How To Copy a Better DVD

More often than not, people complain about the quality of their DVD movie copies.

Usually, the blame is given to the DVD Copy Software that they used. In some cases, the problem may lie with crappy DVD Copy software. However, if you are using a top of the line copying program, your problem may lie elsewhere. Here are some guidelines that you should follow when using any DVD movie copying program.

• Make sure your computer hardware (i.e. DVD burner) is in good condition and you have plenty of memory in your PC. I recommend 1GB but no less than 512MB.

• Keep your software current. Whatever DVD copying program you are using, keep it current. If there are other third party programs that are used with it, keep them current as well.

• Do not use just any blank DVD media. This is one of the most common reasons DVD copies turnout crappy. I highly recommend Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden blank DVD media. Avoid the cheap bargain brand DVD media. See this article.

• Do not burn to fast. As a guideline, use a burn speed that is 50% of the rated media. In other words, if the DVD media is rated at 16X, burn at 8X.

• Using an obsolete or defective DVD-RW or DVD-ROM drive. Purchase a new drive … they are cheap, don't you be.

• Other software installed on your PC may be conflicting or may be incompatible with your DVD copying software. Check with the company you purchased the DVD copying software from to see if software incompatibilities exist.

• Using laptop drives. It is never a good idea to use the built-in DVD burner in a laptop. I highly recommend that you purchase an external DVD burner that you can plug into your USB or firewire port on your PC.

• During the DVD copying process, do not use your PC for anything else until the process is complete (i.e. checking email, surfing the web, downloading, etc)

• Turn off or disable your screen saver during the DVD copying process. If you are copying a DVD and your screen saver kicks in during the process, it may lock up the DVD copying program. Possibly. I have seen it happen on PCs with very little memory and processing power.

• Before you begin copying DVDs, reboot your computer (if you were using it previously). This will flush and free up hemmed up memory and computer resources.

That's it! Now, if you are trying to copy a defective original DVD movie, use a free program called VSO Inspector to check your PC's hardware configuration to see if it can support DVD copying. Using this freeware, you can check the listed cd and dvd readers and writers connected to your computer, check the firmware used. The details about the media used and the speed supported by a given writer with this media. Also you can scan a burnt media for read errors and be confident about the readability of your fresh backup.

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