i have downloaded dvd fab and dvd shrink when i want to upload a dvd from my hard drive to make a back up disc which option do i select the full copie or movie only?

also when i use dvd shrink do i need to change any settings or anything like that?

(in reply to jonhickox)

full copy backups the whole movie, while at backup mode you can select what you exactly want to drop out

(in reply to jonhickox)

Hello, I'm new to the forum, just bought a Plextor DL burner.  I was able to make perfect copy of a concert DVD, but I imagine it wasn't encrypted.  I hope one of you more experienced burners can answer just a few questions for me:   Is DVDfab an all-in-one decrypter/ burning software (do I need something like Nero to go with it?)?  Is DVDfab the software of choice here?  And if so, is Platinum worth the extra $20 versus Gold?    I appreciate your help

(in reply to emperor)

there are free utils to decrypt a CSS protected movie, no need to pay

(in reply to RyanT)

To decrypt the movie, you can get the DVDFab Decrypter (It's Freeware) and it does a very nice job of ripping the movie that you need to backup to your hard-drive.

Then you can use the burning software of your choice to burn to DVD.  I personally use Nero, and most users here seem to do so.  Nero is a multifunctional program that will accomplish all your burning needs.

(in reply to emperor)

Will Nero span DVDs for a workable, uncompressed back up movie? 

Through some experimentation, I've come to  'believe' my problem is that my 3 year old TV top DVD player won't play Mpeg1 formatted movies, which is the format DVD Shrink puts them into in order to compress them to fit on one DVD5 disk. 

I'd love to be able to "back up" movies onto one disk through compression, but I don't know of a utility that does that and leaves them in Mpeg2.  Anyone? 

Does anyone know the format that DVD Decryptor puts output files into or DVD Shrink with no compression?   I'm thinking, unless I want to buy a new player, I'm either going to have to span or buy DL disks.  (Aren't they still pretty expensive?)

Any freeware utilities span (with menus) and keep DVDs in Mpeg2 format? 

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

DVD Shrink puts them into DVD standard .VOB files, whether compressed or uncompressed, it makes no difference, this is the "DVD Standard"...

Do you have bitsetting available?  I suggest making DVD +R bitset to DVD ROM, I don't think what you are saying has anything to do with your set-top player playing them.  It could also be a matter of media.

A DVD that you have made with DVD Shrink is NOT in MPEG format after you have used shrink, it is in VOB.

(in reply to RyanT)

I do realize that the files on your DVD and those compressed and produced by DVD Shrink have .VOB extensions, but essentially they seem to all have a core Mpeg format.  If you have Plextor tools you can have it analyze the disk and it will reveal this formatting.  If you do you'll find that all non-decrypted, non-compressed DVDs are generally Mpeg2.  Analyze the same disk after using DVD Shrink and compressing it, and it will show Mpeg1. 

So far the only commonality of my DVD players failure are disks showing Mpeg1 formats (as determined by Plextor tools).  I've been able to make a direct copy of a concert video which was not encrypted nor did I need to compress it and my TV top DVD player had no problems with it (Plextor analyzed the original and the copy to both be Mpeg2), so the problem isn't the burning software or the media (DVD-R is the only type this old player will use).  I do need to experiment with Shrink to see if it will produce non-compressed decoded backups that will work.  I'm wondering if the problem is in the compression and the resulting altered files.

Also, anyone have any experience with Roxio?  Keeps giving me a "non-compatible media" message when I try to burn with DVD-Rs (or any DVD for that matter) from "create DVD" option.    Probably need to get Nero, aye? 

(in reply to MP3Mogul)