Use AnyDVD from SlySoft to rip the DVDs (any type) to an ISO image.
Use VirtualCloneDrive (also from SlySoft) to mount the ISO image as a virtual DVD drive. You can click on any ISO file and it will load up just like it was a disc inserted into a drive.
VCD is free, but you will need to buy AnyDVD. It is WELL worth it, trust me.
You can use DVDFab - this program has many options, you can copy everything without losing quality, you can transform to various formats for different players and so on. It's not free though. But you can try for a month - and be done with everything :).
However, be careful with the copyright - even if you own a DVD that does not mean that you are allowed to copy the movie to your hard drive. In fact, in some countries including the US there is legislation in effect that explicitly forbids breaking the copy protection.
On the other hand, if the DVD is not copy protected, then you can simply copy the files in Windows Explorer.
This is one of the bad things about forums is that sometimes you get too many choices.
Everyone seems to have their own way and thats fine, but I dont need to worry about space so I dont need to compress them to worry about losing quality.
Dvdshrink seems to work fine for me.
I like being able to watch the movies in either Media Center or Media player. I dont want to have to worry about mounting an iso in another program when I already like MC.
I will be able to access the movies I copy with DVDshrink in both win7 64 & Ubuntu 64 correct?
Or do I need to do something different so that they are cross platform?
Also what is the easiest way to ensure that once I've copied the movie to my HDD that is is a perfect copy & ready to go?
Well, once you have removed the copy protection - if that's what you're doing (since without it you can simply copy and paste) your files on the hard drive are ready to go. Ideally you should have a folder full of vob and ifo files. In the DVD structure it's called VIDEO_TS, but on the computer you can call it anything.
The files can be played in any operating system, as long as you have the appropriate software. In Windows that can be WMP or Media Center or any of the gazillion players available. I don't use Ubuntu, so I'm not sure what's available there, although VLC should work. The only possible difference between different players that you are really interested in - some players require that you point them to the folder with those vob files and some can play individual vob files. However, a single vob file is often not the whole movie.
If you want to test the files, you can use the small app called MediaInfo - it will tell you everything about your files. If you are concerned about the DVD structure - the simplest way is just to play it and make sure that all menus work and so on.
Man... I got through almost all of my P90x dvds with no problem now the last one (and my most favorite is not getting past 60%
This is the error I'm getting...
The disc looks fine, no scratches or anything.
Is there a work around so I can shrink this final dvd for the collection?
Thanks.
Clean the disk and try again. Also, deselect the movie preview option. It slows things down.
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