How to Rip DVD to Hard Drive for PC & Mac (5 Best Ways)
- Karen Nelson
- 24/01/2024
BD-DVD Ripper
More and more people tend to rip DVD to hard drive such as HDD or SSD is taking the lead rather than bringing a pile of DVD discs. It's a more portable way to bring all your favorite movies along with you and enjoy flexible playback anywhere without a DVD drive. However, some of you may have no idea how to copy DVD to hard drive 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 DVD to Hard Drive in Digital Formats
Best for copying DVD to hard drives with DRM protection or digitizing DVDs to video formats.
VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper is fully-fledged software that makes it as easy as falling off a log to rip a DVD to hard drive in 300+ digital formats like MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, etc. Better yet, it can strip off copy protection like APS, CSS, ARccOS, CPRM, AACS, BD+, Cinavia, and region codes. Therefore, you can enjoy the protection-free DVD content playback in regular video formats anywhere.
More Sparkling Features
- Various Outputs - Rip DVDs and Blu-ray to digital formats, DVD folders, and DVD ISO images.
- Best Output 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.
Step 1. Insert a DVD Disc and Hard Drive
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.
(Optional) Step 5. Transfer DVD to Hard Drive
If you forget to connect your external hard drive to your computer, you can first find the output DVD digital content in the destination folder you've chosen.
Then how to put DVDs on a hard drive according to your needs? Pretty easy. Just open the folder and find the ripped DVD, and connect the hard drive to your computer. Finally, drag the DVD content to your hard drive icon or use Copy and Paste. Now, you can fully enjoy the DVD movies on your hard drive.
A Tutorial Video on How to Rip DVD to Hard Drive in Digital Formats
How to Copy DVD to Hard Drive with Lossless Quality
Best for burning DVDs to another disc or copying DVDs to flash drive with default menu.
Another best way to copy DVD to hard drive is using a DVD copying tool. 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.
- 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.
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
Best for recording clips of DVD movies to HD MP4.
In some cases, recording clips from DVD and save DVD content to hard drive is also effective. 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.
- 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.
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
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. How to Rip DVD to Hard Drive with VLC
More Features
|
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. How to 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
|
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
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
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. 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.
Here to know more details: How to Rip Copy Protected DVD
Conclusion
VLC and HandBrake are freeware to rip DVD to hard drive. However, they cannot keep the best quality of DVD movies and fail to rip protected DVDs. If you have some protected DVDs and want to copy them to hard drive smoothly, VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper is definitely the first choice. Besides, the other 4 options are also reliable if they meet your needs.
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