How to Rip DVD to Hard Drive (2023 Ultimate Ways)

Karen Nelson
21/06/2023

BD-DVD Ripper

Nowadays, copying DVD to hard drive such as HDD or SSD is taking the lead rather than bringing a pile of DVD discs. This is a more portable way to bring all your favorite movies along with you and enjoy flexible playback anywhere without a DVD drive. However, many people have no idea how to rip DVD to hard drives on the computer. Actually, that cannot be easier if you catch the ideas here. Now, get your best pick from the 5 methods below.

How to Rip a DVD to Hard Drive in DRM-Free Formats

VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper is fully-fledged software that makes it as easy as falling off a log to rip DVD to hard drive in 300+ digital formats like MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, etc. Better yet, it can strip off DRM protection mechanisms like APS, CSS, ARccOS, CPRM, AACS, BD+, Cinavia, and region codes. Therefore, you can enjoy DRM-free playback anywhere, for instance, upload DVD to YouTube.

More Sparkling Features

Various Outputs - Rip DVDs and Blu-ray to digital formats, DVD folders, and ISO files.
Best DVD Quality - Ensure up to the lossless quality of 1080p and 4K at a 1:1 ratio.
All Content Included - Keep all chapters, audio tracks, and subtitles for original playback.
Ultra-Fast Ripping - Speed up the whole process up to 6X faster and takes no time to rip DVDs.
Preset Templates - Provide templates for all types of digital formats, devices, and platforms.
In-Built Video Editor - Allow you to cut, crop, merge, adjust effect, add filters, and add watermark.

Best for copying DVD to hard drives with DRM protection or digitizing DVDs to video formats.

Now, you may learn your way around VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper on how to rip DVD to hard drive in a few steps. Or, you may want to scroll down and watch the video tutorial.

Step 1. Insert a DVD Disc and Hard Drive

To use a DVD ripper tool, you need to insert your DVD into your computer DVD drive that can read DVD discs. Please get an external DVD drive if your computer does not own the built-in drive. Also, you should connect your hard drive to the computer.

Step 2. Open VideoByte DVD Ripper and Import DVD

Download and install the DVD ripper and open it. Now find the "Load DVD" button to import your DVD content. It will take a few minutes to finish the loading process.

Step 3. Select Your Desired Format for Ripping DVD

Click the drop-down icon on the output format section. To play DVD to your computer hard drive, you need to select a format that compatible with your media player.

Tips: To copy DVD to another hard drive or other devices, you can select the most popular format - MP4, as this format can be compatible with almost all devices.

Step 4. Start Ripping DVD to Hard Drive

Change the output folder at the left corner to the directory folder of your hard drive. After that, click the "Rip All" button to start copying DVD to hard drive.

A Tutorial Video on How to Rip DVD to Hard Drive in Digital Formats

How to Copy DVDs to Hard Drive with Lossless Quality

VideoByte DVD Copy is the optimal software when it comes to copying DVDs to hard drives. This intuitive program lets you make an entire copy of a DVD to the Video_TS folder or ISO image file, and then you transfer them to HHD or SSD as backups. Also, it'll keep the menu along with subtitles and audio tracks for the same experience. Better yet, its free edition allows you to copy 3 DVDs for free in 15 days.

More Sparkling Features

DVD to DVD Clone - Directly copy DVD movies to another blank disc with original quality.
DVD Decryption - Remove DRM protections like APS, CSS, ARccOS, CPRM, and region codes.
3 Different Copy Modes - Copy all DVD movies or selected ones with preferred tracks and subtitles.
Ease of Use - Require no burning knowledge and is foolproof to get down to the copy software.
Fast as Flash - Set up 2X or max writing speed to save you a lot of time in copying DVD movies.

Best for burning DVDs to another disc or copying DVDs to flash drive with default menu.

To keep the best of the DVDs, VideoByte DVD Copy is totally worth a shot. Now, let's see how to copy DVDs to hard drive with it below followed by a video tutorial.

Step 1. Load DVD Source

Download and Install VideoByte DVD Copy on your PC and then launch it. Insert the DVD disc and then click "File" > "Select Source" to import your DVD.

Step 2. Choose DVD Copy Mode

VideoByte DVD Copy provides three copy modes including "Full Copy", "Main Movie" and "Customize". You can choose the proper one based on your needs.

Full copy: Make an entire copy of the DVD including everything.
Main Movie: Clone the main movie without unnecessary clips.
Customize: Choose preferred chapters and titles to copy.

Step 3. Copy DVDs to Hard Drive

In the drop-down list of Target, choose "Save as DVD Folder" or "Save as ISO" and set the destination to the flash drive which you inserted into the computer. Then tap "Start" to begin the copying process.

See Full Steps on How to Copy DVD to Hard Drive

How to Record DVD to Hard Drive for Digital Backup

In some cases, you may want to record clips from DVD and save DVD to hard drive. Then, VideoSolo Screen Recorder is a nice choice to take into consideration. Because of DRM protections, regular video recorders will get a black screen in return. With advanced recording technology, VideoSolo can record your movies from DVD to MP4, MOV, F4V, WebM, etc with up to lossless quality.

More Features

Exclude other windows to avoid unexpected interruptions.
Save DVD clips with 1080p and 4K resolutions at up to 60fps.
Offer 20+ recording modes to cater to all kinds of scenarios.
Add real-time annotations during the video recording.
Set a schedule for the automatic recording process.

Best for recording clips of DVD movies to HD MP4.

Now, let's grasp the idea of how to record DVD to hard drive with VideoSolo Screen Recorder in a few steps.

Step 1. Download and Launch VideoSolo Screen Recorder

Connect your DVD and hard drive to your computer. Next, download and launch VideoSolo Screen Recorder. Now, choose "Video Recorder" to proceed.

Step 2. Open Your DVD for Recording

Select the recording area and customize the settings. Then, start playing the movies on your DVD.

Step 3. Start Recording and Save the Recorded DVD Movie

Click the "REC" button to start recording, and when it ends you can preview the content and save DVD to hard drive.

How to Copy DVDs to Hard Drive for Free (2 Options)

Apart from the methods above, there are some of the best free DVD rippers that enable you to copy DVD movies to hard drive free of charge, among which VLC media player and HandBrake are standing out. Now, let's walk through them in this part.

Option 1. Rip DVDs to Hard Drive with VLC

VLC media player is an open-source and multi-functional player, which also can convert DVD to digital formats like MP4, WMV, MKV, etc. The video quality can also be set as same as the source DVD movies. However, there is a reminder that you cannot use it to rip protected DVDs. Meanwhile, it's unable to save the menu, subtitles, and audio tracks.

More Features

Free to rip homemade DVDs.
Keep the original quality of DVD movies.

Best for converting only one or two DRM-free DVDs.

Let's now see how to rip DVDs with VLC to hard drive step by step. It may be a bit cumbersome for new beginners to get started.

Step 1. Insert your DVD and hard drive into your Windows and Mac.

Step 2. After your download and install the VLC media player, launch it on the desktop.

Step 3. Go to "Media" > "Convert/Save" > "Disc" and select "DVD". Then, click "Browse" to load your DVD.

Step 4. Click the Drop-down menu below and choose "Convert". Next, go to the "Edit" icon and set up parameters like output format, video codec, quality, frame rate, and so on.

Step 5. Choose the flash drive as the destination and click "Start" to rip DVD to hard drive.

Option 2. Rip DVDs to Hard Drive with HandBrake

HandBrake is also a noted video transcoder that also lets you convert DVDs to hard drive in MP4, MKV, WebM, etc for free. Moreover, it provides tens of preset profiles for devices and social platforms that make a quick ripping. However, you should be aware that it cannot rip DVDs to ISO files or DVD folders. Also, it doesn't support DVDs with DRM protection.

More Features

Free to rip DRM-free DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
Offer a range of presets for instant ripping.
Allow to choose preferred titles, tracks, and subtitles.

Best for ripping DRM-free DVDs for free.

Now, you may want to see how HandBraker works. The following tutorial will show you an overview idea.

Step 1. Download and install HandBrake from its official site. Then, run the program on your computer.

Step 2. Insert the DVD and choose it on the left to load it in HandBrake.

Step 3. After that, choose titles, chapters, subtitles, and audio tracks to keep. Also, select a preset or output format.

Step 4. Connect your hard drive to the computer and select it as the destination.

Step 5. When you're all ready, click the "Start Encode" button to rip DVDs to hard drive.

Comparison Between 5 DVD to Hard Drive Methods

So far we’ve introduced 5 methods to copy DVD to hard drive to you. To help you conclude their features and quickly find the most suitable one, we’d like to show you a table to make a comparison.

	Video Quality	Protected DVDs	Ripping Rate	DVD Menu	Titles/Tracks Selection
VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper	Up to lossless	√	5X	×	×
VideoByte DVD Copy	Up to lossless	√	2X and above	√	√
VideoSolo Screen Recorder	Up to lossless	√	1X	×	×
VLC Media Player	HD	×	1X	×	×
HandBrake	HD	×	1X	×	√

FAQs of Ripping DVD to Hard Drive

There are 3 frequently asked questions about copying DVD to hard drive, and you may want to look them up if you still have questiosn in mind.

1. How to copy DVD to external hard drive to watch on TV?

You can use VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper to copy your DVD to the external hard drive for TV playing by following the steps:

Step 1. Download and install VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper on your computer.

Step 2. Insert the DVD you want to copy into your computer's DVD drive or an external DVD drive connected to your computer. Connect the hard drive that is to store your DVD content to the computer.

Step 3. Open VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper and click the "Load DVD" button to import your DVD content.

Step 4. Select the format that your TV supports and choose it as the output format, and select the hard drive to be the output destination.

Step 5. Click “Rip All” and wait for ripping completed. Then, you can watch the DVD movie stored on the hard drive on TV.

2. What is the fastest way to copy DVD to hard drive?

As we’ve mentioned above, VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper allows you to copy DVD to hard drive fast. Therefore, if you want to find the fastest way to rip DVD to hard drive, don’t miss VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper.

Besides, your network condition and the size of the DVD content to rip also influence the ripping speed.

3. What is the best format to rip DVD to hard drive?

It varies to your certain needs. Generally, MP4 is one of the most commonly used formats that can be played on multiple devices like computers, phones or TVs. Therefore, to watch your DVD movies conveniently, MP4 is a good choice. If you just want to back up your DVD content, ISO file is available.

4. Is it Possible to Copy DVD to Hard Drive Directly?

Maybe you have already known that the whole Video TS folder on DVD can be directly copied to the hard drive. However, when you double-click to play one of the VOB files in the DVD Video_TS folder, you may find the video playback is completely abnormal, just like this:

Generally, there are two types of DVD discs: commercial DVD discs and homemade DVD discs. There are many kinds of DRM copy protection in the commercial DVD disc, like content scrambling system (CSS), region code (RC), region code enhanced (RCE), user operation prohibition (UOPs), analog protection system (APS), etc. If you directly play the VOB files of a commercial DVD, the DRM protection was not removed. Therefore, the playback on your computer hard drive was pixelated.

As for the homemade DVD, you can copy its content to hard drive directly, and play the DVD video normally with some media players on the computer. However, there is a serious issue: almost no other devices, such as mobile phones and TV, support VOB.

To make DVD playable on your personal or portable devices, the best way is to rip DVD to hard drive, so you can not only play the DVD on a computer, save lots of computer capacity, but also easily transmit the converted DVD movie to multiple devices. In order to rip the copy-protected DVD disc, we must get help from a professional DVD ripper.

Conclusion

VLC and HandBrake are freeware to rip DVDs to hard drive. However, they cannot keep the best quality of DVD movies and fail to rip protected DVDs. If you have some DRM-restricted DVDs and want to copy them to hard drive, VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper and VideoByte DVD Copy will ensure lossless ripping for the best playback experience.