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Copying DVDs is a piece of cake. It is really easy to do it. And you
can copy not only your work files but system files as well. And yes,
you can do it under Windows XP. Here are some suggestions how to
achieve this.
The first step is to put the DVD into the DVD drive. If you
don’t have a DVD drive but only a CD drive, you are out of
luck. Next, use the familiar Windows copy+paste command and copy all
the files from the DVD to your computer. Copying all files is a long
procedure because there are many files to be copied. In fact, some of
the smallest files are supporting files, so only the bigger ones
contain a movie.
After you have copied the contents of the DVD onto your hard drive, you
need a DVD ripper program. DVD ripper programs can convert formats such
as VCD to DVD, rlv to mp3, mp4, VLC, etc. DVD rippers can be free and
paid but even the paid programs often offer a free trial version, which
you can use for some time and see if it works for you.
One thing you must do before the actual copying of files to your hard
disk is to make sure that your hard disk has enough free space. You
need free space for the DVD itself (this could be as much as 8GB) and
for a buffer the operating system needs for copying the files. So, if
the DVD is 8GB, then 10GB free space is the minimum for a successful
copy operation. Additionally, you shouldn’t run any other
programs, while you are copying the files because this can lead to
corrupted (and useless) data.
Today rewritable DVDs are easily accessible. The good thing about
rewritable DVDs is that you can use them many times – you
record the data and when you don’t need it any more, you
delete it and record the same DVD again. Rewritable DVDs are especially
suitable for backups because you can replace the files you
don’t need any more. Using rewritable DVDs is not different
from using normal DVDs. The only difference is that rewritable DVDs are
just a little slower.
Windows XP allows not only to copy DVDs to hard disk. Under Windows XP
you can also copy a hard disk to a DVD. You would like to do this when
you need a backup of your hard disk. Since hard disks are not eternal
because they get damaged or a virus wipes their contents, backups are
vital. So, it is great to backup your important files to a DVD. Burning
to DVD is done with the help of a DVD burning program. For instance,
Nero or Roxio are good Windows DVD burning programs. As a rule, DVD
burning programs are user friendly and sometimes you need just a few
clicks to copy from your hard drive to a DVD or the other way round.
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