How To Create Travel Copies of Your DVDs

July is upon us and for many people that means vacation time. Going on vacation might involve a bit of travelling, and to prevent your kids from going full retard in the backseat as soon as you pull out of the driveway, why don’t you entertain them with their favorite DVDs? Traveling with a suitcase full of DVDs can be a pain, though, so making copies of them and putting them on a USB stick or a laptop computer can be a life saver. Here’s how you create travel copies of your DVDs.

Please note that I've only tested this on the 64 bit version of Windows 7 and Windows 8. It might work on other setups as well, but this guide will only go through the necessary steps on Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Since it's technically illegal in most countries for you to make copies of DVDs you own and have purchased with your hard earned money, you're aware that you're possibly about to commit a big no-no.

With that out of the way, let’s get started.

  1. Download and install the latest version of Handbrake. Select the correct Handbrake version for your version of Windows 7 or Windows 8, either 32 bit or 64 bit. If you are not sure which version of Windows you’re running, Microsoft can help you find out.
  2. Download the latest, compiled version of libdvdcss. This library is used to decrypt the DVD so you can create a travel backup. The compiled version will have a name ending with “dll” and be inside a folder with a name matching the version of Handbrake you downloaded, for instance win64. Here’s a direct link to the most recent 64 bit DLL at the time of writing.
  3. Copy the DLL file you downloaded to your Handbrake installation directory (most likely C:\Program Files\Handbrake) and rename it to libdvdcss.dll. If you have already opened Handbrake, close it.
  4. Open Handbrake.
  5. Insert the DVD you want to make a travel copy of in your computer’s DVD player.
  6. In Handbrake, click on the Source button and then select the DVD player. Handbrake will now scan the DVD. This might take a few minutes.
  7. Select the preset you want to use from the list on the right.
  8. Change any options you feel necessary (adding subtitles might for instance be a good idea).
  9. Tell Handbrake where you want the DVD copy to be saved.
  10. Click the Start button and off you go. Handbrake will now create a travel copy of the DVD. This might take quite some time, depending on the raw power inside your computer and the length of the DVD.

For viewing the travel copy, I recommend using the VLC media player.

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