Good way to back up my DVD collection onto HardDrive

[nowlz]

Yes I'm afraid my partners declared that my vast DVD collection just takes up to much room and they HAVE to go into storage.

When it comes to converting/Backing up DVD's I'm a newbie and need advice.

I've bought a 1Terrabyte external harddrive for this purpose.

In order of preference, my requirements are as follows

1.) Quality (doesn't need to be the ultimate but i'd like to think size of file isn't a restriction)
2.) The process needs not to make my brain hurt (that jobs reserved for the office)
3.) I'd like to convert each dvd into a single file (avi, wav, mpeg-2 etc. anything that would be recognised by most media players, ps3 and hopefully future proof)
4.) keeping the menu's, chapter selections, extras etc would be a bonus but is'nt necessary

so the question is how do i get from A. to B. ?

Thanks :stupid:

[Inspector.Gadget]

Per the forum rules, "Best" doesn't really fly around here. That said, since you're looking for (i) single files, (ii) menu and chapter selection, (iii) high quality without regard to filesize, and (iv) simplicity, do this:

1. Download and install DVD Decrypter and Virtual Clonedrive.
2. Rip all your DVDs to ISO disc images with DVD Decrypter in ISO mode and put them on your huge drive. This can be anywhere from a 1 to about 10 click process. Descriptive names are a must (some DVDs are not authored with them).
3. When you want to watch one, mount it with Virtual Clonedrive and play it in your favorite DVD playback software.

Appendix: should you run into a DVD with new copy protection that DVD Decrypter can't handle, either shell out for AnyDVD or rip it to a disc image with DVDFab HD Decrypter (now a free part of the DVDFab package).

[Benihana]

Agreed with Inspector.Gadget. What I myself do actually is very similar. I myself use Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/) as my playback software, but I think the standard Windows Media Player should be fine too.

I bought AnyDVD and it runs in the background always. Simplifies matters. :) Then all I do is run DVD Decrypter, press "F" (for file mode), select the folder, and click the big button. It copies the entire DVD to the harddrive.

For playback, I run my MPC-HC first. Then copy the folder from the harddrive onto MPC-HC. Bingo! Movie starts, menus retained, quality original. :)

AnyDVD handles the decryption process, while DVD Decrypter copies the files to harddrive. I think you may be able to do without DVD Decrypter by just manually copying the files from windows explorer, but I'm not sure. I've just always used DVD Decrypter and it's worked great.

The downside to this is that it is not a single file. Inspector.Gadget's method produces single files, but requires you to mount it with VirtualCloneDrive. Not difficult by far (I think double-clicking is sufficient). Both methods here should yield satisfactory results, it's just a question of image-mounting vs. folder dragging for playback.

I am actually curious to try it as an image file, I will recopy a DVD tomorrow as an ISO image and let you know how it goes.

Good luck!

[Ghitulescu]

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=151837

[Benihana]

Well as promised, here are my results. I did as follows:

AnyDVD and Virtual Clone Drive are both always running on my system. (0 clicks after initial setup)
I used ImgBurn (same author as DVD Decrypter) to create an ISO. (3 clicks)
Doubleclicking the ISO file automatically mounts it with Virtual Clone Drive. (2 clicks)
From there is plays back perfectly with my media player. (4 clicks)

Success! This is essentially what Inspector.Gadget suggested. It's fairly straightforward and satisfies all four of your requirements. If you have the time, try out both DVD Decrypter and ImgBurn. Unfortunately, AnyDVD does cost money and that would be your main cost.

Good luck!