I have always preferred and used DVD Shrink software to… shrink my DVD movies to blank DVDs you can purchase in most entertainment stores. DVD Shrink is FREE though a donation will ensure this software will continue to be supported and offered to many for free… so if you can well afford a donation, I recommend you do so. Details are at the official DVD Shrink website: http://dvdshrink.org/much_en.php

For burning the compressed version of my DVD movie from my hard drive, I use DVD Decrypter which is also free software.  The only time I have actually used DVD Decrypter to copy a movie TO my hard drive was when there was a problem with the disc itself. So far I’ve been luck and have had only one bad or damaged disk. Once this was done, I had to use DVD Shrink to compress the movie so it would fit on today’s blank DVDs.

Just so you know… I have setup my software so that DVD Shrink is used to shrink and copy to an external hard drive, and DVD Decrypter is used to burn the ISO file to a blank DVD. This is not set in stone, so should you discover a better way, feel free to do so. Am only stating this for those who would like to know how I, personally, do this. I prefer to use an external hard drive because the ISO files are so very large… and I do NOT want my C drive bogged down because I forgot to delete the ISO file after burning a movie to a blank DVD.

In the past, every so often these softwares became unavailable… so I would recommend you keep your copies that you downloaded hand, should you need to reinstall either of them, at a future date.

TIP: Oh… and twice in the past now, patches Microsoft® pushed to my computer’s operating system have caused both of these software to no longer function properly. A simple reinstall fixed the issues BOTH times.

As for which blank DVDs are best to buy and use, rather than go into details of what I have learned regarding many name brands, I will simply tell you that I purchase no others than FujiFilm, Imation, Sony and Maxwell blank DVDs. All others have cost me dearly in waste AND lost data! So, be aware… even some well known name brands are selling junk!

Here are some VERY helpful How-to guides for both software:
   Tutorial DVD Shrink ( PDF file size 105 KB)
   Tutorial for DVD Decrypter ( PDF file size 402 KB)

If you are NOT confident enough with your ability in setting up either one or both software by yourself then you may want to watch the video below, FIRST.

Windows 7 and Vista users NEED to watch this video BEFORE installing and using either software, so you are fully aware of the error message you will receive… preventing that panic feeling ;-)


 

Here’s where you can Download Complete Movies Legally, shrink, copy to blank DVDs…  and $AVE!

For the DVD movies I want to save forever, I make copies to use on a regular basis. For those with copy protection on them, I use AnyDVD which is THE best for making it so… I can copy my own movies to save my original diisc from every day wear ‘n tear.