Copy DVD to Hard Drive

[747]

I have a Dell w/P4, 3 Gig, 512 RAM, running XP home SP2, came with Sonic RecordNow! v.7.3. I was wondering if it's possible to make a copy of a DVD onto my hard drive, instead of getting a blank dvd to record onto?

BTW, a lot of times when I try to run the program, it stops working. Just won't run.

Thank you.

[Beerman]

I have a Dell w/P4, 3 Gig, 512 RAM, running XP home SP2, came with Sonic RecordNow! v.7.3. I was wondering if it's possible to make a copy of a DVD onto my hard drive, instead of getting a blank dvd to record onto?

BTW, a lot of times when I try to run the program, it stops working. Just won't run.

Thank you.

Not having RecordNow I'm not sure what you can do but I think it may have a Copy Disc function that should copy to your hard drive.

As far as your problem running the program, with only 512MB of ram, it'll be hard to do any sort of video work or computer intensive work running more than 1 program at the time.

[Larry]

RecordNow doesn't have any video editng/authoring functionality, so I don't think the RAM should be an issue. Also, since the copy in use came "with the pc", it's an OEM one so it may not be able to copy a DVD disc to your hard drive, but all you can do is try out the copy disc function and see if it works as was suggested. Of course, if it's a commercially made DVD (purchased or rented), it likely has copy protection on it in which case no version of the software would be able to do what you want.

[747]

Thanks for the responses. Whether I go into audio, data, backup, or video sections, the option to make a copy says Record Now! Plus will make a temporary copy from the source disk, then ask for a blank or rewritable disk. There seems to be no option to keep the copy on your hard drive. Any ideas? Thank you.

[Brendon]

747,

 

There seems to be no option to keep the temporary copy on your hard drive. It is a .tmp file which is automatically deleted once it's written to disc, and I don't know whether it's in .ISO file format, .GI file format, or just some temporary format used only by RecordNow!

 

What form do you want it in on your HD?

 

My RN! is 7.3 Deluxe so you might not have this option, but the third item down in my Backup menu is "Save Image". This will save an unprotected DVD to either a standard .ISO or a Sonic .GI image on the HD. These images are useful for burning from, but you can't play a movie from them without virtual disc drive software.

 

The other form is a folder holding all the .VOB, .IFO, and .BUP files. You can play these from the hard drive with a software player. So long as it's an unprotected DVD, all you have to do is copy the contents of the VIDEO_TS folder on the DVD to a folder on the hard drive with Windows. No special software is needed.

 

Best regards,

Brendon

[cdanteek]

I don't advise on software I don't use, or things I haven't tried myself.

 

So long as it's an unprotected DVD, all you have to do is copy the contents of the VIDEO_TS folder on the DVD to a folder on the hard drive with Windows. No special software is needed.

 

Sound advice I would follow!!!

 

cd

[747]

747,

 

There seems to be no option to keep the temporary copy on your hard drive. It is a .tmp file which is automatically deleted once it's written to disc, and I don't know whether it's in .ISO file format, .GI file format, or just some temporary format used only by RecordNow!

 

What form do you want it in on your HD?

 

My RN! is 7.3 Deluxe so you might not have this option, but the third item down in my Backup menu is "Save Image". This will save an unprotected DVD to either a standard .ISO or a Sonic .GI image on the HD. These images are useful for burning from, but you can't play a movie from them without virtual disc drive software.

 

The other form is a folder holding all the .VOB, .IFO, and .BUP files. You can play these from the hard drive with a software player. So long as it's an unprotected DVD, all you have to do is copy the contents of the VIDEO_TS folder on the DVD to a folder on the hard drive with Windows. No special software is needed.

 

Best regards,

Brendon

 

 

OK, I copied the contents of the VIDEO_TS folder on the DVD to a folder on the hard drive. But now what? I can't seem to play it. I tried to open it in Google video player; this only shows gvi or gvp files. Then I tried Windows Media player. Oh my, what a piece of garbage, I can't even come close to figuring out how to find a file with it. Then I tried Quick Time player. I can set it for "all files" and all the files in the video t s folder are listed. But if i try to open one of them, it says quicktime does not know what type of file it is. So, can you explain where to click to watch the movie? Thank you.

[Brendon]

You'll need a software player which will play DVDs.

 

Windows Media Player will play a DVD from a hard drive folder. You navigate with Windows Explorer into the folder where you have the VOBs and IFOs. Select Video_ts.ifo, and right click on it. Then chose Open With, and select Windows Media Player.

 

CinePlayer is the DVD player which comes with Sonic and Roxio products, but there are many other players available too.

 

Regards,

Brendon

[747]

You'll need a software player which will play DVDs.

 

Windows Media Player will play a DVD from a hard drive folder. You navigate with Windows Explorer into the folder where you have the VOBs and IFOs. Select Video_ts.ifo, and right click on it. Then chose Open With, and select Windows Media Player.

 

CinePlayer is the DVD player which comes with Sonic and Roxio products, but there are many other players available too.

 

Regards,

Brendon

 

 

Brendon,

You're the best, thanks for the clear help. Although I don't know how to find Windows Explorer (you would think it would be an icon, or somehow easier to find), I just opened the folder in My Docs where I saved the folder, and followed your instructions.

I don't think I have Cineplayer, i used search and it found nothing. and i usually just put in the dvd and it starts playing by itself, i don't know how.

Thank you.

[Brendon]

You're welcome.

 

Windows Explorer is what you're running when you open My Computer, My Documents, and so on so you got there okay.

 

Try that thing with Explorer and right-clicking video_ts.ifo

If Windows Media Player won't play the DVD from the folder or it looks very different from whatever usually auto-plays your DVDs, have a look at the other "play with" options which are offered to you when you right-click on the IFO file. If you have other DVD-playing software installed, it should show up in that right-click menu.

 

Regards,

Brendon