free 21 day trial http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/anydvd.cfm free 21 day trial http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/clonedvd.cfm free http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/dvd_decrypter.cfm free http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/dvd_shrink.cfm
DVDCopy3 from InterVideo. http://www.intervideo.com Probably one of the best available and is both quick and high quality. Has a trial. It uses AnyDVD or the DVD Decrypter ripped files. Other than this one, Flip gave you a good list of programs for a beginner.
You could also try DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink both are free programs that work well together.You can't beat the price
wild77 Didn't you notice the links flip supplied? Note the bottom two are for Decrypter and Shrink. For their official websites, try http://www.dvddecrypter.com and http://www.dvdshrink.org .
brobear after working a 12 hour shift last night I guess I missed those!Any of those would be good choices.For someone starting out I always suggest the freebies,what do they have to lose.
12 hours at the grind would have just about anyone missing things. Surprised you even took time to browse the forum. Besides the good freebies, I suggest some of the good retail apps with a trial. Trials don't cost anything. Nothing lost there either, and there are some good apps, both free and retail that make recording a lot easier.