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Hmmmm, just to throw a spanner in the works, heres my thoughts. I have "backed up" the odd DVD here and there.
Over the years I have used DVDShrink (it's completely free), but abandoned it as it consistantly had the slowest compression times of any program I have used, ( to compress 6-8 gigs down to 4.35 gig, takes about 20-50 minutes ) but will remove MOST copy-protection. I also ran into a lot of trouble with slight pauses throughout the movie. DVDShrink will also shell to Nero to burn. IMHO, Nero is the ONLY program to use when burning. NEVER, NEVER burn faster than 4x, burn at 2x if times is not an issue. I have just been searching for a site that had an article on DVD burn speeds but cant find it now. I remember something about standalone DVD players having trouble reading disc burnt faster than 4x. It had something to do with the players' error-compensation not working of fast burnt discs, leading to them working on a PC but not in a standalone player. BUT this could be completely wrong.
I have also used DVDDecryptor to remove copy-protection from discs, but if compression of the DVD is required, DVDDecryptor will not do, as it doesn't compress.
This lead me to use CloneDVD2 to compress. IMHO CloneDVD2 does a fine job of burning and has without a doubt, the best quality and fastest compression times to fit a DVD5 disc, but does not remove copy-protection. Although CloneDVD2 does not shell to Nero to burn, I have never had it burn a coaster for me.
I have tried quite a few other programs, to either remove the protection and/or compress a DVD. After quite a lengthy trial period, I have settled to using "ANYDVD" to remove the protection and "CLONEDVD2" to compress and "NERO" to burn with. But if I was only going to copy one disc on the day, I will let CloneDVD2 do the burning for me as it is a one step process.
ANYDVD is a program that runs in the back ground (ie. displays an icon in your system tray) and removes DVD and/or audio disc copy-protection on the "fly". This basicly makes it possible to do a direct copy of copy-protected DVDs with Nero as no programs will see the copy-protection. If you need to compress, just throw the original disc in your reader, a blank disc in your burner and use CloneDVD2 with AnyDVD running in the back ground. The longest time this system takes to compress and rip to HHD is about 15-16min, add in the 13-15 minutes it takes to burn and you have compressed and burnt a disc in about 30 minutes.
I don't rip the discs as an image, I rip them as DVD files on the HHD. And then use Nero to create a new DVD video disc, then drag and drop the ripped and compress files into the video_ts folder. The reason I do this is, Nero will check the file stucture of all the files to be burn and tell you if there any problems that will lead to failure when you drag and drop them. I have found if you create an image with DVD file structure errors, the disc will burn (wasting a disc) anyways. If Nero reports an error, you can bet your left testicle, the disc won't work.
Now that all that is said, CloneDVD2 and AnyDVD are free to download, but are not free programs as both come with a 21 day trial period. But if you know where to look and have an up-to-date virus protection program and firewall, you can have it for free to. Just don't say I didn't warn you about having your anti-virus and firewall up to date. Although it is possible to use these programs for free, they are both quite cheap to buy online and you get lifelong updates to boot.
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Forgot to mention I have Any DVD as well,and I never remove any of the features, just burn the whole lot, options , subtitles, credits etc in around 20mins.
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Thanks for the info fellas - will get stuck into it :) he's only got another week of leave and lots of stuff to back up :)
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Does your dvd player have the region codes switched off?
I don't know if region codes carry over on a burnt dvd.
Cheers
Simon
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most programs like dvdshrink will strip the region code and the encryption.
