Wow, how hard can it be to just copy a DVD ?

[liffy99]

Wow, how hard can it be to just copy a DVD ?
First time I've ever tried and feel like I'm going in circles.

Anyway, I've a DVD 9 disc which I simply want to duplicate on a blank 8.5gb DL disk (and it would be nice to remove the region coding too as I didn't realise it was a region 4 when I bought it and can only play it in my multi region player).

So, I've used DVD Decrypter which on my hard disk has created an Image file (I think it's a file, looks more like an icon) of a little over 6gb and an "mds" file of about 9kb. Is that all I need ? Not sure if that removed region coding as it went.

If so, how do I get those onto a blank disk ? I've looked at the burn options in Nero 7 and DVD Decrypter but don't really understand the options.

Help !

[CineManno]

For simple iso burning try ImgBurn. Couldn't be simpler.

[redwudz]

liffy99, in the future please use a more descriptive subject title in your posts to allow others to search for similar topics. I will change yours this time. From our rules:

Try to choose a subject that describes your topic.
Please do not use topic subjects like Help me!!! or Problems.

Thanks,
Moderator redwudz

And welcome to our forums.

[MOVIEGEEK]

For simple iso burning try ImgBurn. Couldn't be simpler.

...or just use DVDDecrypter and select the MDS file.

[lacywest]

If you are only seeing a icon ... try changing the views ... up the top on windows explorer "Views" ... and look at it in details and you will see the size.

If you are someone who only uses the Start button and navigates from there well ... I just dont use the Start button that much except for shutting it down.

I've got most of my application start icons in quick launch.

It is helpful to go to the folder you've saved your image file ... ISO ... BIN ... etc ... etc ... that way you can see how big it really is.

DVDDecrypter is old ... not supported anymore ... good program ... but old. You must be trying to duplicate a old video disk ... most of the time ... now adays ... DVDDecrypter ... wont do the job.

If you got the money ... Buy AnyDVD and CloneDVD2 ... you can try them out for 21 days. AnyDVD allows you to see a DVD Disk and no encryption is visible. CloneDVD2 works with AnyDVD really nice ... settings allow you to shrink it ... or rip all of it. One thing I like about CloneDVD is .... it is easy to see the movie and the extra stuff ... trailers ... add on stuff ... how the movie was made ... and just put a check mark in the box for what you want to keep.

CloneDVD can make a ISO also and then use ImgBurn to burn the movie. CyberLink Power2Go ... is a program I use to burn ISO files made with CloneDVD ... especially Dual Layer projects. All my movies play.

[jman98]

DVDDecrypter is old ... not supported anymore ... good program ... but old. You must be trying to duplicate a old video disk ... most of the time ... now adays ... DVDDecrypter ... wont do the job.

If you got the money ... Buy AnyDVD and CloneDVD2 ...

It is NOT correct to say that "most of the time" DVD Decrypter will not work. It actually does work correctly most of the time. ARCCOS, which it does not understand, isn't used as much as it seems to you. Most DVDs sold in North America can still be successfully decrypted with DVD Decrypter. ARCCOS is rarely used outside of North America, so the percentage of DVDs that can be decrypted with DVD Decrypter is even greater there. In North America you can count on Sony and Disney DVDs having problems with DVD Decrypter, but that's all I can think of offhand. The poster has a region 4 disc. I've never heard of ARCCOS being used outside of regions 1 and 2 and it's still rare in region 2. There may be another copy protection mechanism or two that isn't ARCCOS that DVD Decrypter can't handle, but I still stand by my statement that these seem to rarely be used outside of region 1.

DVDFab HD Decrypter is free and works fine with all current forms of copy protection. I'm not knocking the programs you listed, but it's not necessary to pay for decrypting programs if you don't want to.

[liffy99]

Great - thanks guys.
Using DVD Decrypter to create an ISO file on the hard disk, and then to write that to a DL disk seems to have worked a treat !
Only curious as to playback though - it works every time playing back through Nero. Media player and Real Player show the video only (no sound) although I'm sure that when I first tried it Media Player did work (and I've checked the volume is OK and that mute isn't on). I've not changed any of the PC set up.

[jagabo]

Media player and Real Player show the video only (no sound)

Do you have a DirectShow AC3 decoder?

[lacywest]

For ... JMAN98 ...

Okay ... but I had a experience awhile back ... spent hours trying to copy a DVD ... stayed up to 5AM and finally did it.

Those hours could have been used elsewhere and after that ... I decided to buy AnyDVD and CloneDVD ... cost 68 bucks.

If you or someone else wants to try DVDDecrypter and dont mind finding out ... that you should have used the other program ... go for it.

For me ... in this time period ... I use AnyDVD and CloneDVD together ... I remove the trailers and other stuff I dont want to keep and then I use DVD Rebuilder with the Cinema Craft Encoder. If something goes wrong ... which is very very rare ... it is most likely AnyDVD needing to be updated. Or the PC I was using did a hiccup.

[hech54]

DVDFabDecrypter - Free
DVDShrink - Free
ImgBurn - Free
Done

I also own AnyDVD but do not utilize it when copying a DVD.
It is always faster in the long run to rip the entire disc to the
HDD then Shrink it/remove unwanted crap....from there....and
DVDFabDecrypter is faster at ripping than AnyDVD.

And to me....Dual Layer discs are still too expensive. I'd rather
split a movie over two Taiyo Yuden discs than mess with any brand
Dual Layer disc.

[fritzi93]

DVDFabDecrypter - Free
DVDShrink - Free
ImgBurn - Free
Done

Yes.

To expand on that a little... If you have reason to believe a disc has new protection on it ( it's a Sony, Columbia, Disney release, etc.), here's a few tips that may save some time/annoyance:

DVDfabHDDecrypter is known to occasionally mangle navigation on ARccOS/RipGuard discs. Also, ripping full disc has worked okay when main movie did not. But it is rare indeed. (IIRC, ripping WALL-E in main movie mode scrambled the chapters). Running FixVTS on a suspect rip may prevent problems, and it takes less than a minute to run. The best check is running a rip through DVDShrink, whether it needs compression or not. Shrink is quite touchy about correct structure, if it doesn't complain, all is well.

[PCat]

DVDfabHDDecrypter is known to occasionally mangle navigation on ARccOS/RipGuard discs. Also, ripping full disc has worked okay when main movie did not. But it is rare indeed. (IIRC, ripping WALL-E in main movie mode scrambled the chapters).

Just curious what the mangled output would do/look like (I assume that was using Fab HD Decrypter copying the main movie)?
And what does FixVTS do to correct this?

Lastly, it sounds as though you recommend using DVDFab5 HD Decrypter to copy the full DVD to hdd, then use Shrink3.2 tp encode the main movie only (uncompressed) or compress the full movie if you choose and if there is a problem with this process use FixVTS and rerun DVDShrink (with auto burning w/Nero checked off), manually using ImgBurn to burn results to DVD?

[hech54]

Lastly, it sounds as though you recommend using DVDFab5 HD Decrypter to copy the full DVD to hdd, then use Shrink3.2 tp encode the main movie only (uncompressed) or compress the full movie if you choose and if there is a problem with this process use FixVTS and rerun DVDShrink (with auto burning w/Nero checked off), manually using ImgBurn to burn results to DVD?

It's DVDFabDecrypter ....<CLICK THE WORD DVDFabDecrypter
That is the FREE one that also doubles as the pay version if you choose to add extra features.

The rest of your question is my preferred method....yes.
I rarely need FixVTS....but it is in my arsenal of tools just in case.

[PCat]

Yeah, thats' s what I've been using DVDFab5 (latest ver 5.2.3.2, that's why I call it Fab5) free opt bar/button is DVDFab HD Decrypter and it starts DVDFab HD Decrpter 5.2.3.2. Thnx.

I am curious as to what fritzi93 has seen with DVDfabHDDecrypter known to occasionally mangle navigation on ARccOS/RipGuard discs, although rare, and that ripping full disc has worked okay when main movie did not.
What does FixVTS do to correct this?

[MOVIEGEEK]

What does FixVTS do to correct this?

It fixes the navigation pointers(PGC).
Copy protections such as ArccoS add a bunch of unreferenced bogus titles into the structure so when you just rip the main movie the navigation pointers get screwed up.FixVTS is also useful to make DVD-VR files compliant so you can watch it on a regular DVD player.

[PCat]

Got it. Thnx. Don't apps like the latest DVDFabHDDecrypter take care of this issue while processing?

[fritzi93]

Don't apps like the latest DVDFabHDDecrypter take care of this issue while processing?

Sometimes not until updated to deal with a particular, reported problem or anticopy strategy, that's one reason DVDFabHDDecrypter is updated often. Moviegeek's explanation is about as clear as is possible, without getting into a whole bunch of specifics.