How do I copy a DVD in 2015?
October 23, 2015 4:10 PM Subscribe
How do I go about making a playable copy of a DVD (not ripping it to my hard drive) with software that's freely available and still supported?
I need to make copies of four DVDs I own (for fair use purposes, CYA etc) before Monday, on a Windows 7 PC. It's been amazingly difficult even finding relevant search results on Google (as opposed to ripping a disc's contents to my HD) and the few Ask Metafilter questions on the subject range from 7 to 11 years old and reference software that might no longer be readily available or the best option.
Second, do I need DVD-R or DVD+R discs? (I have a pack of each and will return the unused ones.)
Basically, talk me through this like I'm a complete idiot. My ideal end result is having a disc that will play back in a set-top player identically to a commercial disc or, at least, the burn-on-demand DVDs available from places like Warner Bros. Archive or the selection of OOP movies Amazon will do this for (for example).
I need to make copies of four DVDs I own (for fair use purposes, CYA etc) before Monday, on a Windows 7 PC. It's been amazingly difficult even finding relevant search results on Google (as opposed to ripping a disc's contents to my HD) and the few Ask Metafilter questions on the subject range from 7 to 11 years old and reference software that might no longer be readily available or the best option.
Second, do I need DVD-R or DVD+R discs? (I have a pack of each and will return the unused ones.)
Basically, talk me through this like I'm a complete idiot. My ideal end result is having a disc that will play back in a set-top player identically to a commercial disc or, at least, the burn-on-demand DVDs available from places like Warner Bros. Archive or the selection of OOP movies Amazon will do this for (for example).
As to DVD-R or DVD+R there's no way to know ahead of time. Some players will handle both; some only handle DVD-R and some only DVD+R. (This is mostly an issue with older players; the new ones tend to be tolerant.)
The only real way to find out is to experiment.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:30 PM on October 23, 2015
The only real way to find out is to experiment.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:30 PM on October 23, 2015
CDBurnerXP is free and can copy. Export your DVD to a disk based ISO and burn back onto the blank DVD-R or DVD+R
posted by Disco Moo at 4:34 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Disco Moo at 4:34 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Disclaimer: I successfully backed up my encrypted DVDs on Debian using dvdbackup + libdvdcss so I can't offer advice for specific Windows programs I can attest will definitely work.
If they're commercial discs they are probably using encryption, which you'll need to defeat. No decryption = no usable copy.
Also, most commercial DVDs are 9GB discs, and DVD-/+R are 4.7GB, to burn a 1:1 copy you'll need more expensive DVD+R DL (dual-layer) discs (and hope the player supports them). If you prefer to use single-layer DVD-/+R you'll have to re-encode the video so it will take less space (at the expense of quality).
AnyDVD will remove the copy-protection and there are probably alternatives that do the same.
Note that CloneDVD depends on AnyDVD to do the decryption, and the product page mentions transcoding (re-encoding). Given the name, I presume there might also be an option to do an unencrypted 1:1 copy.
I don't think CDBurnerXP alone will copy encrypted DVDs, but perhaps in combination with something like AnyDVD it will make 1:1 copies.
posted by Bangaioh at 6:03 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
If they're commercial discs they are probably using encryption, which you'll need to defeat. No decryption = no usable copy.
Also, most commercial DVDs are 9GB discs, and DVD-/+R are 4.7GB, to burn a 1:1 copy you'll need more expensive DVD+R DL (dual-layer) discs (and hope the player supports them). If you prefer to use single-layer DVD-/+R you'll have to re-encode the video so it will take less space (at the expense of quality).
AnyDVD will remove the copy-protection and there are probably alternatives that do the same.
Note that CloneDVD depends on AnyDVD to do the decryption, and the product page mentions transcoding (re-encoding). Given the name, I presume there might also be an option to do an unencrypted 1:1 copy.
I don't think CDBurnerXP alone will copy encrypted DVDs, but perhaps in combination with something like AnyDVD it will make 1:1 copies.
posted by Bangaioh at 6:03 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Doom9.net is your go-to resource for DVD Backup on Windows. Lots of guides to software including freeware.
I haven't tried CloneDVD, but I'd start with DVDshrink (freeware), which will let you eliminate ads and any superfluous DVD extras from the copy, and re-encoder the video to a lower bitrate if necessary, all in order to shrink the video (which on the production disc could be north of 7GB in size) down to a burnable size.
I've also used CDBurnerXP, currently my standard CD/DVD-burning solution, though I've never used it for DVD backup purposes, so I can recommend it in general, at least.
posted by Sunburnt at 7:24 PM on October 23, 2015
I haven't tried CloneDVD, but I'd start with DVDshrink (freeware), which will let you eliminate ads and any superfluous DVD extras from the copy, and re-encoder the video to a lower bitrate if necessary, all in order to shrink the video (which on the production disc could be north of 7GB in size) down to a burnable size.
I've also used CDBurnerXP, currently my standard CD/DVD-burning solution, though I've never used it for DVD backup purposes, so I can recommend it in general, at least.
posted by Sunburnt at 7:24 PM on October 23, 2015
DVD Shrink is great, but it won't work on the newer "copy protected" DVDs, which is probably all of 'em these days. Newer DVD copying apps ought to handle these correctly though. I'm not terribly familiar with what's out there but I've used DVDFab successfully in the past on discs that DVD Shrink wouldn't work on.
posted by neckro23 at 12:22 PM on October 24, 2015
posted by neckro23 at 12:22 PM on October 24, 2015
Warning: when you download programs of this ilk, you're as likely as not to get fleeced into installing a lot of extra crap. Be sure you choose "custom install," and have your anti-virus software running.
posted by nosila at 7:08 PM on October 24, 2015
posted by nosila at 7:08 PM on October 24, 2015
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posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:21 PM on October 23, 2015