First things first: Hello All Okay with that out of the way let me again start by saying I am new here, new to dvd burning and rather computer illeterate besides being able to type rather fast (only thing I learned in H.S. that I still use today)! Second my system: My laptop decided it was time to die on me so instead of just buying a new harddrive (lazy) I just picked up a new desktop. HP Media Center PC m 1080n DVD+RW (8x DVD+R/RW drive with CD writer capabilities) [bold]please dont tell me I bought something crappy or should have gotten something better ... if its crap then thats fine but I dont want to hear about it ... [/bold] So now my questions: 1. What do I need to do to start burning my dvd library to backups? 2. What program would work the best for me so as not to have to keep downloading or buying new programs? 3. Regions. I heard a friend mention this once so what should i be on the look out for. I checked and my dvd players is set to region 1 and my dvd burner was set to "non selected". Also it said that i could only change this 4 times and then it was stuck ... how do you get around this? 4. I take it I need to burn to DVD+R cd's and not DVD-R cd's ... ... am I correct on this or does it matter? 5. I noticed that the DVD's I bought say 4.7gb and 120min ... however most movies i have are in the 130 or more minute range. Does this number include all the extra crap they put on dvd's now a days ... and if so do i have to copy all that stuff or can i just copy the movie since that is the main part i want to backup? And are the dvd's like old vhs tapes where it says 2 hours but you could set it to get 4 or 6 hours instead? ........................... Thank you to anyone who doesnt mind taking the time to help me ... please use big easy words and describe what you are saying I am rather computer stupid! Thanks michael
By the way I just read the FAQ and looked thru a bunch of other topics to see if I could learn anything on my own ... [bold]I have a headache now[/bold] Honestly I am an idiot ... im sorry about that but i just cant help it when it comes to this stuff. thanks for any help
This is what I started with: DVD Shrink (free): http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/dvd_shrink.cfm DVD Decrypter (free): http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/dvd_decrypter.cfm [bold]Shrink Guide:[/bold] http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/dvd9_to_dvdr_with_dvd_shrink.cfm [bold]This thread also helped [/bold] http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/79846 Good luck
