Hello! Newbie here... and so the following "dumb question": Just acquired a Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV600 laptop which has InterVideo's WinDVD 5/WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum installed. Haven't used this yet and after browsing through threads here and reading of issues with these programs, I am wondering if I should even make the initial attempt. Has anyone has just uninstalled the whole kit and installed some other software (Nero/AnyDVD/etc.) instead and had success creating/burning/copying DVDs (as in, not had the 'puter/DVD writer haul off and flat quit on you because you weren't using the factory-installed software)? Or perhaps has anyone just installed other, more sound, programs next to the WinDVD ones and not had (potentially disastrous) conflicts crop up? Thanks much in advance for any assistance! (And apologies if this is in the wrong forum.)
Well, I personally have never used either one of them. The WinDVD 5 & Creator 2 are just software packages that you may want to remove, however, you may also keep it. Unless you are going to buy Nero, I would probably hang on to it. now AnyDVD is a fantastic purchase and works great with DVD Decrypter. WinDVD 5 may not give you the burn that you desire but there is another program that is free that you can find on Ad called ImgBurn. I could tell you what you need for burning movies without the purchase of Nero. What is your ultimate goal? In many cases I believe that Studio Suites take up too much room on the hard drive. I'm just waiting for Nero to add a word processor to their suite. Play with the WinDVD 5 to see if you like it, but I know you can get excellent quality backups by using several free programs, or a couple of good ones.
Thanks very much, syxguns. My goal at the moment would be downloading and burning for the obligatory "personal use" (there are some overseas programs that are just *not* going to get to the US airwaves within the forseeable future but they are tantalizingly available on line), eventually duping and/or reformatting discs I already have so that I can loan out NTSC copies of some PAL discs - nothing over-zealous at this point since I am in the learning stage. My thought is that it would probably be better to start with programs that have withstood the rigors of use rather than ones sounding problematic from the get-go and/or appearing to be not widely used (support/Q&A seem to be seriously lacking re WinDVD). I am open to suggestions of other good programs to use that would do converting, burning and copying. (Was reading some stuff on DVD Decrypter - is it even still available anywhere?)
You can still get DVD Decrypter. I would say that the best out of the burning suites is Nero. However, I use Nero 6 with the latest updates. I have heard that with Nero 7 there have been some problems. I also heard that DVD Decrypter was not supported by Nero 7. I know that you should stay away from Roxio and Sonic. These particular studios do not burn movies the way they should. Since you got the WnDVD with your system it would stand to reason that the software will probably not be effective also. You can download RipIt4Me, DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink, and Fix VTS from this site. http://www.ripit4me.org/ Here is a good guide to using free software by alkohol. http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/422740
