Andy TaylorLeave a commentUncategorized

DVD Ripper – Back up DVD’s Fast and Free – Part I

DVD Rip Automates One-Click DVD Ripping
From lifehacker.com — “Windows only: Sick of scratched, skippy DVDs, I put together a simple AutoHotkey script that automated DVD rips in conjunction with a freeware application called DVD Shrink. I’ve since gone back and drastically improved the original DVD Rip application complete with options and improved automation…”
See part II for more info and details.
DDTechGuy

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My DVD ripping experience…Backup your DVD’s fast and free! Part II

So, after grabbing the scripted file from Part I, I had to d/l DVD Shrink before DVD Ripper would work (not a surprise, stated clearly on the Lifehacker page below) and after spending less than two minutes setting up I was rippin’ the first DVD. (an 87 minute independantly published DVD of a conference I recently attended).

Now the author says: “Windows only: Rip and back up any DVD to your hard drive with DVD Rip, a freeware Windows application that automates the entire DVD-to-hard-drive backup process. All you need to do is insert your DVD, run DVD Rip, and let it take care of the rest. “

And he’s not kidding!

The first time you run the automation program you will need to tell it where you want your root directory created for the files to rip to their individual folders for easy access later. (Note: these are all the .vob and .ifo files)

But before you go grab a stack of your DVD’s to back up to your hard drive there are a couple of things you need to know up front:

1. After you insert your DVD and run the ripping program, you’ll be asked to name your file.
2. Depending on your cpu speed, the amount of RAM you have and the speed of your DVD drive, in a few moments the files will be exactly where you expect them to be.
3. At this point you will be asked to insert a DVD-R so you can make a back up copy of your DVD. (The authors intent is to be able to view the back up and not chance harming your original) You can just remove your original DVD and hit cancel and be done.

But then you’ll need something to PLAY the files on your hard drive and Media Player Classic is just thing to use. (open the Video_TS.IFO to start the DVD menu)

And so far, the only hitch I’ve hit is when the DVD is just TOO BIG to fit on a standard DVD disc (“automatically” that is…you can pop into the menu and remove unneeded/unwanted extra’s; like spanish and/or french subtitles, extra commentaries, etc, to make the copy smaller…albeit less complete) — Now I have a Dual Layer DVD +/- R/RW, I’ve just not purchased any DL DVD discs to write to yet…but I will. And I’ll post here if that solves the problem.

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Andy Taylor1 CommentUncategorized

Alienware ALX – Tech Support

I’ve been testing out the Alienware for a month now and have not had any real major problems with it… It really is an awesome system and it’s been working great for me. If I had the money, I would buy this big monster machine.
So speaking of BIG… my feet… LOL… by accident knocked into the power cord under the table that the Alienware is sitting on and shut down the system completely. Well, when I went to go start it back up, nothing happened. I shut down the computer and unplug everything from the back, boot it back up… Nothing.
So I’m thinking, “Great, I few more days with the Alienware… and I busted it!!” So, the next thing I do is call the “tech expert” – Andy. He tells me to do the same thing. Unplug, Plug. Still Nothing. The next thing he says is to look for the “CMOSS” jumper on the board. Well, hell if I can find it. I look and look. Can’t see anything that says “CMOSS”. He tells me to power if off and wait.
After that, I decide to call Alienware ALX tech support and PRAY I don’t get anybody from that “place”… you know the one. Thankfully, I don’t. The tech support gentleman walked me through finding the “jumper” to re-set the motherboard. That literally took about 30 minutes. (definitely need some glasses). After finally finding it, he told me how to re-set it. I did that. We plugged the power cord back in, booted the system and then he walked me through the BIOS set up and – viola!!, the computer came back up and is now running beautifully again.
I was on the phone with Alienware ALX tech support for 45 minutes. The tech support gentleman (Antonio from Costa Rica) that helped me was so patient and helpful. So, I’m not only a fan of the Alienware ALX, I am also a fan of their tech support. I asked Antonio if they had a “feedback” form to fill out about the tech support call. He told me to send it to feedback@alienware.com and I would be able to send my feedback for the tech support call.
So, the moral of this story… if you have BIG feet, watch where you’re stretching them!! LOL. But if you do happen to stretch them to far, hopefully, you’ll get the same great help I did!!
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