What is the best free DVD software for backing up and ripping DVD movies ?

Question

I have lots of DVD movies but i want to back them up and rip them to my pc, and convert them so i can watch them in a media player such windows media player, winamp and real player. thanks

Answer 1

To do what you are asking is today a 2 step process: Decrypt the files and rip.

There is no 1 software package that does both. You have to find a decrption package that will remove all the encryption. Without it, you won't be able to copy the movies.

Answer 2

If you have a Mac then you can try the free open-source Handbrake program, but it won't work with copy-protected DVDs on a PC running Windows. Even on the Mac, Handbrake makes pretty large files and takes a long time to convert DVDs.

I actually use Xilisoft DVD to iPod Converter, which works well on both Windows and Mac, and is a lot faster too (only about an hour and a half compared to over 4 hours with Handbrake). I know you were looking for a free program, but free doesn't always give you the best result.

One nice feature about Xilisoft is that it lets you take stillshots at any point during the movie. You just click a button and it saves a photo of the current frame, making it easy to capture your favorite celebs at just the right moment.

The article below describes both of these programs, with screenshots, instructions, links, etc. Hope you find it helpful :-)

Answer 3

I do this, also, except I don't leave them on my PC; I make backup copies of my DVD's onto another DVD.
First, the legal stuff...
If you own an original, copy-write protected DVD, you can legally make one copy as a backup. If you make more than one copy, you may be committing copy-write law violations as a distributor.
You may not sell or give the backup copy to anyone.
If you sell or give the original to someone else, you must destroy the backup copy.
Now, on to the question...
I have not found any DVD in the past 3 years that I can't copy.
I use
RipIt4Me (Free if you can find it)
FixVTS (Also free if you can find it)
DVDShrink (Also Free)
and NERO (NOT free, but it comes with a lot of DVD-RW drives when you buy them.
Also, I have dual PLEXTOR PX-760-A DVD-RW Drives.

RipIt4Me removes copy protection and region codes.
RipIt4Me uses FixVTS to repair any copy errors.
Then RipIt4Me sends the DVD to DVD Shrink for analysis.
If the DVD is to big to fit on one blank DVD-RW, it will compress the movie so it will fit. I haven't noticed any playback quality issues.

Now, I am curious...
Why would you want to keep the movies on your PC for playback. I even have a 28" LCD monitor, but I wouldn't want to watch an entire movie on my PC. I want to see it on my television.

Remember, even if the backup copy of you DVD is on your PC's hard drive and not on an actual DVD disk, it's still a copy.
You can't legally give it or send it to someone else.
Better safe then sorry!

Good Luck!
I Hope this helps!

Answer 4

For free one, here are some suggestions for you:
Use the two free programs: DVD Decrypter http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/
DVD shrink http://www.dvd-shrink.org/ will help you copy the DVD content onto your computer in Vob format.
Then you can convert vob files to regular video formats using a free tool named super which you can download at http://www.erightsoft.com/

Otherwise, you only need to use Daniusoft DVD Ripper to complete all the process with one software. It could help you convert DVD to all popular video formats with only three steps. Also it let you set the movie effects.
You can free download it here to have a try:
http://www.daniusoft.com/dvd-ripper.html
Here I found a good guide to tell you how to ripping DVD:
http://www.daniusoft.com/tutorial/dvd-ripper-guide.html

If you still have questions go to find more here: http://answers.yahoo.com or leave me an email.