DVD Ripping

here is a site that has various downloads of programs to "back-up" your dvds including some of the afore mentioned programs

Glad to have a vote for DVD X-copy. I bought it at the same time as my TDK writer but haven't opened it yet because I was checking out the free stuff. I have not had any great success with the others yet so I am about to rip of the shrink wrap....

Any additional tips for DVD X-copy before I let go of my 99 bucks forever?

DVD X Copy did the trick!

I tried a bunch of other suggestions and was still unable to get past various forms of the message "this DVD can not be copied because it is copy protected".

DVD X Copy copied and burned the movie with no problem. I like how it changes the opening screen FBI warning to a warning that states up front that this is an archival backup copy of a DVD and not to be sold or used or whatever.

I just have the trial version now, but I will be spending the money to buy this product.

I guess you should get it while the getting is good though. See this link: More DVD Copy Software Authors Sued

Thanks for all the advice and tips!!

Ok oK , I am pulling the shrink wrap off. Hey tonybradley, what media are you using?

The disc I used was some knock-off brand called DVD-ON that came with my DVD recorder.

My drive is a DVD+RW/+R (no minuses) so I also have a 5-pack of Memorex DVD+RW blanks.

That's what I have too, look like I am on the same page.

The DVD I want to copy is 6gb and those DVD - R and + R disks are single sided 4.7gb disks. Dvd x-copy is supposed to compress the data to fit.

DVD X Copy seems to work just fine making a 1 to 1 copy of a DVD regardless of the true size of the data or maximum stated capacity of the blank DVD.

The copy works fine on my laptop DVD player and on my $40 Mintek DVD player, but would not play on my Apex DVD player. The Apex is almost 4 years old though and maybe it just can't handle newer technology like DVD+RW. The Mintek was purchased around last Christmas.

just a quick question, a little off topic, but is there a way to get divx or xvid avi's to play on a dvd player again? I backed up some of my dvd's a while back to divx, and now I find it's nearly impossable to get them to a vcd/svcd format without sacrificing a ton of time or the quality of the picture. Are there any easy to use apps for anything like this? I just rip to svcd now, but some of my older dvds that are unplayable are only in divx now. Any help would be great!

Cross, it depends on the computer you're using to decode the video, it will have to be decoded from divx/xvid to mpeg so it could take up to a day if not more depending on what you use to decode. The picture quality should stay relatively the same, if you convert it to vcd it will probably lose some, svcd not so much, straight to dvd probably none. I don't own a dvd burner so I have no clue to how that works. Oh and I used to use tmpgenc, I think that was the name, to do conversions between types. I haven't had to since my last format so I don't have a copy handy.

As for DVD to DivX I use dvdx, it's an all in one program but you have to run the movie for a bit before you use it, gives really good results though. The tut I read to get me started with it was http://rip.corusa.com/
There's a lot of useful info at http://www.dvdrhelp.com too