Quick Question about a 1993-95 DVD-set and transferral to PC

[BonzaiDuck]

I haven't kept up with the larcenous habits we practiced in the early days of micro-computing, when you could buy or obtain a program that would duplicate a Lotus 1-2-3 program disk. If I ever copied software, it was for training -- not personal gain.

I think the media-Nazis began encrypting DVDs and other media after 2000. I'd purchased the VCR tape of "Red Violin," which -- for its encryption -- was difficult to put on my hard disk.

Feeling in the mood and with $5 to spend on an old movie, I picked up Ted Turner's "Gettysburg" at Best Buy. This thing is a two-disc set. It's not a single file as we find with DVR recordings. there are folders. At least I can read the file names -- so numerous.

Call me a retard, but should I just copy the files to my hard disk? How can I get this movie on my HTPC and make it easier to watch the scene where the Union troops yell "Give 'em the double canister, boys!"?

 

[jkauff]

It's not that hard to defeat the copy protection on older DVDs, and there are several programs out there that will do the job (free and otherwise). My personal preference is to combine the various DVD VOB files of the movie into an MKV container file. MakeMKV is an excellent free program for doing just that. It will bypass just about any DVD encryption scheme.

Since your movie is spread across two discs, get a copy of MKVToolnix as well, a free re-muxing program that can append the second disc .mkv file to the end of the first disc file so you end up with a single file for the whole movie.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'll do that -- time permitting.

The movie had been released in 1993, I think. I didn't see a date on the cover jacket later than 1995. Are you sure this is encrypted content? I'm going to another IE tab now to hunt down those programs . . .

 

[Chapbass]

If you're using MakeMKV, I wouldn't worry about any of that, Bonzai. MakeMKV will make short work of it, no sweat.