Question: DVD Help

Hello,
This is my first post and I hope my question is not too ridiculous. I am looking for a way to back up my DVD collection. It’s not that large, but I have lost a lot of money having to buy second copies of discs due to scratches caused sometimes by me and sometimes by my kids.
I have tried several programs that say they will copy 1:1 but none have worked yet, not even close. I have purchased one software program that offered a 30-day money back guarantee (I’m not sure if I should mention names here) but they failed miserably to keep their money back promise and customer support has been nonexistent.
Can anyone recommend software that will copy my DVD’s 1:1 so that I can play them as I would the original?
I appreciate any feedback.
Regards,
IAG

Hi iag and welcome:

There are several ways to go:

Commerical (pay for it) or freeware (it's free) or a combination of the two.

If you go with commercial, major software companies have generous trial periods with no restrictions during the trial period. Once you buy, there are no refunds.

Two of the more highly recommended companies are:

http://www.slysoft.com/en/

http://www.dvdfab.com/

For Slysoft, I suggest you try AnyDVD and CloneDVD2.

If you are looking for simplicity of use with quality results, you will be happy with commercial (for a price). If you like playing with buttons and tweaking the process, you will enjoy products such as DVDFab HD Decrypter to remove copy protection and imgburn to burn the DVD (both are free).

http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm

http://www.imgburn.com/


There are many guides available on CDF and always remember to use quality discs such as Verbatim which is usually available locally (now on sale at OfficeMax if you live where they operate).

what jeff53404 said pretty much sums it up and it's a safe bet almost everyone here will agree with

If you want a do it all program, then you should look at DVDFab as Jeff suggested.

If you want to do everything for free, then DVDFab HD Decrypter (their free decryption program) plus DVDShrink or the free version of DVDRebuilder can do everything you need. Shrink or Rebuilder are only necessary if you want to compress to fit a single layer dvd. If you prefer to burn to dual layer disks, you won't need either of these two programs. And Imgburn to do the actual burning is highly recommended.
DVDShrink can be downloaded from www.mrbass.org
DVDRebuilder can be found here: http://dvd-rb.dvd2go.org/
And Jeff has already provided the other links.

If you burn to dual layer disks, it is very important to use only Verbatim disks. They are they only dual layer reliable enough for us to recommend on a regular basis.

I personally use AnyDVD HD, which is the high definition version of this program. It is currently the only decryption program that is effective for Blu Ray, if that is a concern for you now or in the future.
Combine it with either the free DVDRebuilder, or DVDRebuilder Pro, and you will produce copies that are second to none compressed to single layer disks.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your advice.
Regards,
IAG

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your advice.
Regards,
IAG

I'll put my experience with slysoft product.

Use Anydvd with CloneDVD if your going to compress from source dvd to dvd5 or dvd9. And CloneCD if your going to make as close as you can to 1:1 from original. Or if you want mobile go CloneDVDMobile make it goes to portable devices. But as stated in the end you have your choice to choose from Slysoft or Dvdfab plat. those in my views are the best in the paid software.