Free DVD Copying options

[Mercutio]

My workflow for dealing with discs is to use Handbrake with AnyDVD HD. I never write back to disc and I've owned my copy of AnyDVD for something like 10 years now. That system obviously works, but I can't justify telling someone to go buy a $150 program just to copy a few discs.

I know DVDFab HD Decrypter is free, but I also know it's very good at convincing people they need to buy one or more of the confusing laundry list of more expensive DVDFab options. Also I kind of totally hate its interface.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for a process I can suggest?

 

[sedrosken]

Are you talking about movie DVDs or data DVDs?

If you just need to make and burn ISOs, I'd use Daemon tools lite and Astroburn lite. Daemon tools lite can even mount virtual drives. I think it has a disc copy feature too, but I don't think it'd work with movies.

If you have to make movie DVDs, let me know - I'll ask my dad about it, he has movie copying down pat. I dunno what programs he uses, but they work on his wimpy old vomit box. He bought it in 2007, an eMachines (specific model number eludes me) with an Athlon 64 @ 2.3 GHz(no x2 here), 1 GB PC-5300 DDR2 RAM, onboard nVidia GeForce 6600 series (I think), and Windows Vista Home Premium. He slapped XP on it immediately, need I even say it. He's since upgraded it to it's relative max (2 GB RAM and a discrete nVidia GeForce 9900 (again, I think) w/ 1 GB VRAM) but it's still wimpy, even mine runs rings around it. But it does what he wants it to and I can't fault it for that - -

How did I get onto this topic? Back to DVD copiers: if you need to copy movies, let me know and I'll ask my dad what he uses. He doesn't use anything on there that he can't get for free (make of that what you will). The only thing he's paid for is his Windows license.

 

[Mercutio]

Fast isn't the issue, it's doing it with exclusively FREE software. It's something I know one of my relatives is going to be pestering me about at our forthcoming holiday gathering.

 

[Bozo]

I use the free version of AShampoo. Scroll down to the free stuff.

 

[Mercutio]

Does Ashampoo Burning Studio Free support removing DVD Video copy protection?

 

[Chewy509]

What's wrong with DVD Decryptor -> DVD Shrink -> <insert favourite ISO burning tool> ?

 

[Bozo]

Does Ashampoo Burning Studio Free support removing DVD Video copy protection?

I don't know. Never tried it.

 

[Stereodude]

What's wrong with DVD Decryptor -> DVD Shrink -> <insert favourite ISO burning tool> ?

Umm... It doesn't work on many discs released on the better part of the last decade.

 

[Mercutio]

Umm... It doesn't work on many discs released on the better part of the last decade.

As far as I know DVD Shrink doesn't even run on Windows 7, and since DVD Decrypter hasn't been updated in seven or eight year it's more or less guaranteed to fail on precisely the DVDs people most want to copy - the Disney movies everyone's four-year-old wants to love to death.

There's DVD43, but it doesn't work on modern versions of Windows, and the plug-in version only works with for-pay 1Click DVD Copy.

I know if I recommend DVDFab, I'm going to hear over and over how someone was made to buy something, even if I make step by step full color printed instructions on laminated pages and provide a Youtube link with text and narration in multiple languages including Esperanto and Klingon. I can't believe there isn't another free option someplace.

 

[Chewy509]

I've had DVDShrink running on Win7 x64 for a number of years without issue... (I only run it in ISO mode though).

And DVD Decrypter has worked on everything I've tried... But we don't rip a lot with it, so hard to tell how effective DVD Decrypter is these days on modern DVDs.

The only trick is, that you need to save your work to somewhere in your user profile, not to C:\ (Windows does the auto-f&*ing location remapping with DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink on Win7/Win8).

I personally use ffmpeg on my Solaris box, so don't have issues, but then again it's to rip to x264 for local PC playback, not for duplicating a DVD...

 

[CougTek]

I've used CD Burner XP Pro for a number of years, but I mostly use it to burn installation iso images. I don't know how good or bad it is to copy copyrighted material, except for making a copy of an MS OS installation disc (it does that without problem).

 

[Mercutio]

Not that it's free, but if you have a Slysoft license, the software is working again and your product key can be transferred to Redfox, the new ownership, supposedly until April 30th, 2016.

 

[Stereodude]

Not that it's free, but if you have a Slysoft license, the software is working again and your product key can be transferred to Redfox, the new ownership, supposedly until April 30th, 2016.

I'm pretty sure that's not quite accurate. The whole thing is rather convoluted. AFAIK from trying to figure it out... Your existing key will work with basically entitle you to decrypt any disc that is handled prior to 4/30/2016. Discs that are "fixed" after 4/30/2016 will require a new license. It sounds like lifetime licenses will no longer be offered and you're going to pay per year.

 

[ddrueding]

Has anyone put together a hardware/software solution for ripping 4k UltraHD disks to a file yet? I've done a fair bit of searching and come up empty.

 

[Handruin]

I'm pretty sure that's not quite accurate. The whole thing is rather convoluted. AFAIK from trying to figure it out... Your existing key will work with basically entitle you to decrypt any disc that is handled prior to 4/30/2016. Discs that are "fixed" after 4/30/2016 will require a new license. It sounds like lifetime licenses will no longer be offered and you're going to pay per year.

I was wondering about this. Their statements weren't so clear and this seems like a good way to invalidate lifetime licenses for further revenue.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm pretty sure that's not quite accurate. The whole thing is rather convoluted. AFAIK from trying to figure it out... Your existing key will work with basically entitle you to decrypt any disc that is handled prior to 4/30/2016. Discs that are "fixed" after 4/30/2016 will require a new license. It sounds like lifetime licenses will no longer be offered and you're going to pay per year.

I suppose I should have said that the update functions are working again.
I'm actually a lot more likely to use DVDfab since it ran in WINE on Linux machines with my auto-ripping scripts, but since AnyDVD always updated in a more timely fashion, having access to both always seemed like a good idea.

dd, the thing I've read about UltraHD BDs is that the players essentially need permanent internet access for authentication to decrypt the discs. So at the very least we're talking about new copy protection BS. Who knows how long that will take to deal with?

 

[ddrueding]

dd, the thing I've read about UltraHD BDs is that the players essentially need permanent internet access for authentication to decrypt the discs. So at the very least we're talking about new copy protection BS. Who knows how long that will take to deal with?

...and a DVD reader capable of reading the 3-layer, 33GB/layer disks. I might be better off capturing the HDMI stream somehow.

 

[Stereodude]

...and a DVD reader capable of reading the 3-layer, 33GB/layer disks. I might be better off capturing the HDMI stream somehow.

Those exist. A few LG drives made after a certain date have BD 4.0 support and can read them. I think a firmware update could add support for them to other drives if the manufacturers see any value in doing so.

There's a thread on AVSforum on which drives can or can't read them.

 

[Handruin]

Those exist. A few LG drives made after a certain date have BD 4.0 support and can read them. I think a firmware update could add support for them to other drives if the manufacturers see any value in doing so.

There's a thread on AVSforum on which drives can or can't read them.

I followed that thread a bit and I believe the two LG drives I own are the generation prior to the one which supports the format used with 4K BR discs. :-/

 

[Mercutio]

I might be better off capturing the HDMI stream somehow.

Some Chinese outfit or other will undoubtedly build a non-spec HDMI splitter that just happens to strip the Protected Media Path bit off output and away we'll go.

 

[ddrueding]

Some Chinese outfit or other will undoubtedly build a non-spec HDMI splitter that just happens to strip the Protected Media Path bit off output and away we'll go.

That was my thought.

 

[Handruin]

I saw this note in the recently-released Redfox AnyDVD-HD client's changelog:

8.0.6.0 2016 11 06
- New (Blu-ray): Support for new discs
- New (DVD): Support for new discs
- Testing (Blu-ray 4k): Show supported AACS version of drive
- Some fixes and improvements

 

[Stereodude]

I take that as just reporting a hardware / firmware support of the drive.

 

[Handruin]

I was trying to be hopeful but you're probably right.