Whether you want to back up your DVD collection or you prefer to watch DVDs on your computer, an external hard drive is useful for transferring and storing your movies. In contrast to flash drives and SD cards, external hard drives can hold as much as one terabyte. Not only does this allow you to store multiple movies, but you can transfer software programs as well.
Ripping the DVD
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Step 1
Download a DVD ripping program. One site in particular is DVDFab (See References.) Click "Download" under "DVDFab HD Decrypter" to download the software. This enables you to convert the DVD to a file, which is transferred to your external hard drive.
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Step 2
Open the program and click "Start DVDFab." Click the "DVD to DVD" button on the upper left side of the program and select "To AVI."
Step 3
Insert the DVD and click "Start" to begin the converting. Depending on the length of the movie, this process can take 30 minutes or more. Click "Finish" upon completion of the conversion.
Transferring to an External Hard Drive
Step 1
Connect the external hard drive. Plug the power cord into an outlet and connect the USB cable to an available port.
Step 2
Locate the ripped DVD file. Go to "My Documents," "DVDFab" and "AVI" and open the movie folder.
Step 3
Transfer the movie. Right-click on the AVI file and highlight "Send to." Select the name of the external hard drive.