What about posting a newbie survival tool kit section?

[yoda313]

I was wondering about something when I was browsing the tool section. What about offering a category of most needed beginner tools?

I know that not everybody would agree with what should go there and you have the windows/mac/linux issues but something like a basic survival toolkit in the digital video world?

We always recommend imgburn and mediainfo as basic beginner tools that people need. We could augment that into a starter kit people should get. I don't mean zipping it into one large file. But make a header in the tools section for "absolutely necessary tools" or some such thing.

Things like the freeware version of dvdfabdecrypter and tsmuxer and eac3to could go in there as well.

So how about it? Sound useful? Than for the long time members we could just post one link and say go to "beginner tool kit" and have all the most used tools in that link to begin with. Also having a few encoders would work like handbrake and format factory and maybe virtualdub as well.

[jman98]

I'm not sure that there is a "freeware version of dvdfabdecrypter" any more. If there is, then it's almost impossible to figure out how to install it without triggering the trial period countdown. We've had differing opinions on this and the only completely verifiable freeware versions have been old out of date ones. Nobody that I know of has ever posted definitively that if you "download this and install it this way you will definitely have a freeware version of dvdfab that never expires" for any recent release. In fact as best I can tell dvdfab doesn't have a free version of ANYTHING anymore. If there actually still is a free version then somebody better write up an explanation on how to install it without starting the clock ticking.

[jman98]

I suppose I should say that I don't intend to be critical of dvdfab. I use AnyDVD and as far as I know they have never had a freeware version of anything. I guess that dvdfab probably got tired of "giving it away for free" and having a lot of users who were quite content to use a free product that trailed the commercial one by 6 months. I get that it costs money to continually have to buy DVDs just to defeat the most recent variation on bad sector copy protection that comes out every few months and I don't have a particular problem with dvdfab if they have eliminated the non-free versions, but I see an awful lot of posts around here about the supposed "free" versions of various dvdfab products and when push comes to shove we find out that people are talking about how things were in the past. No offense, but have you tried to install a "free" version this year at all of anything dvdfab makes and not had the clock start on it?

I am willing to admit that maybe they do still make free programs and I am wrong, but others have posted here about not being able to find anyway to install anything they make without it starting the trial period clock. I installed dvdfab for the last time late last year and it immediately started the clock ticking. Previous versions installed in the past would let you use the DVD ripping part for free forever and only if you used other functionality did the clock start. If I am wrong, then somebody needs to describe just what the hell you do to install it right because I'm definitely not the only person who can't figure it out.

[Cauptain]

It would be good if someone could create a "Portable App" addon using freeware video + audio tools.



Claudio

[yoda313]

@jman98 - I was not aware of that change in dvdfabdecrypter.

I too use anydvdhd and paid for it when the lifetime updates was available back a year or two ago. I have just been repeating what I've read forever about the freeware of dvdfabdecrypter.

It should be made clear if there is no more unlimited freeware of dvdfabdecrypter. I will have to remember that on my future recommendations for programs.

[transporterfan]

As far as I can tell they only do the one product. Just keep selecting 'Try' rather than 'Buy' or 'Register' and it allows ripping of DVD or Blue-ray (full folder rip) after the trial of everything else has expired (30 days). The problem comes with the update function. Other than downloading the next full version there is no way to update as internet connection is terminated after the trial expires, so no new decryption routines are added to the library. Considering they are releasing 3 bug fix editions or so a month, it becomes a chore to keep up with the latest versions. That many installs can't be good for the registry.

http://www.dvdfab.com/hd-decrypter.htm

For that reason alone I moved on to MakeMKV and freeware converters.