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Subject: Backing up DVDs
Posted by: RecycledSpinalFluid
- Dude [204401122] Fri, May 21, 2004, 03:14
First off, I'm not advocating pirating DVDs. If you enjoy a movie, pay for it. You are supporting everyone involved...blah...blah..blah...
I don't know if I have ever seen something I love and hate with equally large proportions, than movies on DVD. The pluses of a DVD's bells and whistles (scene selection, extra features, easter eggs, etc) are weighed equally against its negative (the worst/most fragile medium ever created). If you have little kids and you have DVDs, perhaps you know what I mean.
Well, this all leads to a recent purchase I made. I bought an Emprex DVD Dual 8x Internal DVD+-R/+-RW Drive for an insanely low price of $69. The prices on these drives are dropping fast. And its not just oddball names like Emprex, but name brands too. Cheap enough just to buy for the DVD playing function alone.
I purchased this drive to make backups of my kid's movies, as well as mine that they might get ahold of. (I was installing the drive and software, in anticipation of backing up "Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers" when I went into the living room to see it being used as a floor buffer by my youngest (just turned 4) son...argh!!!)
The drive came with CyberLink PowerDVD for playing movies. It does its job. Nothing exciting. I already had InterVideo WinDVD, which came with my laptop DVD. Six of one, half dozen of the other.
I downloaded a freeware program called DVD Shrink to rip copies of the DVDs. This application is pretty slick. It can take and compress dual layer DVDs onto the standard 4.7 GB DVD+-R disks. If used in conjunction with Nero burning software, the entire process is pretty seamless.
I ripped probably 4 or 5 backups before I came across my first "this disk is encrypted...you are SOL" or something to that likeness. To get past this, I downloaded another freeware piece of software called "DVD Decrypter". I use it to rip the stubborn ones to the Hard Drive, then open the files in DVD Shrink to burn to DVD.
So far, everything looks/works good enough for me.
Now if I could only fix the "scuffed-to-rat-shnit" DVDs (some scuffed on both sides ?!?!).
One last note, for the labels, I make a scan of the original DVD and print them out using the MediaFACE 4.01 software that came with a cheapie Fellowes DVD Labeling system (picked up at Wallyworld for 10 bucks). Get the Full Face labels, as opposed to the old school style that comes with the starter kits. The label look good enough for their purpose.
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| 1 | R9
Leader
ID: 2624472
Fri, May 21, 2004, 03:57
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I haven't actually tried backing up my DVD's yet (no kids in my house to use them as toys, and I finally bought a set of coasters for my silly friends) but I LOVE being able to back up over 4 gigs of stuff on one CD. I transfered all my old junk that was on about 30 CD's onto 5 DVD disks. My sister loves it too, as she's a graphics designer and often has files well in excess of the 700 MB standard cd's.
For DVD watching on my computer, I use ZoomPlayer, which is basically a DVD player made by a movie watcher who was sick of Media Player way-back-when. Great for the standard user and great for those who actually know what all those little choices and options mean in the menus. After getting this I tossed my PowerDVD away for good.
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| 2 | lurk
ID: 454472718
Thu, May 27, 2004, 19:47
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"
fix the "scuffed-to-rat-shnit" DVDs (some scuffed on both sides ?!?!).
"
there is one for CDs
http://www.radioactivepages.com/index.html?http&&&www.radioactivepages.com/english/binvote.html
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| 3 | Reds88
ID: 4514258
Tue, Jul 13, 2004, 11:37
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Thanks for the instructions above. I just bought a DVD-R drive and it was almost too easy to make a backup copy.
Does anyone know of any free software to copy powerpoints to DVD? I found a couple of options, but they are kind of pricy.
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| 4 | Tree
ID: 76471215
Tue, Jul 13, 2004, 12:49
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related to this - when i buy a DVD burner, i want to move a lot of my VHS stuff onto DVD, particularly the hundreds of old pro wrestling comps (don't laugh...lol) that i've bought, traded, or made myself.
what is the best way to do this, short of paying way too much money for a combo VHS/DVD unit?
thanks....
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| 5 | Reds88
ID: 4514258
Tue, Jul 13, 2004, 16:11
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I've done a little research on the converting issue and IMO the best option is to buy a DVD-R and video capture card for your computer. You can then hook the VCR up directly to the computer, save the video to a hard drive, and copy it to a DVD. I think you can get an ATI card for around $65.
I found this link to be helpful:
link
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