I have been looking for a good free easy to use DVD ripper for a little while now that I can use to copy DVDs that are copyright protected (for backups). I came across this gem called WinX DVD Ripper which is a 6.5 MB download and which will have you ripping DVD’s with ease.

I have had a few favorites and they have all either become paid software or they have been crippled via updates. The movie industry is a hard cookie to have mad at ya…

So the lawyers get cease and desist letters out to the developers and hey why would a free app writer want a long drawn out battle in court? Most don’t and cave.

Please note that it depends where you live – but deciding to copy DVDs that are copyright protected might be illegal! Know your country/state laws regarding ripping DVD’s. I am sticking by my story that I back up all my DVD’s so my little one doesn’t destroy them and the $30 they cost!

So the new kid on the block is WinX DVD ripper. I put it through the normal tests and it is really easy to use! Let’s take a look

Let’s set up our options, load our DVD in our drive and see how it works.

You choose the format you want to convert to by clicking on the appropriate tab. I chose the first one which is AVI (my format of choice). Then I left all of the settings alone and just modified the path to output to above the settings here:

I left the folder name the same and changed the drive it was writing to. When I was done with the settings I made sure my DVD was in a DVD ROM and recognized by my system and then I hit the blue start button.

Now it was time to play the waiting game..

You have the option of shutting down your machine when the rip is complete or for the application to open the output folder when it is done. If you want either of these options to happen simply check the corresponding box.

Once the rip is complete you will have a video file in the format of your choice in the folder you specified a few steps earlier. If you did not change the path it will live in the same drive you installed the software in a directory called OutPutFolder.

For real – I have never seen a quicker or easier method to ripping. What do you guys use to do this dirty job? Care to share your favorite applications to copy copyright protected DVDs with us in the comments? We would love to hear from you!

(By) Karl Gechlik is a superhero of the IT industry. His days are spent monitoring and maintaining systems on Wall Street. He helps people with their technical issues for free over at http://www.askTheAdmin.com.