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DVDFab Platinum Edition
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DVDFab Platinum Edition
DVD backup software
Requirements:
DVD burner recommended
Pros:
- Easy to use interface
- Shrinks DVDs so they'll fit on one disc
- Reads DVDs that other programs won't
Cons:
- Pricey
Price: $59.95
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Introduction
I'm well-known in my family for creating DVDs of special events and each year during our vacation. Family members each receive a copy of the DVD and I put one in my video archive so that I can drag out old memories after the years have passed. While DVDs theoretically will last thousands of years, the hands of children are capable of dramatically reducing that life span.
Just recently, I discovered that a special DVD of a family reunion had been damaged. The damage wasn't extensive (just about 1 second of play time), but it caused a hard freeze on the DVD at that point. I immediately attempted to create a backup copy of the DVD using all of the popular free programs available on the Internet. Every single one of them failed to copy the DVD. I was beginning to get quite upset.
I then stumbled upon a forum post from a fellow DVD enthusiast who said that he had been successful using a program called DVDFab. I wasn't going to get my hopes up, but I installed the trial version, inserted the damaged disc, and told DVDFab to do its magic. Magic it was! 10 minutes later, I had a new copy of the DVD. The original hard freeze was reduced to a 1/2 second skip in the playback that was hardly noticeable.
Problem two. Like other parents, my wife and I often purchase DVDs for our kids to watch. After about 6 months, the DVD starts to develop sections where it will malfunction during playback because of scratches on the surface of the disc. Not long thereafter, the disc is usually unusable because of extensive scratches.
The ideal solution would be to copy the DVD and let the kids play the copy. When they destroy it, pull out the pristine original and burn another copy. Unfortunately, the movie companies don't want you to do that, so they've added code to the DVD that prevents you from copying it. No worries. DVDFab can break through that code so that you can make a backup copy of that DVD. Let your kids destroy the backup and then make another one. It's a snap.
Note: Jimco Software does not advocate the unlawful distribution of DVDs. Purchased DVDs should be copied for backup and archival purposes only and you should not copy DVDs that you rent. You should also know that it is considered illegal to break the copy protection code on a DVD.
Let's have a look at how DVDFab works and why I feel that it's a great choice in DVD archival software even though it's not free like many other offerings.
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