We all purchase DVDs and Blu-Rays with all kinds of media content: movies, games, music, software, etc. However, as we use those discs, their quality wanes with time and, after a few years, they become unusable. Your only solution is to purchase them again but that costs money one more time and it just isn't fair. You paid for that product already. Isn't there a way to make a backup copy? Unfortunately not by means of standard disc burning software. In this tutorial, I will cover what I think it is the best alternative for making a backup copy.
Trying to make a copy with the usual disc burning applications doesn't work
I have a DVD with one my all-time favorite movies: The Shawshank Redemption. The disc is quite old - I must have had it for 6 years or more, and well... I would like to make a backup of it, in case the disc becomes way too old and unusable.
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I started Nero StartSmart Essentials and tried to copy the disc and it said "Copy error!".
copy, DVD, Blu-Ray, disc, protected, AnyDVD HD, circumvent, Windows
Then, I fired up ImgBurn and tried to create an image file from the disc so that, later on, I can burn it to another DVD for safekeeping. Immediately, ImgBurn returned an error saying that the disc is copy protected and said that CSS/CPPM protection is being used by this disc.
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How do I get around it?
How to use use and configure AnyDVD HD to remove the copy protection
I chose to download and install the 21 days trial version of AnyDVD HD , to see how it would work. During the trial, you receive a prompt each time the application starts up. A small annoyance, nothing else. Once you click on Continue , you can start using the application.
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AnyDVD HD automatically scans the media that you place into your DVD or Blu-Ray drive, so that it detects its properties and the type of copy protection it uses.
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Once I opened AnyDVD HD , I noticed in the Status section that it correctly detected my DVD and the kind of copy protection used. Obviously, it was automatically removed.
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A nice thing is that, if you browse through the program's settings, you will find options for removing annoying clips with commercials. Don't hesitate to check the Video DVD , Video HD DVD and Video Blu-ray sections, depending on the type of disc that you want to backup.
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Once you press OK , the settings get applied. If you are using the trial, you should keep in mind that it is limited to applying the settings you make only for one run of the application. If you exit AnyDVD HD , the next time it runs, it will use its default settings.
copy, DVD, Blu-Ray, disc, protected, AnyDVD HD, circumvent, Windows
Therefore, you have to go through the customisation process again. That's why, if you need to make more than a backup or two, it is best to purchase the application without waiting for the trial to expire. You also pay for the good work done by the developers of AnyDVD HD.
How to make the backup copy of the DVD
Now it is time to run try to copy the protected disc, one more time, while AnyDVD HD is active in the background, to remove the copy protection. You can use any disc burning application you prefer. If you need some good suggestions, read this article: How to Copy a Disc (CD, DVD or Blu-Ray) in Windows.
To explain how the process goes, we decided to use ImgBurn again. It's a great free program that you can download from here. Download and install ImgBurn and then open this program.
While the copy protected DVD/Blu-Ray disc is still in the drive, with AnyDVD HD active in the background, click "Create image file from disc" in the ImgBurn main program window.
copy, DVD, Blu-Ray, disc, protected, AnyDVD HD, circumvent, Windows
Select the source drive, the destination where you want to store the disc image (it will be saved as an ".iso" file) and click the Copy button highlighted below.
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The copy process starts immediately and it takes quite some time. It took me about 28 minutes to make a backup copy of my DVD. If you are making a backup copy of a Blu-Ray disc, expect it to take longer than that.
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Once the process was over, I clicked OK and my copy of the protected disc was available on my computer as an ".iso" file, in the folder I specified.
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Now I was able to burn it or mount it using a disk emulator such as Virtual Clone Drive. If you need some help with mounting or burning disk images in Windows, read these guides:
The greatest thing about my copy was that it no longer had annoying commercials and unnecessary clips. The disc directly opened the DVD configuration menus and the movie started as soon as I hit the Play Film button.
Was I being a pirate?
The short answer is No. The copy I made is intended as a personal backup, to use once my old disc no longer works well. I do not plan to sell it, give it to other people or share it online.
There is a lot of controversy on the subject, depending on the country where you are based. However, if you do a bit of reading, you will find that individual backup copies are legal, even in the US. If you read this Wikipedia entry on Circumvention of DVD copy protection , you will learn that: "while it may well be fair use for an individual consumer to store a backup copy of a personally owned DVD on that individual's computer, a federal law has nonetheless made it illegal to manufacture or traffic in a device or tool that permits a consumer to make such copies."
So... the pirates are not people making a personal backup copy of a copy protected disc they own, but the companies providing software to circumvent copy protection mechanisms. Lucky for us, such companies, including the one developing AnyDVD HD, are not based in the US.
Beware though, there are countries (such as the United Kingdom) where even personal backup copies are considered illegal. To learn more about the subject, read the entire Wikipedia entry recommended above.
Conclusion
I hope you found this guide useful. But, before you go, tell us: what do you think on the subject of copy protection? How is the legislation in your country: Are you considered a pirate for making a backup copy of a protected disc you own?
Does I can follow step by step in this article for copy Blu-ray disc into hard disk ?
this is specfication of my Note book.
CPU : INTEL CORE I5-8250U
RAM : 8 GB DDR4 (FSB 2133MHz)
STORAGE : 256 GB SSD
DISPLAY : 15.6″ FULL HD ANTI-GLARE
VGA : AMD RADEON 530 4 GB GDDR5
OS : UBUNTU
DVD Writer : DVD – RW
Does specfication my note book enough for copy Blu-ray movie disc ?
I think that external Blu-ray optical drive connect with my note book via USB port , order to copy Blu – ray movie disc successfully .
What is minimum capacity of my hard disk for copy blu-ray movie into hard disk ?
Finally , Can Blu – ray 25 GB and 50 GB copy by same method ?
Ciprian Adrian Rusen ·
Your computer’s hardware is OK with one exception: you need a Blu-Ray writing drive, not a standard DVD Writer. A DVD Writer can write only DVDs and CDs. There are writing drives capable of writing Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and CDs. You need such a unit.
kktawee2017 ·
Thank you , sir. I know that blu-ray writing drive is necessary for this perform.
I would like to know RAM 8 GB and harddisk 256 GB enough for copying blu-ray movie disc ?
Especially for blu-ray 25 GB and 50 GB.
Can both blu-ray disc copy by same method ?
Cyrus Brown ·
This does not work for me. Copy protected discs are still copy protected when I use AnyDVD. I’ve been through the page a number of times but I’ve downloaded AnyDVD, it’s running. It does nothing to the copy status even though it says it’s removed it. When I try to copy – protected.
Rebecca ·
I tried a bunch of different programs before stumbling upon your website. This method works like magic, and there is absolutely no compression or reduction in quality! Thank you so much!
Martin ·
Thanks for the guide! 🙂
Christina Anon ·
When you purchase a dvd it is your right to do with it what you like. Use it as a frisby or back it up. I had a four disc dvd’s movies that were collectors item stolen from me.by my partner when we seperated. If I had of made a backup of them I would not have had to re-purchase them. Luckily I was still able to get the movie as it is rare and hard to find.
Joanne ·
Does this method actually remove the encryption or “protection software” or circumvent it? I think making copies of items one already owns for personal use should not be illegal.
Anonymous ·
Read the tutorial. It has all the answers you seek.
alan ·
no I dont consider making a back up for my own use illegal. i have paid for it, dvds scratch so easily, and why should i buy it twice? there is nowhere i can go online and just buy exactly the title i want and download in mp4 anyway. i dont want to be messing around at bedtime popping dvds in and out of dvd drives, i want all my stuff on my 1 tb hdd where it is so fast to flick from one movie to the next without having to get out of bed…..lazy me, but hey i don’t care if you don’t like that, that’s your opinion and this is mine.
Sharon ·
Thank you so much for the information. I always try to back up a copy of cd/dvd that I purchase so that I can keep the original in good condition. I’ve had to purchases several copies of some because of wear, which can be expensive. This will be a great help.
Daniel ·
The same as me. I used to look for the copier but most of them were paid. ImgBurn opens my new world. It’s powerful, it’s easy to use, and most importantly it’s completely free. A net friend once suggested free wonderfox DVD ripper to me. This is also a software similar to ImgBurn. Very practical! Thank you
Anonymous ·
You are welcome. Glad to help. 😉
Amber ·
Does not work on “protected content” movies as u said it does
dave ·
I have bought numerous copies of a particular flight sim.
having to put a disk in is a pain and if you have it on a ext HDD as well and push the wrong button you are up there without a paddle.we are not all computer guru s especially 75 and not in the industry
worked well ·
Worked well – needed to create some images for owned dvd’s as my new laptop doesnt have an optical drive and I dont want to go to the hassle of media plus an external.
brittlesnc ·
The AnyDVD worked to decrypt the copy protected DVD but I still can’t burn a playable DVD…
My 1st attempt using ImgBurn to burn the image to blank DVD “supposedly” was successful but then when I tried to play the burned DVD in my laptop it couldn’t read the disc…
But my attempts at using ImgBurn after that I wasn’t even able to get as far as the 1st attempt and now all I get is error messages…
What am I doing wrong?
Anonymous ·
Works for me. Thank you for this guide!
Frank ·
I have a product from cyberlink software named power DVD. Do you know if AnyDVD HD will work with this application?
Peter Smith ·
Thank you, it worked like a charm 🙂
TonyL ·
One problem. You can’t play the copy of your ISO DVD on a standard DVD player. It works fine on my PC, I guess this procedure is tended towards using a PC. My Vizio DVD player thinks it’s an update disc and naturally the update failed. So much for this. I’ll go on to try something since this procedure didn’t work.
Dave ·
Only thing is its 7.5 gig after you copy it. Then when i try to shrink it with dvd shrink, it can only see the file as being 2 MB. Thus the only way to copy it is with double size DVD.
Lewis ·
Thanks a million dude.
I was having a hard time trying to backup my Insanity Workout DVDs.
It really worked!!!
Cheers from Brazil
Ciprian Adrian Rusen ·
I’m glad you find this guide useful.
Jason ·
@Big Dan – How did you get DVD Shrink to work on Win7?
@Ciprian Adrian Rusen – Does AnyDVD HD get rid of DVD region codes? Also, does it work on Win7?
Cheers?
Ciprian Adrian Rusen ·
AnyDVD HD works on any version of Windows. You can see how AnyDVD HD works in the tutorial above.
Anonymous ·
Copyright infringement is total BS!
It’s interesting how intense copy protection or copy “prevention” is being pursued when it comes to multimedia. It’s silly! Copyrights have been around a very long time which has me wondering just who enforces copyrights when it comes to BOOKS!
You can hardly find a public library or even a business office that doesn’t have a copy “machine” somewhere. Copy machines, a.k.a. “Xerox machines” are/were designed and developed exclusively for copying content of documents. And those “documents” often include books that explicitly say copyright right in them. So if you look at it from the perspective of the RIAA/MPAA you might be asking why have these machines in a library? (Are you starting to see a larger can or worms here?!)
If the RIAA/MPAA and any other such entity wants to make a big deal out of copyright violation with regard to multimedia, you just have to wonder if they themselves haven’t been guilty of numerous violations in their own day to day business practices when it comes to books. Cause any time a person places a book face down on a copy machine and his the print/copy button they are doing exactly what the RIAA/MPAA are now saying a person can’t do with multimedia content! It’s nuts!!!
Either back off with militant copyright enforcement or start enforcing the removal of copy machines in libraries and other public areas where a person is likely to copy copyrighted materials. (That’s what they did in the Soviet Union.)
Try DVD Decrypter. It’s free and you don’t need ImgBurn after the DVD is decrypted.
john3347 ·
You didn’t mention the price of ANYDVD HD and whether the price is a one time purchase or if it is subscription. This does sound like a worthwhile application to have if the price is right and if one has even only a small collection of protected discs.
To answer the question you propose here concerning copy protection; I do not feel that it is illegal and certainly not improper to make back-up copies for the purchaser’s personal use. Also,I can loan a friend my original disc of a movie, for instance, and they can watch the movie then return the disc to me. This is not illegal nor cheating anyone. It would be the same if you made a copy of a movie and gave (not sold) it to a friend and you and your friend never both played the movie at the same time. I would not consider that improper in any way either.
Discussion (31)
Does I can follow step by step in this article for copy Blu-ray disc into hard disk ?
this is specfication of my Note book.
CPU : INTEL CORE I5-8250U
RAM : 8 GB DDR4 (FSB 2133MHz)
STORAGE : 256 GB SSD
DISPLAY : 15.6″ FULL HD ANTI-GLARE
VGA : AMD RADEON 530 4 GB GDDR5
OS : UBUNTU
DVD Writer : DVD – RW
Does specfication my note book enough for copy Blu-ray movie disc ?
I think that external Blu-ray optical drive connect with my note book via USB port , order to copy Blu – ray movie disc successfully .
What is minimum capacity of my hard disk for copy blu-ray movie into hard disk ?
Finally , Can Blu – ray 25 GB and 50 GB copy by same method ?
Your computer’s hardware is OK with one exception: you need a Blu-Ray writing drive, not a standard DVD Writer. A DVD Writer can write only DVDs and CDs. There are writing drives capable of writing Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and CDs. You need such a unit.
Thank you , sir. I know that blu-ray writing drive is necessary for this perform.
I would like to know RAM 8 GB and harddisk 256 GB enough for copying blu-ray movie disc ?
Especially for blu-ray 25 GB and 50 GB.
Can both blu-ray disc copy by same method ?
This does not work for me. Copy protected discs are still copy protected when I use AnyDVD. I’ve been through the page a number of times but I’ve downloaded AnyDVD, it’s running. It does nothing to the copy status even though it says it’s removed it. When I try to copy – protected.
I tried a bunch of different programs before stumbling upon your website. This method works like magic, and there is absolutely no compression or reduction in quality! Thank you so much!
Thanks for the guide! 🙂
When you purchase a dvd it is your right to do with it what you like. Use it as a frisby or back it up. I had a four disc dvd’s movies that were collectors item stolen from me.by my partner when we seperated. If I had of made a backup of them I would not have had to re-purchase them. Luckily I was still able to get the movie as it is rare and hard to find.
Does this method actually remove the encryption or “protection software” or circumvent it? I think making copies of items one already owns for personal use should not be illegal.
Read the tutorial. It has all the answers you seek.
no I dont consider making a back up for my own use illegal. i have paid for it, dvds scratch so easily, and why should i buy it twice? there is nowhere i can go online and just buy exactly the title i want and download in mp4 anyway. i dont want to be messing around at bedtime popping dvds in and out of dvd drives, i want all my stuff on my 1 tb hdd where it is so fast to flick from one movie to the next without having to get out of bed…..lazy me, but hey i don’t care if you don’t like that, that’s your opinion and this is mine.
Thank you so much for the information. I always try to back up a copy of cd/dvd that I purchase so that I can keep the original in good condition. I’ve had to purchases several copies of some because of wear, which can be expensive. This will be a great help.
The same as me. I used to look for the copier but most of them were paid. ImgBurn opens my new world. It’s powerful, it’s easy to use, and most importantly it’s completely free. A net friend once suggested free wonderfox DVD ripper to me. This is also a software similar to ImgBurn. Very practical! Thank you
You are welcome. Glad to help. 😉
Does not work on “protected content” movies as u said it does
I have bought numerous copies of a particular flight sim.
having to put a disk in is a pain and if you have it on a ext HDD as well and push the wrong button you are up there without a paddle.we are not all computer guru s especially 75 and not in the industry
Worked well – needed to create some images for owned dvd’s as my new laptop doesnt have an optical drive and I dont want to go to the hassle of media plus an external.
The AnyDVD worked to decrypt the copy protected DVD but I still can’t burn a playable DVD…
My 1st attempt using ImgBurn to burn the image to blank DVD “supposedly” was successful but then when I tried to play the burned DVD in my laptop it couldn’t read the disc…
But my attempts at using ImgBurn after that I wasn’t even able to get as far as the 1st attempt and now all I get is error messages…
What am I doing wrong?
Works for me. Thank you for this guide!
I have a product from cyberlink software named power DVD. Do you know if AnyDVD HD will work with this application?
Thank you, it worked like a charm 🙂
One problem. You can’t play the copy of your ISO DVD on a standard DVD player. It works fine on my PC, I guess this procedure is tended towards using a PC. My Vizio DVD player thinks it’s an update disc and naturally the update failed. So much for this. I’ll go on to try something since this procedure didn’t work.
Only thing is its 7.5 gig after you copy it. Then when i try to shrink it with dvd shrink, it can only see the file as being 2 MB. Thus the only way to copy it is with double size DVD.
Thanks a million dude.
I was having a hard time trying to backup my Insanity Workout DVDs.
It really worked!!!
Cheers from Brazil
I’m glad you find this guide useful.
@Big Dan – How did you get DVD Shrink to work on Win7?
@Ciprian Adrian Rusen – Does AnyDVD HD get rid of DVD region codes? Also, does it work on Win7?
Cheers?
AnyDVD HD works on any version of Windows. You can see how AnyDVD HD works in the tutorial above.
Copyright infringement is total BS!
It’s interesting how intense copy protection or copy “prevention” is being pursued when it comes to multimedia. It’s silly! Copyrights have been around a very long time which has me wondering just who enforces copyrights when it comes to BOOKS!
You can hardly find a public library or even a business office that doesn’t have a copy “machine” somewhere. Copy machines, a.k.a. “Xerox machines” are/were designed and developed exclusively for copying content of documents. And those “documents” often include books that explicitly say copyright right in them. So if you look at it from the perspective of the RIAA/MPAA you might be asking why have these machines in a library? (Are you starting to see a larger can or worms here?!)
If the RIAA/MPAA and any other such entity wants to make a big deal out of copyright violation with regard to multimedia, you just have to wonder if they themselves haven’t been guilty of numerous violations in their own day to day business practices when it comes to books. Cause any time a person places a book face down on a copy machine and his the print/copy button they are doing exactly what the RIAA/MPAA are now saying a person can’t do with multimedia content! It’s nuts!!!
Either back off with militant copyright enforcement or start enforcing the removal of copy machines in libraries and other public areas where a person is likely to copy copyrighted materials. (That’s what they did in the Soviet Union.)
DVD Shrink does an excellent job of backing up encrypted discs for free. https://www.dvdshrink.org/what_en.php
Try DVD Decrypter. It’s free and you don’t need ImgBurn after the DVD is decrypted.
You didn’t mention the price of ANYDVD HD and whether the price is a one time purchase or if it is subscription. This does sound like a worthwhile application to have if the price is right and if one has even only a small collection of protected discs.
To answer the question you propose here concerning copy protection; I do not feel that it is illegal and certainly not improper to make back-up copies for the purchaser’s personal use. Also,I can loan a friend my original disc of a movie, for instance, and they can watch the movie then return the disc to me. This is not illegal nor cheating anyone. It would be the same if you made a copy of a movie and gave (not sold) it to a friend and you and your friend never both played the movie at the same time. I would not consider that improper in any way either.
Prices can be found here.