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Question

Need advice on setting up my digital library.

Feb 19, 2015 9:21AM PST

HI, I have over 700 movies and I want to put them on an external hard drive, it's the only sane way to store them.
My Problem is, I am 62 years old and don't have a clue how to do this.

What I did was buy a Buffalo 3 TB external HD. I have DVD Decrypter and also Roxio Creator NXT 2. I tried every thing I could think of to compress and store my movies with the Roxio Program and had NO luck (granted I don't comprehend most of what they are saying). So Right now I am using the DVD Decrypter and running the movies thru there and storing them on the HD.
Can someone PLEASE tell me what to do and tell me also what is the easiest software I can use Like Libraries for dummies (good grief this is embarrassing).

Discussion is locked

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Answer
The one thing is to never pare it down to one drive or copy.
Feb 19, 2015 9:27AM PST

I've seen folk try this and consolidate and then drop the drive or another oops.

-> There's that and then I think I see you asking for help to RIP DVDs. Forum policies forbid discussions about getting around DRM or ripping protected content.

However I do like the WD TV for it's ability to play back from such drives.

BUT let's get why there is no dummies article on this. If you are trying to rip protected media, it's like an banned book. You won't find a good book on that. Hope you understand why that is now.
Bob

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Hi Bob and Thanks for your reply
Feb 26, 2015 6:25PM PST

I want to be honest with you but I am not really in a position to do so because I know what I bought is fine but I am a CEO of a Homeless program in AZ. We get the off their feet cleaned up and get them jobs. I had a 59% success rate and that my Friend is great. But this isn't about that, it is about having a good movie library and we can monitor what is being watched and most importantly keep the good things out there for them, theirs enough bad out here they will find soon enough.
I just don't want to put ripped off DVDs in the library, they don't learn from that plus it's illegal.
Thanks for the input I just want you & others were good people doing a good thing .Please continue with the advice we need it and so a kid can understand :~)
Jeff Lopez / CEO
A New Hope For Tucson Foundation


Note: This post was edited by a forum moderator to remove exposed info to prevent abuse by spammers on 02/27/2015 at 9:19 AM PT

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Re: movie
Feb 26, 2015 6:46PM PST

It's not really clear to me what you want. You want to put 700 movies on a hard 3 TB hard disk, but you dont' want to rip a DVD because "they" won't learn from that and it's illegal.

Assuming your 700 movies are on DVD, I'm afraid it won't fit. A DVD is 4.7 GB and that times 700 is more than # TB. But you come a good way, especially if not all disks are fully used.

What I don't understand:
1. Why do you think ripping is illegal and 'putting' them in some other form on an hard disk isn't?
2. What more would "they" learn from when you convert to some other format then if you just rip?

I'd use a program like IMGBURN to make an image copy of such a disk I think VLC-player will be able to play that image, or else, install some virtual disk program to mount it and make it seem like a real disk.

Kees

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what is illegal
Feb 26, 2015 6:58PM PST

showing dvd movies in a homeless shelter is illegal. it is considered public showing and a violation of copyright laws. You may need to get a license to do it.

making a back up of movies is not illegal but breaking the encryption to create those backups is illegal per the dmca. just about every dvd movie has some sort of encryption. Also storing a dvd copy you created on a harddrive is technically illegal per the dmca.

Your services is needed and sounds like it is doing great work but as you know there will always be those who want to take you down for whatever reason. IMO, you need make sure everything you do is legal before proceeding with your database.

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Then you can't do anything according...
Feb 26, 2015 11:18PM PST

To your own description of what you wanted to do. So, this is a moot point, you have NO OPTIONS. Of course, i exclude anything that allows you legally of in some way is provided that allows you to at least show the movies, storage is yet another matter. In that regard, you can't store as some "public service". As a private user, that's possible as I understand and what others maybe trying to convey. I'm not a lawyer, so talking to one is a logical step, free legal aid available? Thus, a true clear path of what can and can't be done.

tada -----Willy Happy

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Answer
the equivalent of VCR in todays....
Feb 19, 2015 9:52AM PST

...digital would be screen capture software like Cam Studio. http://camstudio.org/

When you have a file, any file, you can run any compression program on it. The most common is just adding them into a zip file.