What is the easiest way to determine if a DVD is copy-protected?

[vladorlok]

I of course know that i can simply try to record it, and then i will find out!

But... i have stored some of my DVDs on my harddisk here, because they are in use with my family in another part of Denmark, so i won't see them for a while. A couple of days ago i wanted to burn a copy, and then i got VERY dissapointed because i had used DVDFab and saved them WITH copy-protection - at least some of them. I found out because i tried to burn one with imgburn, by using 'build' and the audio and the video folder, but the result was an empty disc!

Now i want to know if i really have to do this with all discs, and then risk using a lot of discs, not speaking about the time involved, or if there is a way to see on the file if it is copy-protected?

I actually asked exactly the same question in another thread yesterday, but there the headline and subject was different, so i fear that not so many people will notice the question. I just hope it's ok that i ask again...

Jan

[vladorlok]

My problem grows more and more weird...

I just tried to take a copy of a U2 concert, which i once recorded in the television on a VHS tape. This is of course NOT copy-protected!

Like all the other DVDs i have stored this through DVDFab on my harddisk.

Now i wanted to burn a copy through imgburn, using build mode, and then opening for the audio and the video file. But the result was an empty disc! Why?

Yesterday i asked exactly the same question in another thread, and the answer was, that i had used a copy-protected disc, which i believed, but this time my source VERY clearly isn't copy-protected!

So...how can i solve this?

Since i don't feel too sure where people are gonna read, i will pose the same question in my other thread, which i hope is ok. If not, i guess some moderator has to choose which one to erase.

Jan

[jagabo]

i tried to burn one with imgburn, by using 'build' and the audio and the video folder, but the result was an empty disc!

Did the disc include the VIDEO_TS folder as well as the IFO, BUP, and VOB files? When you went to burn the disc did imgburn indicate it was going to make a DVD Video disc?

[OldMan64]

I suspect that the steps to complete the build were not followed. Check this guide to see if the process was done correctly: http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=6392&st=0&p=66439&#entry66439

[vladorlok]

When i use the build mode in imgburn, the AUDIO_TS folder is empty, but the VIDEO_TS folder isn't empty. I just tried to right-click on what i just added in the source, and then open for it. The result was the correct amount of 4 x VOB files, 2 x IFO files and 2 x BUP files.

The thing i created when trying to burn the non-copy-protected U2 concert, recorded from TV, is according to my computer a "Disc Image File". To me this sounds very wrong, but what mistake have i done?

That was an answer for jagabo. Now i will try to check OldMan64's advice...

Jan

[vladorlok]

Sorry jagabo...i must have been completely blind. Yes, it is a DVD Video i was going to make.

Jan

[vladorlok]

Bingo! I solved the problem. I noticed that i had stored an image file, and then by reading small parts of what OldMan64 suggested, i saw that there is a way to change between the image file and to burn to a disc. But there was way too much to read, so i just had a closer look at imgburn, and then i found the disc i had to press!

I thank you both a lot for your help!

Now i believe that i only have one more problem, which i asked for in the beginning of this thread:

Is there a way to determine if a DVD is copy-protected, if i don't have it in my hand? As explained earlier, i have saved some DVDs on my harddisk through DVDFab, and then my family has borrowed some of them, so that i can't check for quite a while.

So can i see a copy protection by just looking at the files?

Jan

[jagabo]

Try opening the VOB files with an editor. If the picture is garbled the data wasn't decrypted.

You can't create a CSS encrypted DVD on a normal DVDR (at least one the plays) -- the part of the disc where the decryption keys are stored can't be written to.

Imgburn will tell you if a DVD is copy protected when you try to rip it.

[jman98]

Is there a way to determine if a DVD is copy-protected, if i don't have it in my hand? As explained earlier, i have saved some DVDs on my harddisk through DVDFab, and then my family has borrowed some of them, so that i can't check for quite a while.

So can i see a copy protection by just looking at the files?

Jan

You are making this MUCH more difficult than it needs to be because you are making incorrect assumptions about the ripping process.

The ONLY decrypter ever that preserved copy protection was some program that 321 Studios sold many years ago. They thought that because they preserved copy protection on the backup discs they made that Hollywood would leave them alone. They were wrong. They got sued out of existence. ALL other DVD ripping programs, including DVDFab, remove copy protection. There is no way at all that any disc you have ripped has copy protection on the copy on your hard disk.

I've NEVER seen a commercial DVD from any country that doesn't have at least CSS on it for copy protection.

[vladorlok]

Ahemm... here i have to admit that my computer knowledge probably lies a bit to the lower end of the middle between someone who never saw a computer before, and a professional.

It is especially a big problem for me to learn new stuff. Since this is VERY hard for me, i typically have to have things explained very detailed, if it is new to me. A guide often solves the problem.

In this situation, i have NO idea how to open my stored movies in an editor. What editor? Could you please be so kind to explain carefully, or advise a guide?

Jan

[jagabo]

The ONLY decrypter ever that preserved copy protection was some program that 321 Studios sold many years ago.

I'm pretty sure they didn't preserve the original CSS protection. I believe they decrypted the CSS data then re-encrypted it with their own encryption.

[aedipuss]

Ahemm... here i have to admit that my computer knowledge probably lies a bit to the lower end of the middle between someone who never saw a computer before, and a professional.

It is especially a big problem for me to learn new stuff. Since this is VERY hard for me, i typically have to have things explained very detailed, if it is new to me. A guide often solves the problem.

In this situation, i have NO idea how to open my stored movies in an editor. What editor? Could you please be so kind to explain carefully, or advise a guide?

Jan

copy the vob files to your hard drive and try to play one. if it's scrambled it's protected.

[SLK001]

A couple of days ago i wanted to burn a copy, and then i got VERY dissapointed because i had used DVDFab and saved them WITH copy-protection - at least some of them.

It's not possible to save them with copy protection - unless some other encryption is added. You should probably review the steps that you took to copy them in the first place - I smell an error somewhere along the line.

[jagabo]

A couple of days ago i wanted to burn a copy, and then i got VERY dissapointed because i had used DVDFab and saved them WITH copy-protection - at least some of them.

It's not possible to save them with copy protection - unless some other encryption is added.

That's not true. You can use Explorer to copy the VIDEO_TS folder or individual VOB files to your hard drive. Or you can use Imgburn to copy the disc to the hard drive. Everything will remain encrypted. Of course, there's then no way to play the videos properly because there's no decryption key. You might as well delete the videos.

[SLK001]

That's not true. You can use Explorer to copy the VIDEO_TS folder or individual VOB files to your hard drive. Or you can use Imgburn to copy the disc to the hard drive. Everything will remain encrypted. Of course, there's then no way to play the videos properly because there's no decryption key. You might as well delete the videos.

Yes, I know that you can simply copy (drag 'n drop) an encrypted DVD file to your hard drive. But doing it this way isn't copy protection. It is just tranferring garbage to your hard drive.

[vladorlok]

For now i believe that i can't check if my stored DVDs are protected or not, by copying the VOB files over to my harddrive and playing them, because i don't have a player. Normally i use "Cyberlink PowerDVD 8" of which i bought a lifetime license a couple of years back. But not so long ago i had some serious problems with my computer, so i needed to reinstall the whole computer, which again means that i momentarily lost my cyberlink player. So now i have just asked them for a new activation key. I can probably check it tomorrow, or monday, because i am a bit busy tomorrow.

A couple of days ago i tried to use imgburn to burn a disc out of an Elton John DVD. by using Mode: Build, and then copying the AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS files into imgburn. In the beginning it seemed to work allright, but when imgburn claimed that the process was ended successfully some time later, i had an empty disc!

When i asked here WHY?, someone told me (in another thread about burning i00 files) that i had tried to burn a copy-protected disc! By saying that, he of course implies that it IS possible to keep the copy protection when a movie is moved!

Since i had copied a complete disc to my harddisk through DVDFab, someone here must be wrong... But i of course don't know if it is the guy who claimed that i had tried to burn the copy-protected disc, or it is the one who recently claimed that a copy protection can't be moved, since i am only a little newbie compared to you experts here! I am really looking forward for solving this, so that i know what's wrong. Actually it means so much to me, that i even can't sleep! So PLEASE continue your help, which is TRULY APPRECIATED!!

Someone also said that he thinks that i have made a mistake when i stored the disc through DVDFab. Again it would be WONDERFUL if i find the mistake here...AS LONG AS I FIND IT!!! I feel like i am going crazy over this... But... to me it just sounds very unlikely that i have made a mistake here, since i am also corresponding with DVDFab's customer service, which sent me a detailed guide to make a copy. Afterwards i had the same problem! So i have probably made no mistake here! But if that someone still thinks so, he is very welcome to explain to me in detail how to do, or link to a guide. As mentioned earlier, any help is VERY welcome!

I will return when i have installed my Cyberlink PowerDVD 8, and checked the VOB files. Is it by the way necessary to check them all, or will one do?

Greetings to you all
Jan

[jagabo]

As far as I know DVD Fab always decrypts the files when it copies a DVD to the hard drive. Once you've done that there is no more copy protection. Of course, the DVD manufacturers are always looking for ways to confuse DVD Fab. So it's possible DVD Fab couldn't handle the particular disc you tried, especially if it's a very recent release.

I start imgburn with its Ez-Mode picker. To burn ISO images I use "Write image file to disc". When buring VIDEO_TS folders I use "Write file/folders to disc" and add the VIDEO_TS folder using the "Browse for a folder" command. It automatically recognizes its a movie DVD and burns it properly.