Getting a digital copy of your DVD saves space, maintains the condition of your discs, and makes it easy to access movies from across devices. If you’re looking to save family videos, have copies of rare discs, or just want a collection to take with you, you’ll want to consider the method that’s best for you. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the best ways to copy your DVDs to your computer. We will also walk through both built-in, free, and paid apps, as well as traditional hardware methods to fit your time, preference and legality. Below, you’ll find step-by-step methods broken down, along with tips to avoid mistakes so you can keep your audio quality, subtitles, and some bonus efficiency if you are past simply archiving today. Happy Digitizing!
Certainly, it is possible to transfer movies from a DVD to your computer by either converting the contents of the DVD into digital format files that can be used or by creating a sector-copied image file. First, ripping the DVD will create playable digital video files (contained in MP4, MKV, or AVI formats) that you can play directly on the computer and other devices. Second, DVD cloning will create an ISO file that preserves menus and extras, creating a backup that is 100% accurate to the original DVD. The process will vary based on whether the disc was homemade or a commercial disc.
Before copying a DVD to a computer, the first thing you should pay attention to is the encrypted DVDs. On the market, almost all on-sale DVD discs are encrypted with region codes or other types of DVD protections to prevent illegal usage of the DVD content, or it will lead to possible loss to the issuers of the discs.
Hence, if you consider copying a DVD to a computer, no matter if the discs are encrypted or not, you will need professional help, as not all DVD copy software is compatible with encrypted disc duplication. Referring to this, VideoByte DVD Copy can be an ideal pick for you.
VideoByte DVD Copy is well compatible with both commercial and homemade DVD copying, which is able to bypass all regional protections added on the discs, and copy them to another blank disc or in ISO image format, VIDEO_TS folder for you. This process will not lead to any quality compression, and the software will maintain the DVD copying content at a 1:1 ratio, with original chapters and subtitles preserved.
As the software runs smoothly on both Windows and Mac computers, it would be easier for you to copy a DVD on Windows 10 or other systems, and also on Mac computers without hassle.
Features
• Flexible modes are available to select to copy a DVD to a computer.
• Compatible with DVD of all types, including DVD-5, DVD-9, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL and DVD-RAM.
• Built-in compression tech applied to compress DVD-9 to DVD-5 at 1:1 ratio.
• DVD burning feature supported.
• Accelerated speed guaranteed to bring a faster DVD copying process.
Next, also go through the brief guide and grasp how to copy a DVD to a computer via VideoByte DVD Copy within just a few taps:
Step 1. Load Source File
Download and install VideoByte DVD Copy on your computer, and then launch the program. When you have inserted the DVD disc to desire to copy, click the "File" button > "Select Source" to load your DVD disc.
NOTE: If you need to copy a DVD to another disc, you will need to prepare one more hard drive and insert the blank disc into it as preparation. But to copy a DVD to a computer as an ISO image or VIDEO_TS, you will only need to use one hard drive.
Step 2. Choose Target to Copy DVD to Computer
In this step, you can choose "Target" to select the file format you want to copy the DVD to. There are 3 copy modes for you to choose to copy DVD to computer, including "Full Copy", "Main Movie" and "Customize". You can choose the one you like according to your needs.
"Full Copy": Clone the whole DVD disc.
"Main Movie": Copy the main movie only.
"Customize": Choose the parts of the DVD you like to copy.
Step 3. Set Output Options
Then click on the button of "Next" button and go to the following window. Here you can enable or disable settings like "Remove Menu", "Play titles as a loop", "Remove multi-angle" before starting to copy DVD to computer.
Step 4. Copy DVD to Computer
After all the settings, you can click on the "Start" button to begin copying the DVD to the computer. As VideoBye DVD Copy has embedded the built-in acceleration techniques to speed up the performance, you just need to wait for a short period to let it complete the duplication for you.
Now, you must have get the idea of how to copy a DVD to your computer. It is very easy but useful and professional, and is as simple as copying a DVD to DVD, which is another way you want to keep your DVD contents.
Being well-known as a media player, VLC actually hides the DVD copying feature, which enables you to copy DVD to computer freely without paying a penny! As VLC is well compatible with both Windows and Mac, it brings you quite convenient help to copy a DVD on Mac/Windows just by taps. In the following steps, you are able to go through how to copy videos from DVD to computer via VLC at no cost:
NOTE: Tips Before Using
STEP 1. Prepare two hard drives and insert both the original and targeted DVD discs to computer. Then, launch VLC and choose “Media” > “Open Disc” to import the source DVD and check the “No disc menus” option.
STEP 2. Now, tap the “Convert / Save” icon, continue to the next step and customize some copying settings such as the format and codec.
STEP 3. Finally, give a go on the “Start” icon to process copying DVD to computer. It will take around 30 minutes or even up to 1 hour copying the disc based on how long the DVD video can be.
WinX DVD Copy Pro is a tool for Windows that saves DVDs quickly. It creates 1:1 copies to disc, ISO images, or VIDEO_TS folders, and it offers a large amount of support for DVD copy protection, with menus, subtitles, and multiple audio tracks available. It has a selection of copies to make, too, depending on whether you want a full disc copy or to extract the main title. It includes error recovery with scratched discs and gives you the option of writing ISOs to a blank DVD. This is a great option for DVD storage, as it is reliable and efficient.
Step 1. Insert the DVD and launch WinX DVD Copy Pro.
Step 2. Choose a copy mode (Full Disc, Main Title, Clone, ISO, VIDEO_TS).
Step 3. Select source DVD drive and output (blank disc, ISO file, or folder).
Step 4. Adjust options for subtitles/audio or enable error recovery if needed.
Step 5. Click "Run" to read and rip; verify the ISO or folder when finished.
HandBrake is an open-source, free DVD ripping program designed for Mac users who want to convert physical discs into digital files, such as MP4 or MKV. It is a perfect solution for personal backups, archival media, or just enjoying a movie when your computer does not have a disc drive. Although a poor choice of wording, guys, HandBrake does not come standard with the ability to rip encrypted DVDs, but has an optionally installed library named libdvcss that allows HandBrake to rip encrypted DVDs by bypassing basic copy protections.
Step 1. Install HandBrake from the official site.
Step 2. Download and install libdvdcss to enable decryption of protected DVDs.
Step 3. Insert your DVD and launch HandBrake.
Step 4. Select the DVD source and choose the main title or chapters.
Step 5. Choose output format (MP4 or MKV) and adjust video/audio settings.
Step 6. Set the destination folder for the saved file.
Step 7. Click "Start Encode" to begin ripping. Monitor progress and verify the output when done.
For users who prefer a straightforward, trustworthy option for copying DVD on Mac, MakeMKV is a popular option. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and includes built-in support for most commercial DVDs and Blu-ray discs, which allows the user to decrypt and back up the content of both discs without any issues.
MakeMKV does not compress files in any way when making backups, so it provides a perfect option for archiving. The MKV file format allows for multiple audio tracks and subtitles, which provides a complete viewing experience for the user. This is especially for users who want to stream or archive their movie collection without losing its fidelity.
Step 1. Download and install MakeMKV from the official website.
Step 2. Insert your DVD into the computer’s disc drive.
Step 3. Launch MakeMKV and let it scan the disc.
Step 4. Select the titles you want to rip (usually the longest one is the main movie).
Step 5. Choose the output folder where the MKV file will be saved.
Step 6. Click "Make MKV" to start the ripping process.
In this article, we have talked about 5 effective solutions to copy DVD to computer. There a superb software that is highly recommended - VideoByte DVD Copy. Not only due to its cross-platform ability on Windows and Mac, but also the DRM removal. No matter whether it’s a homemade or encrypted business DVD, VideoByte DVD Copy can make a copy of it easily. Besides, the other 4 DVD copy tools are also standout, especially for those who are looking for free tools – VLC.
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