Illegal...

[L.J.]

Funny, I dont even own a DVD burner. I'm sure they've come way down in price. Computers use to be my thing but it kinda fell off. I was a napster addict for quite awhile back in the day. Are there any decent sites out there for downloading free music?

I gave up on the music downloading because I kept running into songs that played for 5 seconds then the rest of the song was just loud snow. Got old quick so I started getting music the old fashion way. Going to the store for it.

[MCF]

is one or the other sufficient. Some posts refer to both and some refer to only DVD shrink. If I plan on getting a computer with two DVD drives, what software will I need to be able to burn most DVD's?

[JeffKnob]

is one or the other sufficient. Some posts refer to both and some refer to only DVD shrink. If I plan on getting a computer with two DVD drives, what software will I need to be able to burn most DVD's?

DVD shrink needs some part of Nero in order to do the burning of the DVDs as part of the process so they are both necessary. You actually will never need to run Nero. DVDshrink will use what it needs from Nero without you needing to do anything. 95% of DVDs will burn with the DVDshrink/Nero combo. DVD decryptor is only needed once in a while.

[EdwardGein]

I don't download music mainly because of all the adware/spyware crap on the programs which screw my computer up & since the old Napster closed down, most of the music I like you can't find on it (stuff like Robin Trower & Jack Bruce's BLT, prog rock groups like Rare Bird, etc.) I generally get stuff used if possible on Ebay & Amazon.com and unless I really love the album, resell it on those 2 places & burn myself a CDR.

In regards to Nero software, you need this software to burn a DVD (it will also make CDR's etc.). If you have a non encrypted DVD recording, you can use Nero and make a copy of that. However, if the DVD is encrypted you use DVD Shrink to decrypt it and Nero to burn the DVD- a 2 step process for which the DVD Shrink software integrates both functions using its own program and a burning program such as Nero which is amonst the most popular and reliable. Without a DVD burning program, like Nero, you can't burn a DVD. So yes you need both. I can't comment on the "trial version" but on Ebay you can buy a new external DVD recorder with free Nero software for between $85-$120 or maybe less from a regular vendor with an Ebay store. You can also probably buy the software on Ebay for a good price. I definately would recommend you having a hard CD Nero Software. Decryption programs like DVD Shrink download directly to your computer and aren't on discs.

I've only not been able to copy 2 DVD's on DVD Shrink. I don't know why. JeffKnob seems to be able to make copies alot faster than me. I have XP software & 120 gigs on my computer. As I said, the whole process for a regular movie including all the extras takes from the time I put the DVD in the computer till a clone is produced about 45-90 minutes for me, albeit I'm using 1X, 2.3X or 4.7 DVD+R/RW's, the slower the one the cheaper it is. I still can do other functions on my computer when its burning. the basic DVD process is: (After you set all the universal settings which is a time deal): 1. put the DVD in computer & open it with DVD Shrink. 2 DVD Shrink breaks everything down into files, 3. Check or uncheck different files (i.e. I take out French subtitles) & always click on the top movie title, 3. Press backup and name your DVD file, 4. put DVD+R in DVD burning slot, press OK. It will first encode which takes a while and then burn. Once you start doing this it gets really easy

[JeffKnob]

You can get a great LiteOn 16x internal drive which would be faster for about $47 including shipping at Newegg. It also includes Nero which you can also download on the internet from their website for FREE if you want to.

I use WinMX to download music. There is no spyware or adware and there is a ton of stuff out there. I have also heard Limewire is good but it took a lot out of my laptop when I installed it so I haven't used it much on my main computer.

[MomurdA]

I just got an NEC dual layer burner for 47 dollars shipped from newegg.com
havent tried a dvd burn yet, no discs. but cds take only 3 minutes!!!
i also got dvd shrink, decrypter, a couple weeks ago in anticipation of this buy.
Now i can back up all my music, and my movies that i bought(rented)

[EdwardGein]

I just got an NEC dual layer burner for 47 dollars shipped from newegg.com
havent tried a dvd burn yet, no discs. but cds take only 3 minutes!!!
i also got dvd shrink, decrypter, a couple weeks ago in anticipation of this buy.
Now i can back up all my music, and my movies that i bought(rented)

Yeah Nero does my CD's in 3-4 minutes. I tried WinMX but couldn't find anything I want (I'm more into 60/70's cult music & not into most current music).

I totally recommend you join Netflix as I've started a good music dvd library via them.

Also suggest you put your DVD Shrink settings on this board if you're having problems with anything. It took me a few weeks to perfect the process. Once you burn a decrypted DVD, you can use Nero and make clones of clones & skip the DVD Shrink process. I don't know much about decrypter but basically if I can't make a copy on DVD Shrink I either won't bother or buy the DVD for myself.

[Jim Clark]

Yeah Nero does my CD's in 3-4 minutes. I tried WinMX but couldn't find anything I want (I'm more into 60/70's cult music & not into most current music).

I totally recommend you join Netflix as I've started a good music library via them.

Also suggest you put your DVD Shrink settings on this board if you're having problems with anything. It took me a few weeks to perfect the process. Oncce you burn a decrypted DVD, you can use Nero and make clones of clones & skip the DVD Shrink process. I don't know much about decrypter bus basically if I can't make a copy on DVD Shrink I either won't bother or buy the DVD for myself.

I wish that in the future you would drop the word "clone" when discussing DVD Shrink. The name of the product alone ought to be enough for you to recognize that what you're getting is not a clone of the original product and to suggest otherwise would be inaccurate. Small matter perhaps but I think it's a valid point. For the record there exist many other tools to actually clone a DVD and a quick google search will usually identify some leading contenders fairly easily. Actually there are some pretty helpful sites dedicated to such programs.

jc

[nick4433]

Great, I know for sure that this friend of mine who works for the feds is reading all this. But just in case he doesn't here are the results of my backup DVDs.

I backup my very best movies on Dual Layer DVDs which I obtained for the price of $2.50 each. It was a one time sale at OfficeMax and I haven't seen them since. Anyway so I grabbed 20 and have used five of those until now.

The dual layer backups are as brilliant as the originals in terms of audio and video reproduction.
Single layer discs work great but it depends upon the orignal movie size also. If the original movie is more than 130 minutes then the picture starts breaking at times because it is severely compressed. Sound remains pretty faithful though.