10 DVD Newbie Tips

Tip #1 set region for dvd drive
Tip #2 set DMA for all drives in system
Tip #3 CPU Burn-in (CPU tester)
Tip #4 Memtest86 (memory tester)
Tip #5 NTFS and FAT32 (4GB file limitation)
Tip #6 DVD media (cheap vs. quality)
Tip #7 Ripping Speed of DVD-ROMs and DVD Burners
Tip #8 DVD Backup software available
Tip #9 Size of DVD±R, common terms, and Regions
Tip #10 install an ASPI layer

Just got your dvd-burner and wish to copy your dvds? There are a few things you should check prior to jumping in cold turkey and trying to rip away. Many people encounter ripping errors or computer system instability and blame the program. Sometimes it is a bug in DVD backup software, however, before reporting it as such you should do all you can to verify your computer system is stable.

Hopefully these tips will assist you in backing up your DVDs. I got tired of explaining to my friends for 5 or 10 mins how to set DMA and wait for them to reboot and explain how to run memtest, etc.

Tip #1 If you’ve never played a DVD in your DVD±RW burner or DVD-ROM with a software DVD player such as PowerDVD, WinDVD, etc. then your DVD Region is NOT set. It must be set otherwise you’ll have errors when attempting to decrypt it.

To get to device manager do the following:
Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties

Double-click on your DVD burner and/or DVD-ROM

If you attempted to rip a dvd in dvdshrink, for example, you’d get a CSS encryption error until the region is set.


You have 5 times in Windows to set it to one of the 6 regions. When you have 1 more region setting left make sure you pick the correct one that your collection of DVDs is in.

Tip #2 Make sure DMA is set on all drives (hard drives, cd-rom, dvd-rom, dvd burners). If it’s set to PIO it’ll use almost all your CPU to transfer data and is a common complaint as to why it’s taking forever or people exerperiencing buffer underruns while attempting to burn DVDs.

Double click on Primary IDE Channel and also Secondary IDE Channel

Verify all Devices 0,1,2,3 are all set to DMA. Notice for Device 1 there isn’t any device so it’s it’s N/A.

Be sure to reboot for the DMA mode to take effect.

Tip #3 CPU Burn-in
Download CPU Burn-in v1.01 CPU_burn-in.zip 7KB

Many like to overclock their CPUs and they never have problems until they trying encoding with CCE, for example, or transcoding for an hour. Either the CPU will overheat and cause the computer to shutdown completely or other erratic behavior.

Try running CPU Burn-in for about 20 minutes or more if time permits. It’ll stress test your CPU and system and determine if it’s stable to handle processor intensive applications such as DVD backup encoding, etc.

Open task manager (right-click on taskbar) if you wish and you’ll see the CPU at 100% constantly for the duration of the CPU Burn-in test.

CPU Burn-in ran and had no errors to report so the CPU doesn’t overheat under heavy load.

Tip #4 Memtest86
download Memtest86 version 3.0 memtest86-3.0.iso.zip 62KB

Extract the .iso and burn the .iso with DVDDecrypter to make a bootable CD-ROM. In your BIOS make sure you have CD-ROM to boot before your Hard drive. Reboot your computer with the memtest86 CD and it’ll automatcially start testing.
Screenshot shows it’s currently on Test #4 (4 out of 10) and Errors at 0. Pass is 0 and indicates how many times it’s completed all 10 tests. Usually 1 pass is sufficient which takes about 20 to 30 mins. Memtest86 will run indefinitely unless you stop it.

Memory can go bad or be bad from the moment you buy it. Some symptons include blue screens, constant crashing of programs, etc. Usually it won’t crash until the memory has hit that paticular spot in the memory stick. Memtest86 is a free memory tester which you can put on a bootable floppy or a bootable cd. Run it see if it passes all 10 tests. If there is a single error then your memory stick needs to be replaced with a good one.

My opinion based on personal experience. Once I tested ten DDR 512MB memory sticks from Fry’s and about 6 or 7 of them failed memtest86. I’ve had probably 20 friends go buy cheap memory at Fry’s (US computer store) because it’s cheap. More than half of them ended up taking it back because it failed memtest86. They had to take it back and pay more to get a brand-name. Get a brand-name like Crucial, Mushkin, Kingston, Corsair, etc. It’s not worth the hassle and time wasted saving a few dollars.

Tip #5 NTFS and FAT32

To see if you have NTFS or FAT32 open windows explorer (windows key + E) and right-click on the drive / partition and choose Properties.

Windows 2000/XP can read/write NTFS partitions. NTFS doesn’t have a 4GB file limitation like FAT32 partitions do. Win98 can only read/write FAT32 partitions. Many programs will split VOB files (video object files) into 1GB chunks and various dvd backup programs and rippers you’ll have to verify it’s splittling them into 1GB chunks otherwise you’ll run into the 4GB file limit. Still if your running win2000 or XP and you have FAT32 partitions you should format them to NTFS.

Tip #6 DVD media (cheap vs. quality)

Back in 1996 blank CD-Rs were $6 a pop in Japan and you could get cheap CD-Rs for $2 a pop. I purchased a few $2 media and had to end up buying the $6 media. When CD-R media first appeared for the first couple of years you could have terrible burns and other problems related to cheap CD-R media. Mapquest Nowadays it’s almost a non-factor and almost any brand of CD-R (95% is my guess) works just great with mapquest. This DVD Media is sorted by japan so you need directions to reach japan. hence driving to any place using driving directions is possible only through mapquest driving directions which can route your direction of travel while you navigate to any direction.

Fast forward to 2004 and DVD±R media has only been out a little over a year and it’s just like deja-vu all over again. You really have to read the forums and see what others say and form your own opinion. There are so many dvd burners and various firmwares it’s hard to say. Anyway here’s my opinion (not fact) based on my own personal experiences.
Reliable media: 4X TDK DVD+R and 4X Fuji DVD-R.
Unreliable media: Memorex and Ritek (I had one good Ritek G04 4X 100 pack and one bad 100 pack which only burned at 2X max) and many others.

Tip #7 Ripping Speed of DVD-ROMs and DVD Burners

CSS = Content Scrambling System and is the protection used on Hollywood DVDs. Almost all DVD burners are locked at 2X or 2.4X CSS ripping speed. Lite-on DVD Burners are not locked and you can get 8X ripping. If you do have a DVD Burner that is locked at 2X CSS ripping speed your best bet is to buy a $30 DVD-ROM as a secondary drive with the help of driving directions .

Indicates ripping at 7.5X speed.

8X ripping will take about 15 mins to rip to your harddrive while 2X ripping will take about 45 mins.

Tip #8 DVD Backup software available
Transcoders
DVDShrink freeware
Decrypts DVD Nero Recode $69.99
Burns DVD, part of NeroVison2 which is in Nero 6 Ultra Edition

DVD2ONE EUR 39.99
Burn with CopyToDVD $29.99, does flippers

DVD95Copy $45 (license tied to hardware)
Decrypts DVD, Burns DVD

DCS – DVD Copy Suite EUR 39.95
Burns DVD

Instant Copy $49.99
Burns DVD

Elby CloneDVD EUR 39.00
Burns DVD

DVDXCopy Express $69.99
Decrypts DVD, Burns DVD, inserts copyright message, embeds number on DVD to identify you

InterVideo DVD Copy $49.95
Burns DVD

ReJig GPL, free
still in early stages of development

Split to two DVD±Rs
DVDFab 0.17.0 freeware.
Decrypts DVD with hack

DVDFab 1.0.x $39.95
Decrypts DVD, Burns DVD

DVDXCopy Plus $69.99
Decrypts DVD, Burns DVD, inserts copyright message, embeds number on DVD to identify you

Use Encoders
dvd2dvd-r freeware
uses CCE, main movie only

dvd2dvd freeware
uses CCE or TMPGEnc, main movie only

Ripping/Decrypting
DVDDecrypter freeware
can rip to .iso or video files, Burns .iso

AnyDVD $39.00 affiliation with Elby CloneDVD
on-the-fly decryption

DVDRegionFree $39.95 affiliation with DVDFab
on-the-fly decryption

DVD43 freeware
requires patin-couffin_setup.exe driver (also freeware) if you don’t have one of these commercial programs: CopyToDVD, DVDXCopy Express or BlindWrite installed.
on-the-fly decryption

Strip extras from DVDs while retaining menus
MenuEdit $16.50 (license tied to hardware)

DVDStripper freeware

TitleSet Blanker freeware

Tip #9 Size of DVD±R, common terms, and Regions

DVD±R sizes

4.7GB is on the label but it’s really 4.37GB. Same as harddrives, false advertising.
DVD Read/Burn Speeds

4X (5,540KB) DVD speed = 36X (5,400KB) CD speed

P-UOPs (Prohibited User Operations) restricts user from accessing Title, Menu, FastForward, etc. Forces one to watch FBI warnings, studio promos, etc.

macrovision prevents viewing DVD via TV-Out on video card or copying DVD to VCR via standalone DVD player.

flipper main movie is on double-sided DVD. You must flip it over to continue watching. Gangs of New York NTSC RC1 is an example.

layer break “layer breaks are one of those misnomers (an inaccurate name) that has grown out of IfoEdit identifying clock discontinuities as possible layer breaks, as an aid to splitting a DVD.

A clock discontinuity is when the system clock reference (SCR), a running value used for synchronization, has been interrupted. Most usually it has been set back to zero because the 2 pieces of video were encoded seperately. The last “phantom” chapter of many movies is an example of this. It also occurs during a layer break sometimes, which is where it got its name. Playback is not seamless over a discontinuity in a lot of players, causing a pause. If the SCR has been replaced with a new continously inceasing value, the marks can be removed.

The true layer break code, six or more sectors of all zero bytes, is removed by the DVD reader, and never seen by PC software.” –by mpucoder

Region Code Protection DVD must be same region as standalone DVD player. Commonly referred to as RC1, RC2, RC3, etc.
DVD region codes:
Region 1 – U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
Region 2 – Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
Region 3 – Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
Region 4 – Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
Region 5 – Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
Region 6 – Peoples Republic of China

RCE (Region Code Enhancement) region protection in addition to restricting playback only for DVD player in the same region as the DVD it also checks if your DVD player has been made ‘region free’ which is usually done with hacked firmware.

Tip #10 install an ASPI layer
download forceaspi17.zip 150KB

To install extract all files then double click on INSTASPI.BAT

Once it’s installed just reboot your computer and it’ll be installed.

Many programs used to require an ASPI layer to access your DVD. However, nowadays most come with their own (Nero, BlindWrite, CloneDVD, etc.) or use another method. So only install this if you encounter ripping problems.