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While there are plenty of people that start screaming about the DMCA and legality issues the minute you mention copying a DVD there are plenty of reasons you might want to do it legally. While you could never justify copying a borrowed or rented movie you can backup discs that you already own. Why, you ask? Because your kids require it. Anyone that has spent any time around kids and DVD players knows how short the lifespan of their favorite movie can be. You begin to see where I'm coming from after you've bought your third copy of that Hannah Montana movie.
Backing up your DVD collection isn't exactly easy. Or foolproof. Though most movies can be copied without issue, there are some that just defy your best efforts to exercise your fair use rights. In this review I've prepared a package of some of the highest rated tools for the job. In the zip file you'll find DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink, and RipIt4Me. When properly combined these programs make the entire process fairly painless. While it might not be simple it sure is cheaper than heading up to Wal-Mart for the fourth copy of Dora the Explorer.
- Download "dvd_tools.zip" from http://1cps.com/files/dvd_tools.zip
- Right-Click on "dvd_tools.zip" and select "Extract All..." then "Next" then "Next" then "Finish"
- Double-Click on "dvdshrink32setup.exe" then "Next" then "I accept..." then "Next" then "Next" twice more. At this point you want to un-check "Create a Desktop Icon" then "Next" then "Install". Un-check "Launch DVD Shrink" and then finally "Finish"
- Double-Click on "SetupDVDDecrypter_3.5.4.0.exe" then "Next". Un-check "Desktop Icon" and "Quick Launch Icon" and then click "Next" again. Click "Install" to begin the installation and a box will pop up asking about checking for updates, click "no" on that box to dismiss it. Un-check "Run DVD Decrypter" and click "Finish" to close the box.
- Right-Click on "RipIt4Me.exe" and select "Cut". Close all windows so that you can see your desktop then right-click in a blank area and choose "Paste".
- Double-Click the "RipIt4Me.exe" you just pasted to the desktop to start the program.
- Insert the DVD that you wish to back up and Click the "1 Click Mode" button. In the "Ripping Settings" box you can select "Movie Only" for best quality, "Movie+Menus" to retain the DVD Menus at a very small quality loss or "Full DVD" to make a copy of everything including the previews, behind the scenes, etc. This will result in the lowest quality. Click "Next >>" to move on.
- The process is pretty automated from this point on. DVD Decrypter will start and run automatically, this stage will take a while.
- DVD Decrypter is followed by a cleaning process and then DVD Shrink will open. In this window you can un-check any audio tracks that you don't want such as French/Spanish/Director's Commentary/etc. After clearing the unwanted tracks hit the "Backup!" button at the top. Under "Select Backup Target" choose "ISO Image File and Burn with DVD Decrypter" Click "OK" to continue.
- DVD Decrypter will open again, this time to burn a copy of the DVD. Remove the original disc and insert a blank DVD. Click on the button in the bottom left of the window that has a hard drive and a green arrow pointing at a DVD.
- Click "OK" to acknowledge that the burn finished and then close DVD Decrypter. Click "OK" on the RipIt4Me box alerting you to the location of the logs.
- One last step, cleanup. Open My Computer then double-click on the C: drive and delete anything that has the same name as the movie you just copied. It should be two items, a folder and one file and both should have the same name.
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* Pricing information is approximate as of the time this report was written and is based on observed market selling prices and/or list prices. Actual selling prices may differ.
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