How to Copy DVD to Hard Drive for Backup or Watching on TV

Copying DVD to hard drive will bring some immediate benefits to us. If we save a DVD to computer hard drive, we can just double click on the digital copy to play. We don't need to find and take the dusty disc off the shelf, clean it, put it into the DVD drive, and then open it in a DVD player. Obviously, it saves us a lot of trouble. And if we copy a DVD to an external hard drive, we can connect it to a large-screen TV in our living room or in a hotel for better visual experience.

Hard drive is definitely a good option to store DVD back-ups as it has high capacity. By April 2022, the largest HDD on the market today clocks in at a massive 20 terabytes, and 24TB for external HDDs^[1]. Well, how to copy DVDs to harddrive?

It's easy to copy home movie DVD to hard drive. We can do it by direct copying. However, it can be hard to copy commercial DVDs to hard drive. We cannot get access to the commercial DVD content by direct copying because commercial discs are usually copy-protected. This is why this article exists.

Here we'll show you how to copy home movie and commercial movie DVDs to hard drive on Windows 11/10/8/7, Mac, and Linux, with the most popular DVD ripping software - WinX DVD Ripper, open-source video transcoder - HandBrake, the free yet versatile media player - VLC, and MakeMKV. Which is the best and fastest way to backup DVD to hard drive? We'll give you an answer below!

Part 1. Why Can't You Copy DVD to Hard Drive Normally

"I have a video DVD that I cannot copy to my hard disk. When I select all files and folders they are about 250 MB. When I check the DVD drive in "My Computer" it is about 4 GB. All the mail VOB files are 0 KB in size. Where on earth are these huge video files?" - Superuser

For burned and homemade DVDs that come without any copy protection, you can directly copy and paste audio_ts and video_ts from DVD to internal or external hard drive for backup purpose. The folder storing all the movie data can be played on Windows Media player, VLC, etc. without any problem.

For commercial DVDs, when you extract the video_ts folder from DVD to your laptop/desktop hard drive, the file seems to end midway with error message as below.

Generally, instead of "copy DVD", we say "rip DVD to hard drive". Why? Almost all DVD movies and TV shows are armed with one or more copy protection schemes. These schemes are stored in the normally inaccessible lead-in area of the disc, as a move to prevent the files from being copied directly. Here are some of commonly used DVD encryption technologies, which hold you back from backup DVD smoothly.

• Content Scramble System (CSS) - Create scrambled DVD content to protect the DVDs information from piracy and the Region Protectionenforce region-based viewing restrictions.^[2]
• Sony ARccOS Protection - It is designed as an additional layer and is used in conjunction with CSS. This system deliberately creates corrupted sectors on DVD disc, which cause a majority of regular DVD copy software to produce bad sector errors.^[3]
• Disney DVD Copy Protection - It is encoded in the latest released DVDs. It disordered the DVD content such that users can hardly locate the right title which contains the main part of the movie. Even though you trudged out to copy full DVD content, you will get about a whopping 40GB output file size and the out-of-order videos that are totally useless.

That's why you end up with failure when trying to copy protected DVD contents to hard drive directly. And when you play the copied files, typically in .vob format, the decoder will ask for keys from the disc drive and you will get an error such as "Cannot play copy-protected files". In addition to the DVD copy protection schemes, Firmware faults, mechanical failure, and overheating computer also lead to DVD copying failure. As a result, a professional DVD ripper is required to copy DVD to hard drive sucessfully.

Part 2. How to Copy DVDs to Hard Drive: 4 Methods

As mentioned earlier, you can use WinX DVD Ripper, HandBrake, VLC, or MakeMKV to copy DVDs to your hard drive. Each tool has its own unique features. The choice of which tool to use depends on your specific needs and skill level.

If you want a quick way to copy encrypted DVDs to your hard drive with multiple format options, WinX DVD Ripper is recommended. If you prefer open-source tools and want to do it for free, you can try HandBrake or VLC. If you want to create a lossless copy of a DVD as a single MKV file, then MakeMKV is worth considering.

Now, let's take a closer look at the features, pros, cons, and how to use each of these products.

Method 1. Copy DVD to Hard Drive Fast with WinX DVD Ripper

WinX DVD Ripper is a time-tested and reliable software that allows you to effortlessly copy DVDs to hard drive with just a few clicks. Both home-made and copy-protected DVDs are accepted. Whether you want to back up your entire DVD collection or extract the movie portion only, this tool has got you covered. With its powerful features and intuitive interface, WinX DVD Ripper makes the process fast, easy, and hassle-free.

Key features:

• Bypass DVD region codes and copy protections (such as CSS, RCE, Sony ARccOS, and Disney DRM) without additional software.
• Convert DVD to MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, MP3, and more media formats.
• Provide device-specific presets for popular devices like iPhone, iPad, Android phone, and gaming console.
• Offer 1:1 DVD copy options, allowing you to create exact replicas of your DVDs in ISO image format or DVD folders.
• Leverage advanced hardware acceleration technologies, including Intel QSV, NVIDIA NVENC, and AMD, to significantly speed up the ripping process.
• Offer customization options, such as selecting specific titles, choosing audio tracks and subtitles, trimming unwanted clips, and more.

WinX DVD Ripper is the ultimate solution for swiftly and effortlessly copying DVDs to your hard drive.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface and easy-to-use.
• Fast ripping speed and high-quality output.
• Supports a wide range of output formats and devices.
• Allows customization of output settings.
• Can bypass copy protections on DVDs.

Cons:

• It isn't compatible with Linux. So, if you want to copy DVD to hard drive on Linux, you will need to explore alternative software solutions.

Click the download button below to free download WinX DVD Ripper to have a try! Then, install it and follow the guide below to transfer your DVD collections to hard drive.

Preparations:

• Free download WinX DVD Ripper and install it on computer. After you launch WinX DVD Ripper, you'll be required to enter a license code which you can easily get for free on this page. Then, you can use it without watermarks, time limits, or any reserved functions.
• Make sure your hard drive has sufficient free space to store DVD copies since a DVD usually contains 5-8 GB of files^[4]. If you choose to copy only the movie portion of the DVD to your hard drive, you can save a significant amount of space.
• Insert the DVD you want to copy into your computer's DVD drive. Modern computers or laptops remove disc drive in order to get smaller size. If your computer isn't equipped with one, you can get the most suitable external DVD drive here for your computer.

Next, follow the steps below to copy DVD to hard drive on Windows 11/10/8/7 and Mac with WinX DVD Ripper.

Overview of the Steps:

• Step 1. Load your DVD by clicking the "DVD Disc" button.
• Step 2. Choose an output preset from the Ouput Profile panel.
• Step 3. Select the DVD content you want to transfer to hard drive.
• Step 4. Click the "Browse" button to specify the save path.
• Step 5. Click the "RUN" button to start ripping DVD to hard drive.

Detailed Steps:

Step 1. Load your DVD.

After you launch WinX DVD Ripper and enter a license code, you should click "DVD Disc" button to load the DVD you just inserted into DVD drive.

If you just have one DVD drive connected, the detected DVD under "Select the source DVD" should be the one you want to copy. Now, ignore DVD Disc File System Type and just click "OK" to start loading. This may take a few seconds.

Step 2. Choose output format for your hard drive.

On the Output Profile panel, there are over 350 profiles including popular formats and device-specific presets. You can choose to copy DVD to any format for like. Below are some suggestions.

If you want to copy DVD to a space-saving and mainstreaming format for later storing into hard drive, you have much more choices such as MP4, WMV, AVI, and MOV. For example, you can go to "General Profiles" and choose "MP4 Video".

If you want to copy full DVD to hard drive, you can click "DVD Backup" and choose "Clone DVD to ISO image" or "Clone DVD to Folder". Today's 8TB and larger SSD is getting cheaper. It's not worth converting files to more efficient and space-saving formats in case of backing up your movie library. This is because re-encoding DVD takes time and involves loss of quality.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum's DVD backup mode neither degrades video quality nor reduces file size (movie size stays almost the same as original 4.7GB or 8.5GB). If you have some portable hard drives that are formatted in FAT32, with restrictive 4GB file size limit^[5], it's suggested to rip DVD to MP4 H.264, for it strikes a perfect balance between file size (around 1-1.2GB) and output quality.

Step 3. Choose the DVD content you want to copy.

WinX DVD Ripper will auto select the main movie title for you after loading DVD, but you can also choose a different one manually or choose more titles to convert.

A DVD-Video can contain up to 99 (1–99) titles^[6], but not all titles are what you want. Some are director's cuts, deleted scenes, interviews, special features, and so on.

Moreover, you can change audio track, trim off unwanted clips, crop the frame, choose desired subtitle track, and add external subtitle file.

Step 4. Choose where you want to save the DVD copy file.

Click "Browse" button at the bottom to specify the destination folder. If you want to copy DVD to external hard drive to watch on TV, connect the external HDD to your computer and choose it as the destination.

Step 5. Start copying DVD to hard drive.

Just click "RUN" button to begin ripping DVD to hard drive. The ripping time depends on your settings and computer performance. As the only ripper supporting level-3 hardware acceleration, WinX DVD Ripper is the fastest software to copy DVD to hard drive, running at speeds of around 300-500fps which is five or more times the speed of competitors.

Afterwards, you can sort your digital movie or TV show copies of DVDs quickly in your computer, and even transfer and watch the DVD video on your Android, iOS gadgets. If you want to transfer your DVD library backups to external HDD or SSD such as Samsung Portable SSD T5, SanDisk Extreme portable SSD, connect it with a USB cable, send your DVD copies to external drive, and then you can stream them to your laptop, PC or TV as per your needs.

Video Tutorial: Backup Movie DVD to Hard Drive with Original Quality

Disclaimer: Digiarty Software does not advocate ripping copy-protected DVDs for any commercial purpose and suggests referring to the DVD copyright laws in your countries before doing so.

Method 2. Copy DVD to Hard Drive for Free with Handbrake

HandBrake is a free open-source video transcoder for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It can not only transcode videos, but also convert DVD and Bluray discs and files to MP4, MKV, and WebM. It doesn't allow you to output files in other formats such as ISO and VIDEO_TS folder.

And before we walk you through the steps to copy DVD to hard drive with free HandBrake, there are a few things that you need to be aware of. Firstly, HandBrake doesn't have DVD copy feature and Handbrake's native DVD transcoding results in quality degrading. So you cannot rely on Handbrake to make a lossless DVD backup. Secondly, Handbrake only makes digital copy of DVD collection when the media files are non-protected^[7]. Only when you grab a copy of libdvdcss.dll can you cope with css and regional DVD flawlessly.

Pros:

• Free and open-source software.
• Available for multiple platforms.
• Offers advanced customization options.

Cons:

• User interface can be overwhelming for beginners.
• DVD ripping process can be slower compared to dedicated DVD ripping software.
• Requires additional installation of third-party software or libraries to handle copy-protected DVDs.

If you insist on copying DVDs to hard drive using Handbrake, you can follow the steps below.

Step 1. Get HandBrake.

Download and install HandBrake on your computer.

Step 2. Install libdvdcss for HandBrake.

Download libdvdcss.dll 32-bit/64-bit version through the VLC website. Next, you need to move the libdvdcss.dll into the installation folder of HandBrake. This is a prerequisite to rip protected DVD.

Step 3. Import Source DVD.

Open Handbrake, load the DVD from the Source Selection. It will take some time to scan the DVD titles. If the DVD you try to copy to hard drive has 99 titles or is protected with RCE, Disney X-project DRM or Sony ARccOS, you are likely to get an error message like "No valid source or titles found". In this case, I'm afraid that you'll have to resort to other professional DVD decrypters for help.

Step 4. Specify DVD title.

Choose the title you want to convert and copy to hard drive and adjust the angel and chapters you want to retain. The auto-selected title may be not the movie title. You'd better check it before ripping.

If you need to rip DVD with multiple titles, you can click the drop-down arrow beside "Add to Queue" and choose "Add current", "Add all", or "Add selection".

Step 5. Choose preset.

In the drop-down box of Preset, choose a preset as per your needs. Remember higher quality results in slow DVD converting speed and more space occupation of your hard drive.

Step 6. Choose audio and subtitle track.

Under Preset, you'll find seven tabs, namely Summary, Dimensions, Filters, Video, Audio, Subtitles, and Chapters. You can click on each tab and check if everything is set up exactly as you would like. You can click the Dimensions tab to change resolution, click Filters to turn on or turn off deinterlace, denoise, and more, click Video to specify video codec, bitrate, and framerate, click Audio to choose audio language and codec, and click Subtitles to specify subtitle language and whether you want to burn the subtitle into the DVD rip file or leave it as a standalone subtitle file.

Step 7. Start copying DVD to hard drive.

Click the "Browse" button to choose a folder of your hard drive as the destination and click "Start Encode" to begin ripping DVD to hard drive.

Compared with WinX DVD Ripper, HandBrake will take a longer time to finish the copying procedure. During our test, it runs at speeds of 110-130fps. We often see complaints about its slow encoding speed on Reddit and the like.

Video Tutorial: Save Movie DVD to Hard Drive with HandBrake

Method 3. Copy DVDs to Hard Drive for Free with VLC

It is well-known that VLC is a free media player capable of playing most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. But some users may not know that it can also convert DVDs to digital files for storing on hard drive or other storage devices. Although its output formats cannot compare to those of WinX DVD Ripper, it supports more than HandBrake. It covers MP4, WebM, TS, MKV, AVI, WMV, MP3, and so on. But sadly it cannot export ISO image or VIDEO_TS folder.

If you want to try saving DVD to hard drive with VLC, just follow our steps.

There is a caveat: VLC doesn't rip all commercial DVDs to hard drive. If you fail to copy protected DVDs to hard drive, you can try WinX DVD Ripper for help.

Pros:

• Free and open-source software.
• Available for multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.).
• Supports a variety of multimedia formats.

Cons:

• Slow ripping speed.
• May need additional software to deal with copy-protected DVDs.

Step 1. Get VLC.

Download and install VLC on your computer, no matter what system you use, Windows, Mac, or Linux. Skip to the next step if you already have VLC installed on your computer.

Step 2. Select the DVD and the content you wish to copy.

Launch VLC, click Media > Convert / Save … > Click Disc tab from the Open Media window and make sure you see the DVD you want to copy beside Disc device.

Here you also need to choose title, audio and subtitle. Since there is no preview window, you may need to do some trial and error to figure out which track is the one you want. Then, tap Convert / Save button.

Step 3. Choose a profile.

If you need to edit the selected profile, you can click the wrench icon. You can click the Encapsulation to change container format, click Video codec to change encoding format, bitrate, quality, frame rate, resolution, and filter, click Audio codec to change audio encoding format, bitrate, channels, and sample rate, and click Subtitles to choose codec and specify whether you want to overlay subtitles on the video. When you finish the settings, don't forget to click the Save button to save your settings.

Step 4. Specify destination.

In the Destination section, click the Browse button to select your hard drive as the destination path for saving.

Step 5. Begin copying DVD to hard drive.

Once you have finished all settings, click the Start button to initiate the process of ripping and transferring your DVD content to the hard drive. You can see the progress bar under the playback window.

Video Tutorial: Rip DVD to Hard Drive with VLC

Method 4. Copy DVDs to Hard Drive for Free with MakeMKV

MakeMKV can create a MKV copy of your DVD and save it to your hard drive. There isn't any quality loss because MakeMKV will not transcode video during the ripping process. But it's also a double-edged sword, because it means that the output file will be very large. But that's not a huge problem if you have enough storage space on your hard drive.

MakeMKV has now been upgraded to version 1.17.3. With MakeMKV, you can not only convert DVDs but also Blu-ray discs. It can even handle some encrypted discs. From its update history, we can also see that its developers have made great efforts to help this tool cope with disc copy protections.

Pros:

• Free to use.
• Simple and intuitive interface.
• Fast DVD ripping speed.
• Can preserve all video and audio tracks, including multiple subtitles and languages.
• Supports encrypted DVDs.

Cons:

• DVD ripping capabilities are limited to MKV format.
• Limited customization options for output settings.
• The software may occasionally have compatibility issues with newer DVD releases.

MakeMKV is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you're interested in this program, you can give it a try and follow our steps.

Step 1. Open DVD.

Firstly, insert the DVD you want to copy to hard drive into the DVD drive of your computer.

Secondly, open MakeMKV and make sure the source DVD is the disc you want to copy. Then, click the Open DVD disk button which is a picture with a DVD icon, an arrow, and a hard drive.

Step 2. Select DVD content to copy.

After you click the Open DVD disk button, MakeMKV will display the DVD contents as a tree structure. Now, you need to select the title, audio, and subtitle tracks you want to copy.

Step 3. Select output folder.

You can simply choose a folder of your hard drive as the destination.

Step 4. Transfer DVD to hard drive.

Just press the "Make MKV" button and wait for conversion. It will show two progress bars, elapsed time and remaining time.

Video Tutorial: Copy DVD to Hard Drive with MakeMKV

Part 3. Which Is the Best and Fastest Software to Copy DVD to Hard Drive?

We've already finished the tutorials about how to copy DVDs to hard drive with WinX DVD Ripper, HandBrake, VLC, and MakeMKV. Which is the best way to choose? Which product runs fastest? The comparison table below may help you make a decision.

Sum Up

All of them are good options when you need to put DVDs on hard drive, but WinX DVD Ripper is the best and the fastest one. It has an edge over HandBrake and VLC in terms of decrypting DVD, processing speed, output quality, and output presets. If you want to copy a protected DVD to hard drive at fast speed and meanwhile keep high or original quality, you're suggested to try WinX DVD Ripper. To get it, just download the button below.

Part 4. Frequently Asked Questions About Copying DVD to Hard Drive

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

If you want to copy your DVDs to an external hard drive so that you can watch them on TV, you should follow the steps below:

Step 1. Download and install WinX DVD Ripper on your computer.

Step 2. Insert target DVD into your computer's DVD drive or an external DVD drive connected to your computer.

Step 3. Launch WinX DVD Ripper and click the DVD Disc button to select and open the DVD you want to copy to external DVD drive for TV.

Step 4. Select an output format that your TV supports. On Output Profile panel, scroll down to TV Video and you'll find a few TV presets including Samsung TV Video, Sony TV Video, Panasonic TV Video, and LG TV Video. If you can't find a preset for your TV brand, you can simply go to General Profiles and choose MP4 Video which should be compatible with your TV.

Step 5. Connect your external hard drive to your computer and click the Browse button on WinX DVD Ripper to choose your external hard drive as your destination.

Step 6. Hit the RUN button to begin ripping and copying DVD to external hard drive. Once done, you can connect the external hard drive to your TV and watch the movie on TV.

Check detailed guide on how to copy DVD to external hard drive to watch on TV >>

10. How to copy vob files from DVD to hard drive?

Step 1. Install and launch WinX DVD Ripper. Note: Both HandBrake and VLC cannot export VOB files.

Step 2. Load target DVD by clicking the Disc button.

Step 3. Go to DVD Backup profile and choose Clone DVD to Folder.

Step 4. Choose your hard drive as the destination.

Step 4. Hit the RUN button to begin conversion. Once done, you'll get a VIDEO_TS folder with a number of vob files in your hard drive.

12. How to copy DVD to hard drive with subtitles?

WinX DVD Ripper allows you to rip DVD to hard drive with subtitles. If we choose copy DVD to ISO image, folder, or full title copy, we will get a DVD copy with subtitles. If we choose other output formats such as MP4, the subtitle is disabled by default but can be enabled manually. Simply click the Subtitle Disabled and then you'll be presented with all available subtitle tracks and the option to add external subtitle file.

References

1. "What's the largest hard drive you can buy?". Alphr. April 16, 2022.
2. "Content Scramble System". Wikipedia.
3. "ARccOS protection". Wikipedia
4. "DVD capacity limits for all types of DVDs". CD Baby
5. "What is FAT32 maximum file size limit?". WinAbility Software
6. "DVD-Video". Wikipedia
7. "HandBrake features". HandBrake
8. "When Is DVD Ripping Illegal?". Toptenreviews