Free Windows Programs for Rip/Burn

[pianoman1976]

I have a Mac, which I understand is limited in terms of software availability for making copies of commercial DVD's (for archive purposes).

So I installed a bootcamp Windows 7 installation and was wondering what free software is recommended for these purposes?
In the Mac world I was stuck with Handbrake for ripping which I could not figure out, and Toast for burning which seems to work nicely.

So what to use in Windows?

Thanks.

[guns1inger]

DVDFab HD Decrypter (free) for ripping

DVD Rebuilder (with HCEnc) (free) for reducing the size down to DVD5 if that is what you want to do

Imgburn (free) for burning

If you want to convert the files to another format then

AutoGK (free) for Xvid/Divx AVI files

Xvid4PSP (free) for Xvid/Divx/H264 etc. Very versatile.

[pianoman1976]

Thank you.

Are the two programs DVDFab HD Decrypter and Imgburn pretty straight forward? Or do I need to be linked to detailed instructions as to how to do this?

I understand the premise - extract Video TS using DVDFab then burn with Imgburn?

[guns1inger]

I fond both of them pretty intuitive. If you get lost with Imgburn, click on Help you will see a link to the tutorials section of the Imgburn forum. Here you will find detailed and easy to follow instructions for pretty much everything Imgburn can do. Once you have done it once or twice it will be second nature.

Note : Imgburn does not reduce the size of DVD files, so if you want to shrink a DVD9 down to DVD5 size for burning, you will have to use something else first (which is why I threw in DVD Rebuilder in the original list). If you are burning to DVD9 then Imgburn is the only sane choice, as is Verbatim DL blanks from Singapore.

[pianoman1976]

Thank you much for the info.

I didn't even know about DVD9 until now. After some research I'm clear on what it is, but curious to know how prevalent it is? I thought most stuff out there was DVD5. When you compress a 9 to a 5 don't you lose image quality?

So Verbatim DL blank is the only blank DVD9 media?

[redwudz]

Not the only available, but the one with the highest success rate. I would only try the Verbatim DL + if you want the minimum problems with DL burns.