Copying DVD's to a hard drive

[Big Tuna]

How do you guys do it? Any good programs out there?

I want to play a dvd / blu-ray from my computers hard drive on my tv through an Eethernet cable. Anybody doing this?

[rybread]

You'll have to find a program called DVD decryptor. It's kind of tough to find these days but it's out there. You can copy discs, at least most DVDs, in the original disc format and then use a virtual drive to play them back. I have a home theater computer with over 150 movies stored like that, plus I used programs to shrink them down and copy them back onto DVDs if I want to take them somewhere. It just took awhile to find all the stuff I needed and the instruction on how to do it. If you need any help, private message me and I'll do the best I can

[KeyBored]

I use a virtual drive program called Alcohol to copy cd's and Dvd's and run them from my PC. Sometimes Alcohol can't get around the copy protection, so for that I use Anydvd - from same co that makes clonedvd.

Playing on the TV is another issue. You might be able to do so with ethernet cable or even wireless if your TV has those connections. Another way is to use HDMI connection if available.

Try this site for help

http://www.doom9.org/

[suncameout]

to back-up or copy your dvd's to your hard drive you can go to dvdshrink.org and download and install dvdshrink. it's free.

to play the movies from your hard drive over ethernet to your tv is a lot more work. you need a home theater pc (htpc) or a networked media player. these will connect to your tv and stream the movies from the hard drive by using either an ethernet cable or wireless (wi-fi).

google htpc, nmt, popcorn tv, egreat, dlink dsm, western digital tv to get a better picture of how it works together. i also have all my media files in a central location stored in a server and i use an egreat m31b and dlink dsm-750 to stream to different rooms in my house. the egreat which is connected thru an ethernet cable will play anything even high-def blu-ray movies. the dlink which is connected thru wireless G is only good for playing standard definition movies.

[rybread]

Here is my home theater computer;

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/rybread6/004.jpg

I keep all of my movies on it, most of them in the original DVD format, and control it from my laptop over the network. It looks right up to my TV via high-definition and in six channels directly into my stereo so I can control all the audiofrom the computer.It took me forever to get this set up just right. If you're not playing games on it, you don't need the fastest stuff out there, just fast enoughto play DVDs and runs YouTube or Hulu in full screen. There are all sorts ofgood websitesto find secrets to do it right.Good luck getting it done.

[djprep]

i used to do this in college. The best way to get the best quality is to have a tv that has a serial port for it. All of the new tvs have it. Then you can get a wireless keyboard, sit on your bed and use the tv as your own computer. Its really nice. Hope this helps

[Mike Honcho]

i used to do this in college. The best way to get the best quality is to have a tv that has a serial port for it. All of the new tvs have it. Then you can get a wireless keyboard, sit on your bed and use the tv as your own computer. Its really nice. Hope this helps

Serial port? Were you thinking VGA?

I have a Dell XPS M1720 and a DVI to HDMI cable works great and looks wonderful on my 1080P HDTV.

[Big Tuna]

Thanks for the info! My brother-in-law hooked me up w/ decryptor + shrink, which are running awesome.

Mike - I think its time for me to upgrade my tv! How do you 'control' whats playing on your tv through the computer?

[rybread]

I use a program called ultravnc (http://www.uvnc.com/). It puts what would be on the screen of my home theater computer on my laptop and I control it just like it was attached to my mouse on the laptop. It puts a server on the home theater computer and a client on the computer you want to control from. I've been using it for years.