How to back up a DVD movie to my hard drive

Updated: 12/30/2019 by Computer Hope
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Several free and commercial programs that allows users to copy the contents of a DVD (digital versatile disc) to their hard drive. For this page we're recommending ImgBurn, from the same people who brought you DVD Decrypter. ImgBurn is an excellent, easy to use, and free program designed for this need. Below are the steps required for creating a DVD using this program.

Disclaimer

This page only contains information about creating a backup of DVDs that do not contain Copyright protection. Because of laws that prohibit users from bypassing, modifying, or otherwise circumventing Copyright protection we're unable to list the steps to bypass any protection scheme.

ISO Image or Exact copy

Below are the steps required for creating an ISO of the DVD. An ISO image is a single file containing an exact copy of the DVD.

  1. Download and install ImgBurn. This program is available through their homepage.
  2. Open ImgBurn.
  3. Point the Source to the drive containing the DVD you want to backup.
  4. To specify a Destination to where to save the file, click the folder icon to specify the destination. By default, the .ISO image will be stored in the root directory on the C:\ drive. Realize that this file can be around four to eight gigabytes. The size of the file is depends on the length of the movie and how it was compressed.
  5. Click Mode at the top of the window and click Read.
  6. Click the Read button (DVD pointing to a file with a DVD in it) and start the record process.

If you receive an error, such as unable to read sectors, it's likely the movie contains a DVD Copyright protection scheme that the program cannot remove.