Getting new computer within next couple of days which will have dvd reader & burner. Like most of us I would want to start making copies of DVD movies (which i presume are mostly copy protected) can someone tell me exactly which softwares I would require & if there is a place where I can find walk through on how to use these applications. Also, is it better to use CD-R for making copies pf DVD movies or better to use DVD-R whici is more expensive, but I'll pay if DVD-R is more suitable for movies versus CD-R. Thanks for your input/comments/suggestions
Hi RXV2300.. I'm pretty much a newbie myself..but what I've found out on here so far is the main tools people tend to use are DVD decrypter DVD shrink and Nero burning rom. just click on the links in my message and you should find all the instructions for using these tools
like martmart said like dvd decrypter,nero dvd shrink and also here are some guides to use this software http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/ hopes this helps
try theses guides they walk you through the process while you sit and watch...http://www.dvdshrink.info/guides.php http://www.dvdshrink.info/dvd-decrypter.php good luck and welcome to the hood please read and consider signing the petition in my signature jim
Have a look at this as well http://www.mrbass.org/dvdshrink And yes, you NEED a DVD-R (or +R) disc to backup a DVD. It's a matter of capacity. You can use a CD-R if you convert the movie to DivX/MPEG-4, but you won't be able to play the backup in your standalone player (very few players support DivX/MPEG-4 at the time being). Chosing between DVD-R and +R is up to you. DVD-R have a better compatibility with standalone players, but you have to try on your particular player.
only thing i'd like to add to this is try not to be too cheap when selecting your blank media......low cost can seem a good idea at the time but can work out more expensive. also a good idea to invest in a couple of r/w dvd so at least if things dont go well you can erase and try again. good luck and welcome to the club
Indeed I forgot to advice you a disc brand. I recommend Sony or Maxell. Anyway don't try cheap discs first. Try them only after you can successfully backup a disc and play the backup in your standalone player. AS viper6699 suggested, you should consider using a rewritable disc (-RW or +RW) for your first attempts, unless you like coasters.
I would strongly advise that you use Ritek G04 DVD-Rs , I have been using them for 5 months now and still haven't had any coasters. I use DVD Decoder ( if shrink doesn't decode ) DVD shrink , Nero with Ritek G04 Disks 100% sucsess rate. Enjoy
i'll go along with ash010673 there......same recipe as i'm using and total sucess so far (if ya dont count my own mistakes)
All you guys have been grate with your advise. Getting my brand new computer tomorrow & I'm also looking forward to playing some heavy duty games. Can you suggest some good PC games: This is what my computer would consist of: Pentium 4 3.2 GHZ with 1G of DDR RAM. 120G western digital hd Video card: Radeon 9600XT, 128 MB Sound card: Sound blaster Audigy 2ZS Platinum Lite-on DVD rw Lite-on DVD rom I shall definatley try softwares you've mentioned & let you know how it went. If I come across any problems I will come back to you guys. Thanks again,
An EXTREMELY bad recommendation. Fine for Data, Spreadsheets and MP-3 music but not for DVD backups unless your household is short of coasters. Besides the Ritek G04's that Ash so wisely mentioned, I'd like to add that Verbatim's are excellent for our uses. Also, media boasting "Advanced AZO Dye" although a little high-priced is another fine choice. RXV2300, +R media is considered to be made to a higher standard than is -R media although the -R media can be played on older players where the +R media many times cannot. (Old, means back in the Caveman times, lol) Almost any of today’s players can play anything. Prices USED to be vastly different, +R media being more expensive, but that has changed now prices are just a few cents apart. Burners: Though rare now-a-days, burners used to be selected by the media that you wanted to burn. Advertised as an -R+R RW burner, my NEC burner does not like to burn one media as opposed to another - My NEC-ND 1300 Burner doesn't like cheap or even medium grade -R media. It does like "Advanced AZO Dye" -R media but will burn any +R stuff I feed into it. The majority of the -R/+R RW burners on sale now will burn both -R and +R media. This is great for using a particular media for an older standalone player or for burning "On Sale" media used for Data or moving programs or presentations from place to place - BUT - for our uses, DVD backups, we need the "Good Stuff" and Ritek G04 and Verbatim fulfill that requirement. Hope that came out the way I wanted - Pete BTW all, Welcome to our happy little club )
Started my own thread very similar to this! I should have looked more closely! Thanks for the help everyone. I get my new pc in 2 days and was keen to learn the process prior to starting. Using your suggestions, dvd rw work no differently to dvd r? I just don't want too many coasters. I will be using shrink and then nero to burn.
As far as the backup procedure is concerned, DVD-R and -RW work exactly the same, except that you can reuse the -RW disc for another backup But be aware that a rewritable disc can become a coaster also. I saw some threads about that and it happened to me with a DVD+RW disc. It's quite unlikely though.
Be aware, DVD-RW don't play in a great many standalone players. The main reason that we use them is to perfect our burning techniques. They work fine in PC's. When it comes to backing up your DVD's, we recommend that you use single write DVD-R or DVD+R, whatever your standalone players will play. Please remember that the most important thing is; always use high quality media As far as burning, both DVD-RW and DVD-/+R are the same. The worst that can happen with the DVD-RW is that it may have to be formatted, no big deal. For the most part, you just write over them. Pete
