best way to rip dvd to laptop

[abbarich]

Hi, I've bought several warner archive dvd-r's, but as they are dvd-r I'm not sure how long they will last. Can anyone advise me of the best way to keep these in a library on my laptop (windows 8), and how will I be able to make another copy when the existing one is no longer readable. I've heard of software called handbrake. Is this the best? Thanks.

 

[rhysiam]

Are these movies/tv shows? Or are you talking about data DVDs?

If you're talking video content you can use MakeMKV. It's free while in Beta (has been for years) so the devs post a new registration key, valid for one month, but regularly updated here: https/www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1053

The raw MKV files can then be compressed using Handbrake. There are heaps of good tutorials out there for both programs. So do some Googling or search youtube if you're not sure how to use either program.

Backing up files from a DVD is as simple as copying them somewhere.

None of the options above, however, make it particularly easy to re-burn a disk again in future. Personally I don't know why you'd want to ever re-burn a disk. There are loads of very cheap devices out there that will play a network stream for you, it's way, way more convenient that swapping out discs, which, as you say, are far from the most reliable medium.

If you literally just want a backup of the disk, your other option is just to take a disc image (ISO). You won't be able to watch that file, it's literally just a disc image, but makes it completely straightforward to burn that image to a new disc in future. There are loads of utilities out there that do this. I've had good success with IMGBurn, but there are loads of others.

 

[mjslakeridge]

DVD-Shrink will allow you to archive your legally owned DVD's to your computer. If the DVD is already getting "glitchy", DVD-Decrypter will possibly be able to read the DVD, although it takes a long time. To make a "safety" copy of the DVD once ripped into the computer, I use Nero. Just make sure you follow copyright laws and don't try to sell or otherwise illegally distribute the copies.

 

[abbarich]

Thanks for the replies. These are legal dvds I have bought from Warner Brothers. I collect old movies, and some of these are from the 1930s. They are dvd-r though and I have heard they won't last forever, possibly 10 years at most. I've had some of them years and I'd hate to lose them so I want to keep them in a file somewhere. I do prefer to have them on a dvd as I like to watch them on my tv rather than my laptop, so I want to be able to make another copy when the ones I have now won't play anymore. Is dvd-shrink and Nero easy to use? I've never tried to do this before, and as I'm not brilliant technically I'm looking for the easiest method. Do you know how much Nero and the other softwares are to buy? Thanks.

 

[mjslakeridge]

DVD Shrink is a free download. Google "DVD Shrink" and it will direct you to several download sites. I think I downloaded from the official site, but it has been so long I don't remember for sure. It doesn't have very good instructions, being a free product. A lot of commercial DVDs are bigger than 4.7GB, which I think is the standard size for writable DVDs, so DVD Shrink compresses the files to under 4.7GB. Or you can re-author the DVD, splitting it into 2 files for later burning to 2 dvds, but you lose the menu features when you do this. If your DVDs are DVD-R, they are likely not larger than 4.7GB.

Nero is quite easy to use. You can burn cds, dvds, bootable dvds, iso files, etc. I am not sure of the cost, as I got the Nero cd with a cd/dvd burner I bought for my pc years ago (it is just the basic version, I don't know what other features the higher end version has).

Googling "Nero Burning ROM" it looks like it is available from Nero as a free download. What was Nero Burn Lite is now called Nero MediaHome.