Save Your Money

[Technel]

Hi,

I am new here so I hope I do not step out of boounds or breake the rules.

In short, I have bought and paid for at least 6 DVD coping programs and to make long story short absolutely NONE of them were worth the money because many times the DVD's I made ether would not play or had bad spots and would not play all the way through on my Sony DVD player, changer.

Do yourself a favor and just get a free program called DVDShrink. I have used this program not on many, many disks and they all work perfectly. All you need of this software and Nero to make perfect DVD's.

I hope this helps you.

Good Day,
Doug

[Sifaga]

[BJ_M]

never heard of it . but thanks

moving this topic over also to the right area ...

[rkr1958]

never heard of it . but thanks

Also, another program you might wish to check out is DVD-RB (DVD-Rebuilder ... there's both a free and Pro version).

[redwudz]

You might also occasionally need DVD Decrypter or DVD Fab Decrypter.
But you will find that out, too.

[Noahtuck]

Shrink what ?
Dvd ??

never heard of it . but thanks

moving this topic over also to the right area ...

:P

[BSpielbauer]

All you need of this software and Nero to make perfect DVD's.

Overall, the point of your entire post above is 100% correct. As surprising as it may seem, it just so happens that several of the very best software programs involved in backing up DVDs are freeware. DVDShrink is (without a doubt) one of the best rippers ever written, and one of the best compression tools (for video) ever written.

However, the particular statement you made above (the one that I quoted -- "All you need of this software and Nero to make perfect DVD's") is no longer 100% accurate. As mentioned above, you will eventually come across one of the more recent forms of copy protection which were designed deliberately to "choke" programs such as DVDShrink (and some others, too). DVDShrink is no longer being upgraded or maintained, so this means that these newer forms of copy protection can play havoc with it.

Even though you have not yet come across one of these newer discs, they are out there, and have been since at least last December. Recent examples include: "Madagascar," and "Stealth" and "Bewitched" in Region 1 (the United States). There are now more than 70 of these DVDs out there, and some of them have been very popular titles ("The Grudge" comes mind). In fact almost every new major title released now from Columbia, or Columbia Tri-Star, or Sony Pictures seems to have one of these new schemes on it. And, a lot of Universal titles (the so-called "running boy / jumping boy" ones) have a different (yet similar) way to causing DVDShrink to lock up and give you an error message. Thus, it is only a matter of time.

Nero is a terrific burning program, and it DOES have a cost. It is a commercial program. Lest anyone be misled, you must pay in order to use it. Ironically, the author of DVDShrink has supposedly been hired away by AHEAD software to work on Nero Recode, and this is (supposedly) the reason that DVDShrink will never receive another true update.

DVDDecrypter is a terrific burning program, and it is also free. It also happens to have a ripping component, and it is generally excellent in that area as well. However, DVDDecrypter can also be stumped by some of the latest DVDs when it comes to ripping. And, similarly, the author has now had to abandon it, after threats of legal action.

DVD FabDecrypter can get around these latest problematic discs, but it has its limitations. A major objection is that it will continue ripping even when it comes across a seriously damaged disc, which means -- if the original had serious scracthes, fingersmudges, gouges, or accidental mastering flaws, the DVD FabDecrypter would tell you all is "fine" and deceive you. Your rip can have "gaps" in the data. The result might end up skipping, stuttering, freezing, locking up, or just quitting. Not a good thing, in my opinion, when evaluating a ripper.

I could go on, and evaluate the usefulness of running one of the "background tools" such as "AnyDVD" or "DVD43." However, I think the point has been made that there is no "best" when it comes to backing up your home collection of DVDs. The "best" solution may be to have a variety of programs at your disposal, and to know how to use them, and when to use them. Some of the better tools happen to be paid tools, (sadly, some of the worst tools also happen to be commercial "paid" tools); some of the better tools happen to be shareware; some of the better tools happen to be freeware. No one program is "perfect."

-Bruce

[BJ_M]

excellent post BSpielbauer -- good explanation

[lordsmurf]

there is no "best" when it comes to backing up your home collection of DVDs. The "best" solution may be to have a variety of programs at your disposal, and to know how to use them, and when to use them.

That's easily one of the best things I've read here lately. If there was a list of top 20 things all people must read before doing anything with video or DVDs, this would make the cut.

Well done. 8)

[Boondock]

i think it would serve you best to have dvd decrypter, dvd fab decrypter, and dvd shrink installed. so far with that combo i have not come across a disc i could not rip/burn. if i have to one of these days i will buy software but i am a big fan of freeware programs. 1 main reason is of course it's free.
i have had 2 discs that dvd decrypter could not get through. actually 1, i ripped the other but shrink wouldn;t load it. ripped it with fab and all was well again. great tools

[jimmalenko]

there is no "best" when it comes to backing up your home collection of DVDs. The "best" solution may be to have a variety of programs at your disposal, and to know how to use them, and when to use them.

That's easily one of the best things I've read here lately. If there was a list of top 20 things all people must read before doing anything with video or DVDs, this would make the cut.

Well done. 8)

I'd add that alongside my definition of "Best" (which incidently is not a video term ) :

Best, adj.

There is no best.

"Best" is a subjective term, normally based on opinion. That said, occasionally facts prove unequivocal best, but only very occasionally.

Do you mean "Best" as in "highest quality" ?
Perhaps "Best" as in "accept most source formats" ?
Maybe "Best" as in "easiest to use" ?
Or "Best" as in "fastest" ?

The best for you is the one that gives you the results you're trying to achieve.

To the OP, kudos and well-done for sharing a method/software which you're happy with. Whilst this obviously seems old-hat for a number of existing members here, I'm sure it it will help newer members. Good job