How to Copy an Unprotected DVD
By Jean Brewer
Copying an unprotected DVD can be accomplished with the right equipment. If the DVD movie is on a standard 4.7 GB disc, this involves using the DVD copy software of your choice to make a duplicate of the disc. If the movie is larger than 4.7 GB, you need a disc large enough to contain the movie or the ability to shrink it to fit on a standard 4.7 GB DVD-R. Microsoft Windows does not have a built-in DVD copying ability, but several programs that will copy unprotected DVD movies are available. Some are free, while others are not.
Commercial Software: Nero
Open Nero by going to "Start," "All Programs," "Nero." You will be presented with a variety of options.
Choose "Copy Entire Disc" from the options presented.
Place the DVD movie you wish to copy in your DVD drive, then choose this drive on the drop-down menu.
Choose the same drive for both source and destination drives, unless you have two DVD drives to choose from. If so, use the drive that will burn DVDs as your destination drive.
Click the "Copy" button. This will begin the copy process. If you are using the same drive for both source and destination, a window will appear notifying you to place a blank DVD in the drive when the program is ready. A window will appear notifying you when the copy process is completed.
Freeware: DVDShrink/DVD Decrypter Duo
Click on the DVDShrink icon on your desktop to start the program.
Place the unencrypted DVD movie in your drive.
Click "Open Disk" to focus the program on the DVD you want to copy. Use the drop-down menu to select your drive. DVDShrink will take a few moments to analyze the disc. "Full Disk" will automatically be selected.
Click the "Backup" button.
Click the drop-down menu, and choose "ISO file and burn with DVD Decrypter."
Click "OK" to begin the copy process. If the DVD movie that you are copying is larger than 4.7 GB, it will be analyzed to provide a better quality copy with the compression used. Once the disc is encoded on the hard drive, DVD Decrypter will take over to begin the burning process.
Remove the DVD movie you are copying from the drive, and replace it with a blank DVD.
Click the "Write" icon at the bottom to begin the burning process. A window will appear notifying you when the process is completed.
References
Tips
- Nero comes pre-installed on some computers, is packaged with some DVD burner drives and is available for purchase at www.nero.com/. Nero will copy an unprotected DVD to a disc that is the same size as the one being copied.
- Several DVD copy programs are commercially available for copying unencrypted DVD movies. SlySoft Clone DVD (www.slysoft.com/en/clonedvd.html) and Roxio Creator (www.roxio.com/enu/products/creator/suite/overview.html) are two popular programs.
- DVDShrink is a freeware program available for download at www.dvdshrink.org/. This program will allow you to copy unprotected DVD movies of a larger size to a DVD disc of smaller capacity by compressing the movie or allowing you to choose which aspects of the movie you wish to keep. It will also let you place more than one unencrypted DVD movie on a single disc with the settings. DVD Decrypter is chosen because of its ability to burn seamlessly in combination with DVD Shrink. You can find DVD Decrypter online at www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/. These older freeware programs work perfectly in tandem to copy larger unencrypted movies to smaller 4.7 GB media.
Warnings
- Some unencrypted DVDs are illegal to copy. Check the laws in your area to verify that you can legally make a backup copy of your particular unencrypted DVD movie.
Writer Bio
Jean Brewer is a self-starting computer professional who has been writing since 2008. Her work can be found on various websites and she is the author of "How to Write and Sell an Ebook," "Where to Work Online" and "Professional Help: How to Prevent and Fix Malware, Viruses, Spyware and Other Baddies." She is a computer repair graduate of Harcourt Education Direct.