Saving DVDs on Computer

[ejaghana]

I'd like to save my DVDs onto my computer because I just have too much stuff and need to get rid of it all. Is there a way to do this? Maybe using Real Player or something?

[*Shira*]

I wouldn't recommend using RealPlayer technology. It really loses video quality, making fuzzy what was previously a clear image. I also find their ethics questionable. RealPlayer dreadfully invades your privacy, sending "marketing" information about you and your computer to the parent company - information that most people would consider to be private. I don't know whether they still do this, but they used to sell to spammers the email addresses of people who downloaded their RealPlayer.

One DVD can hold about 4.75 gigabytes of data. I don't know how many DVD's you're planning to archive, but bear in mind that if it's more than a couple you'll need huge amounts of hard drive space, perhaps needing an external hard drive.

If you're serious about keeping your DVD's for the long term, you'll need to buy double what you think you need so that you can have a backup copy to save in a safe place, preferably not at the same location where your computer is. I've occasionally had hard drives go bad on me - in fact, one that I bought in April went bad in June, after having it only two months. (Tip: avoid SimpleTech, that's the brand that went bad on me.) I lost backups for all three of my computers as a result, but at least it was only backups instead of important data. Backups can be replaced as long as the original computer is still in good condition, important data sometimes cannot.

If saving space is your primary motivation, another option to consider that would be considerably less hassle and expense than the computer approach is to buy yourself one of those CD wallets that can hold 64 (or more) disks. Take your DVD's out of their jewel cases and put them in the CD wallet, then discard the jewel cases. That'll free up huge amounts of space for you.

And remember, it would be illegal and unethical for you to give away (or sell) your original DVD's to someone else after making a copy for yourself.

[ejaghana]

Thanks Shira!!!!

[Lisa Michelle]

Hi Ejaghana,

I do professional photography and we also convert our own home movies to DVD. This is what we are getting for them. It is a great space saver, storage system and it is all archival materials to help you DVD's to last.

Lisa

Here is the item:

http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.co...x=8&Search.y=9

[Asim]

Yes, you can. The technology is called "ripping", and is of sadly dubious legality -- a lot of people use it to pirate movies for uploading. And yet, it's as much Fair Use as making a copy of a video tape for safekeeping, or of converting CDs to MP3s.
As Shira mentioned, DVDs usually hold 4 gigs or so of data. What Rippers tend to do is to re-process the movie to compress it down, in a manner again similar to converting CDs to MP3s. You'll lose quality, but not by much, and you'll save tons of space.

Sadly, the process is pretty complex, even for techies like me; this article is a good start, and I actually use the Handbrake app mentioned there to watch my dance DVDs on my Palm TX. There's also any number of commercial apps that do this, but I know so little about them that I can't recommend one, even on hearsay.

Does that help any?

[mekyria]

I can recommend dvd decrypter, I use it to put dvd's on my pc too. You can then convert them to anything with additional programs.

Dvd decrypter works fine b ut it taks a lot of time to complete one dvd. For example, a 1 hour dvd takes my (three year old) pc 2 hours to complete. pop one in before going out to save the rouble of waiting untill it's finished. Your pc will be r-e-a-l-l-y slow while decrypting.