Best way to backup disks to dvd/hard disk?

Hi guys, few questions sorry..


1. Backing up a dvd to a blank dvd, i used dvd shrink but i wont play on anything else bar my actual computer ie any other laptops or dvd players???


2) So.. instead i have started using dvd ashampoo, this is fine but it requires dual layer dvds which are more expensive and im not even sure if my toshiba a200 can burn dual layer???

3) For convinience i was thinking about getting an hard disk external and putting my collection on that, so whats te best way to go about it without stuffing the picture quality and audio quality by reducing its size??? How do you actually instead of copy it to disk make a copy to your hard disk and then how do you make it play??

4) what does dvd shrink do to reduce size does it loose international menus or actually reduce audio quality/picture quality etc, would you be better off somehow converting to avi etc if your inteneding to watch from your hard disk, and how does this effect quality.?

DVDShrink is rather outdated as a decryption/ripping program, and it will not be able to handle any dvd that has extra copy protection added other than plain CSS. Many different types of structural protection schemes have been released since development stopped on DVDShrink. Shrink is still a good transcoder, though that method of compression is inherently worse than using a full encoder for reducing the size of a dvd.

A dvd (with no extra protection) that is copied by Shrink should be playable on any dvd player. Problems sometimes happen when you use poor media, or burn too fast for a particular type of disk, or you just have a picky player.

As a replacement decryption/ripping program, I suggest getting DVDFab HD Decrypter. It is the free section within DVDFab and will continue to function even after the trial for the main part of Fab expires. You can find it here: http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm

You can rip the dvd straight to the hard drive as files and play them back using any number of software programs. Some are free, like VLC media player and Media Player Classic HomeCinema. And there are commercial products like PowerDVD and WinDVD.

You don't have to use compression to rip to the hard drive. DVDFab HD Decrypter won't compress. Even with Shrink, you can set it to no compression when ripping. This gives you the entire movie, with no degradation of the video whatsoever. The only downside to doing this is the size of the files. An average commercial dvd will be 6gb or more, including extras. You can choose to rip only the main movie, but you lose menus, commentary and extras that way.

Many people choose to rip and convert to a different format when storing movies on the hard drive. The only good reasons for doing this are saving space and having a compatible format for streaming with certain devices. Any time you convert to a different format, or compress, you will effect the quality of the video adversely. If it is done well, you probably won't notice this slight degradation of quality.

Conversion also takes quite a lot of time. If you are interested, look into programs like Handbrake, MeGui or AutoGK. Many people still use xvid codec in an avi container, especially since they can burn those files to a disk and play on compatible dvd players, but the more advanced users have moved on to H264 in mkv or mp4 files when storing on hard drives.

Thanks for that mate ill looking into it some more and may come back with a few qs if thats cool .. appreciate the informative indepth post

This thread might interest you. What types of blank discs are you using?

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f62/dvd-shr...before-278391/

cheers mate, ill have a read,..


Im using imation dvd+r single layer no dramas but no shrink wont play on anyhing bar my own computer, and i found it not user friendly and slow ..

I have had a lot of dramas being able to burn, now im using dvd ashampoo seems to work well for me... but it wont reduce the size at all so i have to use dual layers now, but i got ritex and they dont work ..


I had a lot of problems with dvd fab crashing soon after finishing the initial read... only program i seem to have success with is ashampoo, but i cant work out with it how to get it to burn something to my hard disk that i can actually watch and also something that i can burn later and be able to watch on dvd maybe its not possible, i treid bin, iso etc wont play from hard disk.

With all the hassles im having with burning i might just get a external and burn to it, got to work out how but it would also be nice to have them in a format that could also be played on dvd players and would fit on a single layer.. ill have to do my research..

I mean i have a lot of movies so maybe ill have to be happy with something like avi that will shrink it heaps for space reasons but i wont be able to burn and use it as a normal dvd..

I must admit im a novice will all this i need to somehow learn that advantages/disadvantages of different formats etc..

DVDFab is a fairly stable program. I am surprised it is crashing, as that is a very uncommon complaint. Is your computer unstable for other tasks? Working with video can put some strain on the cpu, so good cooling is necessary. You might check to see if the heatsink on the cpu is clogged with dust.

You might also check for memory problems. See if you can run Memtest86 for an hour or so. http://www.memtest86.com/ It is a free download.

Many newer dvd players can play avi files using either the divx or xvid codecs. If yours is not one of these, you'll need to keep your movies in dvd-video format, at least on the disks. On an external hdd, you can use most any format you want.

Its very stable now i did all my updates.. No probs with anything at all crashing


With ashampoo, i never ever have an issue .. burnt heaps

but with dvd fab it reads fine then asks for the disk then crashes like clockwork.. Never ever has a problem reading it the whole way


Thanks for the link, there is so many options which actual one do i download?

I just did a test changed it so it full disk copies but changed the target to the hard disk and it works fine does not crash only when trying to copy to dvd..??

I now have a folder with audio_ts and video_ts but they wont play, am i meant to be using another setting to do this to be able to play it on my pc?

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Last edited by sands vs; 30-06-2009 at 10:31.

Now all of a sudden ashampoo is failing as well, gets to the endof the read and fails.. and it was working perfectly till now..... ffs lol

To view you would use VLC or one of the other programs Kerry56 mentioned.

You should try Imgburn for burning to DVD, especially if burning dual layer.It's free and one of the best.

You should use quality disc if you are going the dual layer route Verbatim is by far the most recommended.

Change the setting in DVDFab to burn with Imagburn may stop the crashes.

Hey again sands vs

I have a sneaky feeling, mentioning the make and model of your lappy drive might put a whole new spin on this no-burning issue...

Cool i have vlc i will install that..


where would i get a full verison of imgburn from and why is it better?

Why would my burning all of a sudden not want to work today

O i downloaded it from one of the posts on, not sure what to do with it yet lol ill get there

www.imgburn.com

installed ok but when you open it comes up with funny messages in the bottom of the program window is this ok?? or is it virused

That's LIGHTNING UK's sense of humour for you ...yep, it's perfectly normal.

Yes perfectly normal for us here also.

Yes this could certainly help. us also.

The TeraByte drives are pretty cheap now days and hold a lot of Movies.

What drive is burning these Dvd+R discs, that is not booktyping them to Dvd-Rom by the sounds of it? BTW, look deep into my sig.

Mine its a matshita dvd-ram UJ-850s ATA, laptop is a Toshiba a200 satalite single core 1.8, 2 gig ram, 500gig hd.. It about a year old

Yeah thats what im tempted to do mate, i have unsuccessfully been trying to find one in 2.5inch for portability reasons but no luck, i dont thin they make them yet.. So im looking in a 3.5 inch one just not sure wheter to bother getting a multimedia case for it or not, as most i have seen are $$ and dont support over 500gig. Just looking at the best ways to hook it up to the tele and burn as a watchable image to the hd now..

The multimedia cases i really dont understand enough about them and their advantages.. Ill also look into ways to hook my laptop with external plugged in into the tv etc.. Im learning slowly lol thanks for your patients guys

sands vs

Did you catch this in your search:

http://forums.techarena.in/vista-har...ces/677663.htm

seems like others are having the same problem and they are saying it starts all of a sudden.

Cheers for that i tried the suggest mod and now itunes wont work, and any dvd wont recignise my drive.. any the windback feature wont work to correct it

Sorry to hear that things seem to be getting worse.Sounds like it may be time to do a restore and then look into an external burner.

Looking back at the post here are a couple thoughts:

Check the settings for pathplayer

Have you just installed the IE8 from Microsoft, lots of people are starting to have trouble after they got updated with IE8.

Well i finally got the thing to wind back so undid the changes and took off internet explorer 8... so see how we go!!

Sorry what do you mean by the settings for pathplayer..?

Is it ok to have several cd burning programs on at once? without dramas

Whats the best combo i have to burn: nero 8/dvdashampoo/imgburn/dvdfab
And to assist this process: any dvd/dvdregionfree

The Pathplayer setting in DVDFab : I set at always on, the setting that tells it to use when needed has been a little buggy.
Best to choose between: Off or On
When it does not work on a specific movie,choose the other setting.


Several burning programs I hear can be a problem depending on which ones.Nero does not like other programs to well.

DVDFab Plat ver with Imgburn has given me excellent results for quite awhile now.So that would be my choice.

Anydvd and Imgburn is another very good choice.

I found that using anydvd to rip to an external HD works well and that is where i store my back ups. It's portable and has it's advantages, then if i have an occasion to copy one i simply use DVD fab. It's older but still stable and gets the job done.

Ill try everyones suggestions... when i get time and patience back ..spent hoursand hours trying different setups/disks/programs on this and ready to throw the laptop and been at this for weeks with no avail.


Sometimes it reads fine, then fails on burn and their is times it fails on reading source disk.. This is in fair few programs, with different things running to aid in background..


BUT Interestingly enough it will copy and burn a cd, no dramas.. Will burn data and mp3 onto a dvd/cd no dramas... dont even need anydvd.

I got verbatum and it wont even recignise them, and the riteks will read but fail part way through... somethims it fails part way through read, somethmes part way through burning, and sometimes it crashes the programs in the process.. I have removed ram chips swapped seems to make no difference as well, and removed IE8, and tried the registry mods and the wondows fix.

Sounds like it may be on it's last leg, the DVD Laser not the CD Laser.

May be time to get a new one or get an external usb burner.