Backing Up Your Discs

The idea of creating an image (exact copy of content) of a DVD or CD is nothing new or of even ripping music to a hard drive to be played on your computer or device.

How, though, can you create an image, and what can you do with it afterwards?

There are many tools readily available for download both commercial and for free. DVD Decrypter will create an ISO image of a disc even if it is encrypted, (This of course is illegal in some countries including the U.S.) It will also extract the video files of a disc, if this is chosen instead of an image. isorecorder will also create images but does not decrypt encrypted discs.

Once an image is created you can then burn that image to another disc for use while your original disc is safely archived.

Another option is to store and play the images directly from your hard drive. Many home media players will play image files as if they are just another DVD drive. This means you can instantly have access to all you personal media on the fly, and with no worry of changing or scratching discs. You can also mount the image on your computer for quick playback using free tools like Daemon-Tools-Lite 4.35.5 or Virtual-CDROM