Intel i530 processor with 4 GB RAM and Intel HD onbaoard graphics.

    I have also tried opening vlc and then click on the movie with the same results. I updated vlc to version 1.1.4 with the same results. My friend has a Dell laptop and his laptop will not play any movies either, acting just like mine. It appears the time is moving in the vlc window, but there is no video or sound. You help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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  20. I would first verify the the ISO image is playable on your Desktop. Then, on your laptop, start VLC and select Tools -> Preferences -> Video. In the Display box use the Output pulldown to select different output devices.. If a video is playing you have to stop and restart playback for the change to occur. See if any of the output devices work.
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    DVD Fab HD Decrypter does rip to ISO image.

    Next to target: there are two icons for each method

    Folder or ISO
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  22. The iso files worked on my desktop with an older version of vlc.. I updated my desktop to vlc version 1.1.4 to have the same version on my desktop as my laptop and now I have the same problem on my desktop.

    In tools -> preferences - > video, then in the Video Box Deinterlacing is off and mode is blend. Force Aspect Ratio is blank. For Deinterlacing I tried the other two options "automatic" and "on" with the same results. Every time I made changes I closed vlc and then reopened it. I also tried every video output in the Display Box with the same results.

    I guess I should have left the older version on my desktop.
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  23. Cowboyup910, I converted the files to iso images on an external hard drive. My problem is that I can't get them to play on my laptop and now on my desktop with vlc.
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    Strange never had any problems playing an ISO image with VLC. Can you mount the ISO with Virtual CloneDrive and then open VLC player, go to Media>>Open Disc>>Disc Device scroll down to the ISO image that's mounted.

    It should play that will too, unless they were ripped wrong.

    Did you build the ISO with ImgBurn, or just create the ISO with DVDFab?
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  25. I installed Virtual CloneDrive but I don't know how to use it.

    I used ImgBurn to build the iso. I was able to play both movies on the external hard drive with an older version of VLC. I am curious how come when I installed the newer version of VLC it will not play the same files.

    Is it better to use ImgBurn or DVDFab to build the ISO?
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  26. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
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    Newer doesn't always mean better. Sometimes a new version of a piece of software fixes some bugs, and introduces new bugs. Newer (version 1.0 onward) releases of VLC seem to have a quite a few different issues not present in earlier versions. You can download older versions here, so maybe you should revert to a version you know works for ISO files.
    Read my blog here.
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    It's easier to use the built in VSO burning engine to make the ISO image. Although, ImgBurn works just as well, less chance of a mistake using DVDFab.

    Virtual CloneDrive you should be able to just double click an ISO and it will mount it, if during installation you choose an ISO image to be associated with Virtual CloneDrive.

    If not right click on an ISO image and Mount (Virtual CloneDrive)

    I have new version of VLC and it still plays an ISO image.
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  28. For now I uninstalled vlc version 1.1.4 and installed the previous version I had on my desktop ver 1.0.5 and it is working on both my desktop and my laptop.

    Cowboyup910, when you say it is easier to use the built in VSO burning engine, are you referring to DVDFab or a different program?

    I will start using DVDFab to make the ISO image rather than ImgBurn and see how that works. Thanks everyone for your help.
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    Yes it easier to use built in burning engine (inside) of DVDFab to output an ISO image.
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