How to create a backup of a DVD with DVDShrink

Introduction

The popularity and the functionality of the DVD are undeniable. They have a considerable capacity of storage, and offer a highest quality of sound and image. This fact causes that nowadays many people have their own films collection, which unlike videotapes, discs DVD occupies little physical space, offers better definition and the greater life utility.

Nevertheless, the DVD has a disadvantage: they get scratched with facility. It is necessary to be very careful when manipulating and when cleaning them, in order to prevent de damaged. Therefore, is an excellent idea to make backups of your more appreciated films.

The first step to create a backup of a DVD, is to generate an image of its content. This will later allow you to record it in a Blank DVD (and to use this "alternative" copy, while the original one is protected in its box) or to store it in a disc and to reserve it, just in case.

Between the numerous applications that allow creating the image of a DVD, it is DVDShrink. This is a for free program, that offers two options according to the content of a disc: to save the different objects in the DVD like "loose" archives contains directly or to generate a single image ISO. In both cases, the copy can be kept in the hard disc, later can be record it ("to burn it") in a Blank DVD with your favourite application (Nero, ImgBurn, etc.).

Let see the steps we must to follow to create ISO image of a DVD disc with this powerful application.

Instructions

1. First of all, it will be necessary to have installed the DVDShrink in your computer. If you have not already down load it, you can do it for free getting in our web site. The installation is simple and fast and does not present any difficulty.
2. If you have already installed the program, then you must introduce the disc which you want to copy in your DVD reader, and then execute DVDShrink.

Press the Open Disc button in the bar of tools of the main Window (To open disc).

1. It will appear a window where you will have to select the device of DVD reading where you have put the film.

In the pull-down menu all the units available would be shown. Selects the suitable option and later presses OK.

4. It will appear a window where the process of analysis of the film will be show. Next you will see the window that shows the process of analysis of the film. This will take more or less delay time, according to the size of the origin files.

5. If the analysis finalizes successful, will appear the DVDShrink main window again, showing the data of the film that you want to copy.

Each section of the window contains different types of information:

• The bar, underneath the tools, shows the size of the archives contained in the DVD.

If it appears some red sector, it indicates that the project is too big and it will not enter a DVD R disc.

• The disc structure presents the content of the DVD, organized in folders according to the type of the files.
• In the configuration section is seen the detail of compression of the archives contained in the folder selected in the panel of the right is seen. Here you can mark the archives of audio, subtitles, etc. that you wish to include, and clear the mark of the ones that you are not interest on keeping.
• The previous allows to pre visualize the element selected in the structure panel.

6. After making the configuration of the elements that you want to keep, press the Backup button! of the tools bar, in order to begin the process of creation of the image.

7. It will appear a new window, where you will have to establish some additional parameters. For the purpose of this manual, we are only interest in the Target Device tab (Destiny of the copy):

In Select backup target, selects what kind of copy you want to create.

In this example, we are going to generate an image ISO, so we choose the ISO Image File option.

In Select target image file, introduces the route of destiny and the name of the copy. Press the Browse buttons (To examine) in order to select a already existing folder.

The rest of the tabs allow you to set up more advanced parameters, but with the predefined values usually they are adapted to most of the cases, so we will not modify them.

Then press Accept button to continue.

8. It will appear a window that shows the codification process of the film. In Time remaining (remaining Time) you will have an approach of the time that will take to finalizes.

9. When DVDShrink finishes successfully creating the image, then it will appear a message informing that the copy is ready.

In the future, you can use the recording program you prefer to copy the image in a DVD R, and see the film in your reproducer of table.

Summary

This is the synthesis of the steps to follow to create a backup of a DVD:

1. Introduce the disc which you want to copy in the DVD reader, and executes DVDShrink.
2. Press the Open Disc in the bar of tools of the main window (To open disc).
3. Press the Backup button of the tool bar ones the analysis of the film finalizes.
4. In the Target Device tab (Destiny of the copy) set up the information of destiny of the image that will be created, and presses Accept button.
5. Ones the DVDShrink finish to create the image, it will appear an informative dialogue window. You already can record the image generated in a Blank DVD, using your preferred program to make the copy.