I've read around on the forum, and a few other places, that it seems sometimes that plain non-burning DVD-ROM drives will be able to read and handle a variety of both CD and DVD copy protections better than CD-R and DVD-R/+R/-RW/+RW drives can. Is this still the case? If so, which drive that is still able to be purchased is rated the best for this? I always try to backup any DVD, CD, or game that I purchsae, so that I can use the copy and preserve the original from damage, so I'm looking for something that will have a pretty high success rate on the most recent copy protection types in use. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
hi i have never heard of a dvd rom being able to override copy protectio, i doubt if this is correct but am not 100% sure, i am sure someone will correct me if i am wrong. as for removing copy protection there are several options - dvd decrypter & dvd fab decrypter (both free programs) do the same thing but fab decrypter is updated & decrypter isn't any more - they will alow you to rip the files to your hard drive so as you can make a back up copy. they remove copy protection (but some of the newer movies they can have problems with). DVD SHRINK - most movies nowadays are on "dual layer" discs (8.5GB) so they need to be compressed to fit on a 4.7GB dvdr - this is what shrink does, shrink will also remove copy protection (again, has problems with the latest movies) VOBBLANKER - some of the new movies have bad/dummy files in them to stop you copying them, vobblanker will remove any bad files. ANYDVD - (this is the best program in my opinion & several others on this site!) if you run ANYDVD it will allow you to make a back up copy without the need for decrypting & all that other stuff (you may still need to use shrink). when you run anydvd & insert a dvd it is like the dvd has no copy protection whatsoever. Makes backing up very easy to do. anydvd is not free but is well worth the money! you can however get a 21 day free trial There is also DVD43 which is free & works much the same as anydvd . there are several other programs available but you should be able to back up any movie with the above software