How to Copy DVDs Using Freeware DVD Copy Programs

UPDATE March 6, 2009: See software update note at the bottom of this post.

 

 

Someone asked me about making DVD backups the other day, so I thought I’d share how to go about this here. Actually, they asked me how to burn DVD movies, but “making backups” just sounds better.  You might also be interested in the companion post How to Convert AVI to DVD.

The biggest hurdles to overcome when making backups of commercial DVD’s are the file size when copied, the encryption on the disc, and the legality of doing so. So the first thing you’ll need is a piece of DVD decryption software.

I’m not going to get into the legal implications of this here, except to say that copying commercial discs is not allowed, and it’s ridiculous that I can’t copy DVD’s I own as backups. For example, if I were the copying sort, making backups of my son’s DVD’s would be a great application of this sort of thing. They could theoretically get all scratched and gummed up because his grubby little two-year old paws would eventually end up all over them. In a situation like that, I’d much rather use a throwaway DVD-R. That could hypothetically save me considerable expense, and after all, I do own these discs (in this purely hypothetical example).

My father-in-law, who is not a U.S. resident, uses Slysoft AnyDVD for his backups. He says that the program is fast, but the backups tend to be of poor quality, presumably because of the file size issue. If I were to compare one of my hypothetical backups with his backups, I bet it would be of much higher quality, because the software that I would choose if I were the backing up sort would handle compression.

So if I were to choose ripping software, I would choose something like the freeware DVD Shrink, current version 3.2.0.15, which is the first half of the freeware DVD copy combo. DVD Shrink is able to remove encryption, and then compress the file to disc so that it can subsequently be burned onto a single DVD-R. It also has pretty good reauthoring features, so I could choose to leave off the foreign language track or bonus features if I were so inclined.

DVD Shrink’s official web site is here, but software can’t be downloaded from it. Rather, there is a forum that links to the various download locations. If I were to download DVD Shrink, I would make sure that I downloaded it from one of the locations referenced in that forum, and nowhere else. If I were to do it, of course.

A good quick start tutorial can be found, and more in-depth task-based tutorials are available.

Once this hypothetical file were on my PC, I would then go about burning it to a DVD. A very capable program that could be used to burn these types of files is the free ImgBurn software, luckily available for download directly from their site. The current version is 2.4.0. This is the second half of the freeware DVD copy combo.

If I were to go about making backup copies, these are the programs I would use. They are very capable and make high-quality backups. But due to the decryption, compression, and drive speeds, they would take some time to copy a full DVD, perhaps along the lines of 30 minutes to rip and 30 minutes to burn and verify. Or so I would reasonably expect.

In all seriousness, while I do think it’s ridiculous that I can’t backup movies I own for my own personal use, I am strongly opposed to intellectual property theft of any kind. I would never consider it, and I discourage everyone I know from doing it. Fair use on the other hand is. . .well, fair.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

It looks like the open source DVD Shrink is no longer being updated, unfortunately. The outdated copy can still be downloaded, but probably not via the forum as before. Download at your own risk — now that there is no official download, the executable will be a target of malicious activity. If you’re familiar with security, trojans, spyware, and such, you can still find copies of the software; otherwise, it’s probably wisest to ignore it. Also, due to the length of time since the last DVD Shrink update, it has problems ripping many new DVD releases.

I have done a fair amount of research to find a newer, updated product that will rip and burn backups, and I found a winner. The process is much easier than what I outlined above, because it only takes one piece of software instead of two — essentially, it’s a DVD Copier, and it’s fuller featured than above. You can copy just about any DVD, re-author it, selectively remove menus or just copy the main feature, etc. You’ll want at least 512 MB of RAM to run it.

It’s not free at $35, but it costs much less than comparable software and has a good history of updates. I’ve been using it for about 45 days now with very good success. You can also download a trial just by mashing on this link or the image to the right. It’s the same product, just requires a license key if you want to use it past the trial period.