1-button DVD copying software

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ksar123

Limp Gawd
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Sep 19, 2004
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OK so my father in law wants to be able to make backups of all of his dvd, but he is not very computer literate. There is no way he is going to remember how to use DVD Decryper/DVD Shrink/Burning software. Can anyone recommend me a piece of software (it can be commercial) that does all 3 as simply as possible? He has a few hundred DVDs and wants to keep the originals scratch free.
 
I've taught several non-computer people to use DVD Shrink. Just configure it once for them, and it's nearly one-click.
 
^^^ Agreed. For non-commercial type software, this is probably the easiest way to go. I've run across the odd DVD here or there that it doesn't copy well, but it works ok.

Another thing to keep in mind, though I guess that you have already thought about this, one-button style copies will copy the ENTIRE DVD. When you start talking about several hundred, you are talking about a LOT of storage space. If you are copying DVD to DVD, the you'll probably be looking at some type of cloning software (Nero can do this fairly easily) but you'll be paying a straight fortune for dual-layer DVD's. If you aren't doing one-to-one copies, then you'll be looking shrinking the size of the DVD down to 4.7GB, and the quality will change accordingly. Some people don't want to deal with that, so double check with your father-in-law to make sure he's aware of that.
 
I was thinking DVD Shrink since it integrates really well with Nero (which he already has), but in my experience more than a few DVD's fail to decrypt with it. When that happens guess who he's gonna call - when I say computer illiterate I mean I've showed him things a million times, even written instructions, and he still doesn't get it. He can't even comprehend right clicking. There must be something designed for people like him in mind.

He already knows that the quality will be reduced in some cases and is OK with that.
 
I had a friend of mine buy AnyDVD, which just runs in the system tray, requiring no user action. DVD Shrink works like a charm with that. He's like me, travelling often, so being able to bring a copy of a movie on the plane (or having it on your HDD) saves the originals from being lost or scratched.
 
i had DVD Xcopy Express, which worked really well for me. I don't have it currently installed ATM. They have a software out now, that might be what you are looking for. The DVD X copy Express was literally one click, very easy to use, and it gave you the option of copying the entire DVD as is, or just the movie with no extras, and adjusted the compression to fill up a single layer Blank. I was very impressed with how good the picture/sound was after taking a full 9 GB DL and compressing it down to one. To me it lost NO image quality at all, and I'm picky about my AV experience. It might show up on an HDTV, though.

good luck.

edit: link to new DVD X Copy.

i haven't used this software, so i don't know how good/bad it is. I just had good experience with their DVD X Copy Express product.
 
RipIt4Me picks up where the Decrypter/Shrink duo left off and works much better.... so long as you have the supporting programs installed and pointed to correctly, this is (IMO) the current one-click champeen as far as easy goes.

http://www.ripit4me.org/
 
DVD Shrink and DVDfab are the two I find easiest than any newb could do. They're only a few clicks at the most. I remember the good ol days of Smart Ripper --> Flask MPEG --> Nero. lol... took about 6 hours and 16gb of hdd space on my Athlon XP. ^_^
 
djnes said:
I had a friend of mine buy AnyDVD, which just runs in the system tray, requiring no user action. DVD Shrink works like a charm with that. He's like me, travelling often, so being able to bring a copy of a movie on the plane (or having it on your HDD) saves the originals from being lost or scratched.
Click to expand...

I agree about AnyDVD. If I need to burn something then I use Elby's CloneDVD.
 
A way to get the best backups is to buy some dual layer DVDs. They cost more, but capacity is enough to do a straight copy of the DVD without compression.

If using dual layer discs, install AnyDVD (to remove encryption) & just do a straight disc copy with Nero. ==No need to rip and compress.
 
topcat989 said:
i had DVD Xcopy Express, which worked really well for me. I don't have it currently installed ATM. They have a software out now, that might be what you are looking for. The DVD X copy Express was literally one click, very easy to use, and it gave you the option of copying the entire DVD as is, or just the movie with no extras, and adjusted the compression to fill up a single layer Blank. I was very impressed with how good the picture/sound was after taking a full 9 GB DL and compressing it down to one. To me it lost NO image quality at all, and I'm picky about my AV experience. It might show up on an HDTV, though.

good luck.

edit: link to new DVD X Copy.

i haven't used this software, so i don't know how good/bad it is. I just had good experience with their DVD X Copy Express product.
Click to expand...

I'm curious as to see if anyone else has used this software. I also used DVD X Copy and it was very easy to use. I clicked on the link to the new software and like the updates....just wondering if it works as well as the original.
 
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