Ripping a DVD with an LG external drive

February 12, 2024 5:46 PM

I would like to rip a DVD from my library that’s out of print. Can I do this with my external DVD drive?

I have an LG SP60NB50 external DVD drive and AFAICT the DVD in question isn’t copy protected. Is there a way I can rip this to my laptop for my own personal use?

(Disclaimers: this TV series has been out of print and impossible to find legally or by other means, and physical copies tend to go in the low three digits. I would only be ripping it for my personal library. Thanks! xoxo)

posted by pxe2000 to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

Have you tried? What happens when you try?
posted by miles1972 at 5:59 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

If it's not copy protected, I think you should be able to do this pretty easily using a copy of HandBrake. Just download it, point it at the disc, and choose your transcoding options for quality - then set HandBrake to work.

If it is copy protected then you'll need to get one of those programs to strip the protection first, then proceed to HandBrake.
posted by kbanas at 6:02 PM on February 12 [4 favorites]

You should be able to. I have an external LG Blu-ray drive and rip DVDs and Blu-rays all the time.

But the real question is, which TV series is it? Out of print, impossible to find, and low three digits is all very intriguing.
posted by Meldanthral at 6:08 PM on February 12 [2 favorites]

Is this on Windows?
posted by wenestvedt at 6:29 PM on February 12

Response by poster: It’s on Windows.
posted by pxe2000 at 6:40 PM on February 12

I've done this a bunch with an external drive. Zero problems. I used MakeMKV to rip the raw data, because it'll ignore the copy protection. I used HandBrake to compress the files.
posted by mrphancy at 6:59 PM on February 12 [2 favorites]

You should be fine. I've done ripping with those $12 Temu DVD drives. :D They work fine.
posted by kschang at 9:44 PM on February 12 [1 favorite]

Are you wanting economically-sized, playable files of comparable quality to the DVDs themselves, or whole disc rips that retain all of the features, menus, and extras? Either is do-able, though the second category doesn't have as many avenues to play the files.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:10 AM on February 13

I recommend MakeMKV (free for DVDs, paid for Blurays) for ripping DVDs. It won't re-encode anything, which means it's kept at the original quality. It doesn't do ISO backups though.
posted by neckro23 at 4:05 PM on February 13 [1 favorite]