Best Free DVD Ripping Program

by Mike 4 August 2008 12 Comments

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Rating: 3.0/5 (2 votes cast)

Or, if you want to be politically correct, call it best free DVD backup program Welcome to the Freeware Mission again, proceeding steadily towards my goal: a freeware only PC. I need a freeware program to backup some of the movies that I have on DVD to my hard disk. And maybe later make .avi files out of them for easier storage.

I guess you all know the famous and infamous freeware program called DVD Decrypter. Their website was shut down and the development of the program stopped a while ago. The last release was version 3.5 and it still is a pretty good freeware program even today (it was released in 2005 if I remember correctly). I used it for a long time and maybe I’ll continue to use it.

Another option is DVD Shrink, a very good piece of freeware too, that has the ability to automatically compress your DVD to fit your needs. Unfortunately the development seems to have stopped for this one too. I even read that there are some people selling copies of DVD Shrink! Don’t buy it, DVD Shrink is free!

I have both programs installed and I still can’t decide… Should I keep only one of them or both? I find DVD Shrink maybe a little less difficult to use and more suitable for doing a backup job quickly. So I guess I’ll keep DVD Shrink.

You can download the latest version of DVD Shrink from here. Remember, it’s free!

Keep following the Freeware Mission, some great freeware programs coming up!
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12 Comments »

map51 said:

Hi Johnny, I am trying to emulate you and function with freeware only programmes and am trying to load those you have recommended. With DVD Shrink I keep getting a message following download that the zip file is corrupt. I have been trying to download from Softpedia Secure Download US. Cheers.

# 19 August 2008 at 3:59 am

Johnny Karp said:

@map51
Hey. I’ve tested the download from Softpedia again, seems to be working fine for me. Which program do you use for extracting the file from the zip archive? Maybe you should try downloading again… If it still doesn’t work send me an e-mail and I’ll try to send you the installer via e-mail or something. Keep in touch.

# 19 August 2008 at 7:55 am

Fritura said:

Well I’m using both apps and they are pretty nice.
But since they quit developing DVD Decrypter I’ve noticed it can’t handle the protected DVDs of today.
So I’m looking for a ripping program which take care of CPRx, CSS and ARccOS protected DVD.
Are you able to find that for me Johnny? Like you’re site very much btw.

# 19 October 2008 at 9:53 am

Johnny Karp said:

@Fritura
Unfortunately I don’t know any such program, but I’ll keep looking. Maybe someone will pick up DVD Decrypter and bring some life into it. Until then…

# 19 October 2008 at 11:08 am

Fritura said:

Well Johnny after some research I found 3 proggies.
1) DVDFab HD Decrypter 5.1.0.0
2) DVDSmith Movie Backup 1.0.2
3) DVD43 v4.3.1.0

Awesome apps at first sight.
Now I have to test the one who fit my needs. I’ll let you know which one is the best!
MY first impression is DVDFab.

# 19 October 2008 at 12:28 pm

Fritura said:

Johhny I’ve got I nice addition to DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink as well.

This app is called “RipIt4Me”.

It uses DVD Decrypter but is has an own interface. It removes almost all protections of copy protected DVDs.
Try it and let me know whats your opinion.

# 19 October 2008 at 1:02 pm

Johnny Karp said:

@Fritura
Thanks so much for the info! About DVD Fab, if I remember correctly I tested it once and was largely disappointed because the free version has some essential features crippled, you have to buy a full version to use them. Or maybe I’m wrong.

# 20 October 2008 at 1:00 am

Marco said:

How about DVD43 to decrypt and Handbrake to recompress.

# 1 January 2009 at 10:47 am

Johnny Karp said:

@Marco
As far as I know Handbrake is a Mac OS X program, and I have only a PC. So I’m testing mainly PC Windows programs for now.

# 1 January 2009 at 1:55 pm

Deepak said:

Handbrake is a cross platform software now, i install it on window xp sp3. you need .net framework 2.0 to install it.

# 10 January 2009 at 11:10 am

Johnny Karp said:

@Deepak
Wow, that’s kinda cool. I used it on a friend’s Mac and I liked it. I can’t wait to test the PC version.

# 10 January 2009 at 3:52 pm

Bilgisayarınız İçin 72 Ücretsiz Yazılım | catlakses.com said:

[...] geri döndürebilirsiniz. Alternatifler: – Acronis True Image EN İYİ BEDAVA DVD RIPPING PROGRAM DVD Shrink – Tam bir klasik ve çoğu insan tarafından biliniyor. DVD video’larınızın yedeğini almak [...]

# 23 January 2009 at 10:15 pm