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They may be movies or TV shows youve purchased, or DVDs with personal videos or slideshows.

The goal is to rip your DVDs into digital files that you can edit or simply access and play without having to rely on the discs.

Ideally, you want a program that can rip digital files from any source accessible from a DVD, including the DVD itself, an ISO image, or folders of DVD files.

That latter option means youll be able to rip files stored in those VIDEOTS folders you often find on DVDs.

A good program should also let you rip DVDs to a variety of file formats, such as MP4s, AVIs, WMVs, and MOVs, as well as more compact formats designed for a mobile device.

Ripping copy-protected DVDs for personal use to back them up or view them on your PC or mobile device is still technically illegal, at least in the United States, as youre bypassing the copy protection.

But the feds arent likely to come knocking on your door if you restrict the copies to your own personal use.

You cant rip a video longer than five minutes and you cant rip copy-protected discs.

To rip longer videos and copy-protected DVDs, youll need to plunk down 39.95, but at least you can try before you buy.

With the paid version, I was able to successfully and easily rip DVDs from both my own home videos as well as from copy-protected videos.

The program can handle individual video files as well as folders on a DVD.

You can select from MP4 video, AVI video, WMV video, MOV video, and smaller formats for iOS and Android devices.

Next, choose the destination folder for the video file and then click on Run.

After the process is finished, just double-click on the digital file to view the video.

However, once you get the hang of it, youll find Handbrake an effective tool for ripping your DVDs.

You can select either a single video file, a folder of files, or the DVD directly.

You can choose the format for your video output from among a few dozen types.

Handbrake offers formats for PCs, the web, mobile devices, game consoles, and set-top boxes.

Then, trigger the rip, or as the program calls it, Start Encode.

After youre done, segue to the destination via File Explorer and double-click the video file to play it.

By itself, it cant rip commercial videos, as it doesnt support the removal of copy protection.

Search the web for a file called libdvdcss-2.dll.

You should be able to find it at a few different websites, such as the VideoLAN download index.

Best Dvd Rip Software For Mac