How to Clone DVD Software

By creating an ISO disk image, you can copy a DVD, bit by bit, onto your hard drive as a backup. The advantage of this is that you can circumvent any copy protection software by creating an identical clone of the DVD data. You can later burn this cloned, ISO disk image to create an identical copy of the original DVD. While there are many commercial software solutions for accomplishing this task, there are several free and open-source options available with just as much functionality.

Instructions

DVDShrink

1. Download and install DVDShrink from the developer's website (see Resources). Launch the DVDShrink application from your "Programs" menu once the installation is complete.

2. Open the "Preferences" dialog to configure DVDShrink. Set the "Target DVD size" to "DVD-5" using the drop-down menu. Click the "Output Files" tab and tick the "Remove macrovision protection," "Remove P-UOPs (Prohibited User Operations)," "Remove layer break," and "Split VOB files into 1GB size chunks (recommended)" options. Exit the "Preferences" dialog.

3. Click the "Open Disk" button and select your DVD drive from the drop-down list. Click "Ok" and wait while DVDShrink analyzes your DVD. Click the "Backup!" button to move to the encoding screen.

4. Select "ISO Image File" from the drop-down box labeled "Select backup target," then enter the name of the folder to which you want to save your ISO image. Click the "DVD Region" tab and tick the "Region Free" option to allow your DVD to be played on any kind of DVD player.

5. Click "Ok" to begin the encoding process. Once the image has been created, click "Ok" again to complete your operation in DVDShrink.

DoISO

1. Download and install DoISO from the developer's website (see Resources). Launch the DoISO application from your "Programs" menu once the installation is complete.

2. Click the "..." button under the "Create ISO" tab and select your DVD drive from the drive list. Tick the "DVD Video Filesystem" check-box.

3. Click the "Start" button to create your ISO disk image from the DVD.

DVD Decrypter

1. Download and install DVD Decrypter from the developer's website (see Resources). Launch the DVD Decrypter application from your "Programs" menu once the installation is complete.

2. Select your DVD drive from the drop-down list labeled "Source" and click the folder icon under "Destination" to select where you will want to save your ISO image.

3. Click "File," then "Mode," "ISO" and finally "READ" (or simply press "R") to copy your DVD to an ISO disk image.

Tips & Warnings

• ISO files cannot be mounted, by default, on a Microsoft Windows system. You will need to download third-party software if you wish to watch your DVDs, on your computer, from their ISO disk images.

• Only rip DVDs that you own and have the legal rights to copy.

References

• Doom9: DVDShrink First Time
• Doom9: DVDShrink
• Doom9: DVDShrink Encoding

Resources

• DVDShrink
• Ebswift: DoISO
• MrBass.org: DVD Decrypter