This is a really stupid question and I will also admit that there are no stupid questions only ignorant people. What do I need in order to make a copy of my dvd? I just purchased an 8x DVD+_R/RW burner. So I am ready to burn, but do I also need an extra regular DVD drive to read the original? You need to have 1 CD drive to read and 1 CD burner to make an duplicate of a CD, but is this the case for DVD as well? Okay, I feel truely stupid now. Burning CD's are so much easier... By the way, I plan to use DVD XCopy by Studio 321. Thank a lot!
Peolple have 2 dvd drives, typically because 1-They all ready had the rom drive 2-It can help to minimize wear and tear on your burner drive by reading the dvd 3-Increased rip speeds using a rom drive 4-Ability to copy on the fly (I dont recommend this)
Praetor is correct regarding point 3. However,IMHO, it is still better to look at point 2 and not use your burner to read. Have you hugged your burner today? ROFL
Hi burnplus, Here are a couple of things to consider. First, read some of the guides off the guide tab for using DVDshrink and DVD Decrypter. Stay away from X copy software if you haven't already purchased it. The new versions don't have a decrypter included. You will need to download DVDshrink and Decrypter off this site (both free). Read the guides carefully and then you should be ready to try a backup. Good luck. I should add to use a DVD-RW for first attempts to save some money on wasted blank media until you get the process right. Jerry
Thanks a lot everyone! I guess I will get a 16X DVD-ROM drive to do the reading. This turned out to be a bigger project than the one I had in mind. I will replace all of my previous drives (CD 52x, CD-RW 48x) with DVD drives. I read dRD's FAQ and it was helpful but I guess my questions were just common sense even to newbies. I have never copied CD's with just a R/RW burner, I guess I enjoy burning "on the fly." I guess DVD duplication is recommended to first make an image and then burn the image to dvd-r. Sorry you have to put up with a dummy, but if you guys would, please answer a few more stupid questions. So CSS is what's preventing direct copy of DVD's less than 4.36 GB. But what if I want to make a copy of a DVD I created (i.e. home videos uploaded from camcorder and burned on dvd-r). Does it have CSS on it? Thanks to GBW for the RW tip, I am sure I would' ve had a lot of coasters had I used dvd-r with 0 experience. I read a few posts and realized that the quality of the media has a lot to do with burn success. I was going to buy some really cheap dvd-r's ($19 Canadian for 50, 4x)but when I realized that there were no labels I turned away. What is a reasonable price for good dvd-r's? When you get coasters, do you first blame the media, then the burner, and last on your computer/software? How does it work? I have never been able to burn CD's at the max speed of 48x. Even if I set the speed to 48x, the actual speed turns out to be around 13-14x, with virus protection and other programs turned off. Do I need a bigger RAM (256RAM currently with celeron 2.4GHz)? If I copy DVD (first to image, then image to dvd-r) with a 8x/4x/12x DVD+RW, 8x/4x/12x DVD-RW, 40x/24x/40x CD-RW, how long will it take? Will it take hours? Once again, thank you!
Just that 1 dvd is fine! Dump to the HD then burn back to dvd-r. No extra needed. DVD-X-Copy sucks big time! Usually it puts an extra warning on the dvd etc. Use DVDShrink it does the same job plus = FREE Otherwise DVDFab is pretty good too. I go with Generic Quality Sonic, but used Ritek & Prino in the past with great results! Blame the media or your DVDRecorder not being compatible with the media. I use Sonic DVD-R at $0.30 per. Which work fine on most Pioneer DVRs, other burner may not. More ram may help, but ur fine. Can take 30min-60mins depending on media write speed etc.
This site is awesome in terms of help and support! The DVD burner I have is Optorite DD0405 DVD±RW Writer the demensions are Height: 1.67 in Width: 5.85 in Depth: 7.65 in Interface: IDE (ATA/EIDE/ATAPI) I was searching on line and found out that an easier way to enjoy a new internal drive is to make it external with an enclosure. The USB 2.0 external enclosures all say something like 3.5"/5.25". The 3.5" is for hard drive, but it's the 5.25" I am worried. Will the Optorite burner above fit inside the thing? Plus I have a backpack CD-R/RW burner (I will check the brand and model when I get back home) that connects to PC through the printer port. Can I convert it to work with the DVD-R/RW? I was thinking about openning it and replacing the CD burner with the DVD burner, will that work, or is the connection (printer port) too slow.
