How-To: Play DVDs On Your Media Player (XP/Vista)

In a previous post I discribed how to make backup copies of your DVDs, just in case. This guide will show how copy your DVDs so your favorite media player can use them.

DVD to Media Player

(PS3, PSP, iPod, AppleTV, PC)

The most common format used by modern media players is the AVC file format. This is same file type as the videos from Apple's iTunes Store. We can easily convert our DVDs to this file format with a little time and patience.

Computer Requirements:
Windows XP or Vista
DVD Drive
10GB of free space

Software You Will Need:
DVD Decrypter (free)
vStrip (free)
Red Kawa's PSP Video 9 or PS3 Video 9 (free but ad-supported)

Basic Instructions:

1. Use DVD Decrypter to copy your DVD to your PC's hard drive (.vob files).
   1. Select your DVD as the source.
   2. Select the desktop as the destination.
   3. Select only the VTS files to convert.
   4. Press the [DVD -> Hard Drive] icon to start.
      
2. Use vStrip to convert the multiple .vob files into one .vob file.
   1. Click the Input -> "Add..." button and select all the .vob files on your desktop.
   2. Click the "Output" tab and type an output name.
   3. Click the "Input" tab and click "Run" to begin.
      
3. Use Red Kawa's PSP Video 9 for a mobile media device or Red Kawa's PS3 Video 9 for home media decive. Don't worry about the "PSP" and "PS3" name, the video produced from these programs can be used my many, many devices.
   1. Click the "Convert" tab, then follow the Video Wizard.
   2. The entire converting process will take about x2 the video length for an older computer or Celeron M laptop, to about .5x the video length for a modern dual processor.
   3. Click the "Input" tab and click "Run" to begin.
   4. The converted file will be a .mp4, usuable by most media players.