How to Copy a DVD

Copying the contents of a DVD such as a movie, music album, or data can be done in few simple steps. Copying contents of a data DVD is the easiest as we just have to copy and paste like we normally do with files, but copying original audio or video DVDs when they are protected by a security algorithm can be a little more complicated. There is a solution for the latter part too.

Available DVD-Copying Programs

There are many software available in the market that can easily copy the contents of the DVD (regardless of format) at a click of a button. Most of these programs are shareware which means you can use it free only for a limited period of time - then you will have to buy its license and pay for it. These programs can automatically remove any security on the DVD and let you copy DVD movies either to your computer or to another DVD.

DVD's Can Be Shrunk

Since DVDs can store a lot of information (a normal DVD can store about 4GB amount of information), there are special pieces of software which helps to compress the data on the DVD so that copying the contents of the DVD is both faster and easier. DVDShrink is an example of such software. You simply put the movie DVD in your DVD-ROM and then click on the “copy entire disc” option or “copy only movie” option. The software will start analyzing the required DVD-encoded video files and then burn an exact copy onto the blank DVD.

Other Settings

The compression ratio in the software should be set at a decent rate so that the video quality of the copied DVD is good - you can remove the original title of the DVD and substitute it with an image etc. if space becomes an issue. You can also backup or copy the contents of a dual layer DVD to a single layer DVD using the powerful compression utility and run analyses of the original DVD. There are different compression settings to choose from, also remember that the maximum compression setting will take more time than a normal compression setting, but will yield optimal result.

Compressing and Copying

When you start compressing and copying the contents of the DVD, a progress bar will show how much of the content has been compressed and copied with the remaining time for the task to be completed. There are four types of compression to choose from - no compression, automatic compression, custom ratio (where you can enter the percentage of compression), and slideshow (which works with still pictures and sound playing in the background). You can then specify the image recorder like Nero which will burn the DVD. Most of the software used for copying DVDs doesn't need much space for installation.