Hello all, As my first post here, let me first say "Greetings and Merry Christmas to all". OK, Where to start? Computer dummy, that's me and a good place to start. I can check and send e-mail, I recently learned how to create files for my pictures and then most impressive of all, I have learned to burn these files to CD! Impressed? I sure was! LOL. Hey, that was a big step for me! My point? I know nothing about computers, hardware, software, etc. I'm married with children and spend an awful lot of my hard earned money on DVD's. Too much in my opinion but that's another subject! My kids are young and the spousal unit and myself get whatever new movies come out! Spoiling the kids? Maybe, but I don't care! I grew up poor and am happy to be able to give the kids things I never dreamed of. Don't get me wrong, I'm a man of average means so when I spend a buck, I want it well spent. That being said, over the years I've lost alot of money on DVD's. Rough handling by the kids, lost, borrowed and never returned, scratched, worn out (if that is possible?), etc. So I have interest in learning how to create back-up DVD's. So I google the subject and come accross a very impresive looking site that offers to sell me a copy of DVDXCOPY platinum, in a sealed manufactures box... How naive I am, LOL. I get the box in the mail and it sure looks like a new software box! That all ended when I opened it up. First thing I noticed is the cover on the CD box is fuzzy (obviously a bad scan job) and then when I opened the CD case, same thing on the CD labels. And of course the dead give away, the software wouldn't activate with the code provided. Then I inserted the second disc which sent some codes (I think) that allowed the program to bypass activation (I think) and then I was able to use it, or so I thought. No matter what I did, I couldn't get it to work. All kinds of things would pop-up (errors, missing files, etc.) but nothing I tried seemed to work. After hours of trying I finally gave up. OK, I got burned and not to mention that I'm now worried about what I accually download on to my computer? Oh well, I don't easily give up... I came across this site and thought, Yeah, that's just what the doctor ordered. I did some reading, snooping and pooping (Just like a good Marine), and decided to give the DVD Rebuilder a shot. So I downloaded it and that's it! LOL. I'm stuck! Unzip the files? What the heck is that and how do I do it? LOL. So you can see my dilema, I'm a computer dummy and need help! DVD Rebuilder might not be for me! It may be beyond my limited computer skills/knowledge! I'm a man of average intelligence and am willing to learn but if it's too complicated, it may not be for me? Solution? Join the board and beg for help... LOL. What would some of you experts suggest? What software? How and where to get it? Any help will be greatly appreciated! Semper Fi, K-Dog
hey KDog1: well at least you have come to the right site to get help, although there are heaps available, AND welcome to Afterdawn Ok before we start can you give me some infomation on what your current pc is. i need to know: 1.what operating system you are running. 2.is your pc a pentium or ???????? 3.what media do you use? 4.How much ram for processing do you have? 5.How big are your hard drive/hard drives? 6.What burning software apart from what you mentioned do you own? 7.do you know if you have a dvd burner or is it a CD BURNER? 8.hAVE YOU UPGRADED THE FIRMWARE ? 9.Did you want to try free programs or paid ones. There are some excellent free ones available. Do you want to just copy your personal dvds or are you wanting to convert avi files etc to be played on dvd discs. Take it slow we have heaps of time, if not me any of the other members that visit this thread will be able to help you as well catch you later
KDog first off i would uninstall EVERYTHING (X copy) thats is folders and all reboot and start over. DVD Rebuilder is kinda hard to use so lets do this. download clonedvd 2 and anydvd its a free 21 day trial so you cant go wrong very easy to use ,great quality and the most important thing it will backup any movie out there unlike x copy ,heres the link to download the programs http://www.slysoft.com/en/ and a guide to use the programs http://bbmayo.home.comcast.net/ follow this guide step by step and you will be burning like a pro in no time .remember to use good blank media as in Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim and burn at 4x max. to start off.shoot me back if you ahve any qyestions
Don't forget the free programs that will do the same thing as well as the fantastic AnyDVD and CloneDVD2. DVDdecrypter (free) Available free download here: http://mrbass.org/dvdrip/ DVDShrink (Free) available at this website. DVD43 (free) available at this website too. Guides are in my signature block. Now as andmerr suggested how about your system specs and we can get started.
Hello again, To andmerr: 1. Windows XP, Media Center Edition (2002 Version) 2. Pentium(R) 4, 3.20 GHZ 3. So far I've been using SONY discs (but will use whatever is needed) 4. 2.00 GB of RAM 5. 250 GB Serial ATA Hard Drive 6. Sonic, Digital Media Plus/ My DVD Plus 7. 16x DVD+/- RW Double Layer Capable 8. Firmware? Sorry but I don't even know what that is? 9. I want whatever will produce good quaility and is easy to use. I don't mind spending money for a good product. To aabbccdd: Thanks, I will uninstall everything. While on this subject, I have a question: Will system restore do this for me without having to go into all the files? Thanks again! K-Dog
hi i would go to control panel and uninstall, as useing system restore isnt a great thing to do, look at it as more of a life saver one day... i would go for 9mmruger1 route first then if not a happy bunny go to aabbccdd route.....
KDog1 as rotary said just delete the program i wouldnt do a system restore dvd shrink and dvd decrypter are both great freeware but will need help doing the newer movies and as said clone dvd 2 with anydvd running in the background will do every movie out there and is VERY easy to use so it up to you , you system spec. are more than plenty just make sure you system is clean when ripping alot of dvds (disc cleanup and defragging often) and while encoding and burning dvds dont run other programs. use the guide i listed above for any of the program mentioned here and you will be on your way
Thanks all, I have uninstalled everything, defragged and cleaned disc. Now I must decide what software?
shrinkdvd is a free program which can do full disc backup as well as reauthor.(has its own ripper installed) You will need a burning agent in tandem with this program, so a good suggestion is nero recode version. heres a link to the version of shrink available for you to download http://www.filepedia.com/video_software/dvd_rippers/dvd_shrink.cfm and the trial version of nero 7 http://www.filepedia.com/cdr_software/cdr_applications/nero.cfm
still not happy with it, i cant get it to do what i want, have gone back to nero 6.6.0.18, still think its a better version On the face of it, its pretty good but there is some minor niggles with it, encoding etc that i dont like.
@andmerr, a pleasant evening to you. Can you please tell me why when I went to upgrade my full version of Nero6 to Nero 7 they said I had to pay for update, is this correct( I entered my s/n) or am I just being a scrooge??
For newbies, I recommend the below, plus they're all free of charge. 1) DVD Decrypter (free - this is an extremely useful ripper and burning engine) 2) Nero Recode 2 (encoding/transcoding engine - retail, but usually comes free when you buy a new burner). 3) DVDFAB Decrypter (free - possibly one of the greatest ripper right now) 4) DVD Shrink (free - encoding/transcoding or compressing engine) 5) DVD43 (free - cracking engine, it just updated recently, it doesn't updates as much as AnyDVD or DVDFAB Decrypter, but it's free and still useful sometimes) 6) AnyDVD (retail - cracking engine, it has 21 days trial)
I'm pretty much satisfy with my Nero 7 Premium (7.0.1.4) -- so far all of my backups are burning as flawless as before (6.6.0.18). I have no issues with Nero 7, I've been using Nero 7.0.1.2 since late October and Nero Vision 4 is flying incredibly when converting AVI into DVDs. I've tested and burned more than 50 backups with both Nero Burning Rom and Nero Express, both burns successfully without any issues whatsoever.
@ alkohol i'm wondering then if its a conflict as i have so many burning apps and encoding apps on this pc that it might be time for another clean out and then re try my nero 7.
I, too, have a lot of ripping and burning programs, but for some reason I've never experienced any issues/problems using Nero 7.0.1.2 and now the latest 7.0.1.4 (I tested/burned 10 backups already with Nero 7.0.1.4) -- so far it burns smoothly as great as before.
