Can you save DVD to external hard drive?

Table of Contents

  • 1. Why You Need to Copy DVD to Hard Drive
  • 2. Features of the best free DVD to hard drive software
  • 3. How to copy DVD to external hard drive
    • Step 1: Launch DVD copy software on desktop
    • Step 2: Click 'Copy' > Choose a copy mode > Load your DVD file
    • Step 3: Customize DVD output, video, and subtitle
    • Step 4: Set the output destination
    • Step 5: Start to copy DVD to computer
  • 4. Conclusion

Summary: Can I put all my DVDs on a hard drive? Of course, just copy DVD to hard drive free and fast on Windows or Mac with the best free DVD copy software, and watch your favorite DVD movies on TV and PC easily.

Want to copy DVD to computer or hard drive for better storage of DVD videos, or flexible playback of DVD movies with DVD player software? Preserving physical DVD discs calls for much space and bears a risk of being damaged and scratched. To resolve this problem, why not copy DVDs to hard drive for lasting preservation? If you are wondering ‘How to Copy DVD to My Computer’ at fast speed and high quality, you will find the best solution in this post. DVDFab DVD Copy, the easiest way to copy a DVD, is highly recommended. Subsequently, learn about the main features of this software and see how to use it to copy DVD to hard drive. 

Copy DVDs to Hard Drive Free and Fast

1. Why You Need to Copy DVD to Hard Drive

Do you know the reasons for ripping DVDs to hard drive? First, DVD discs are easy to scratch and fail to be played due to improper preservation and mechanical breakdown. Although commercial DVDs are expected to last over 50 years, they must be compressed on quality media and kept in a cool, dark, and dry place. Normally, heat, humidity, and improper handling can reduce the life span of optical discs, which makes it difficult for personal users to keep discs for so long. So, it is neccssary to learn how to cop DVD to hard drive. Second, your computer may fail to read DVD discs, even power up due to mechanical failure. In this case, you cannot play back DVD on computer, let alone copying DVDs to computer, unless you watch a DVD disc on a standalone player. Anyway, you can also copy DVD to a hard drive to avoid computer disorder. After all, the hard drive is also deemed as the safest way to copy DVD to HDD for better storage as long as you use it appropriately.

Can you save DVD to external hard drive?

2. Features of the best free DVD to hard drive software

In order to help you burn DVDs to hard drive easily without quality loss, DVDFab DVD Copy is your best assistant. Here are the reasons for my recommending this software to copy DVD to hard drive and PC. 

  • Copy DVDs to hard drive, folder, and ISO image file
  • Decrypt DVD copy protections free and automatically
  • Provide 6 copy modes to transfer DVDs to hard drive
  • Various video editing tools for you to customize a DVD
  • Support DVD disc, folder, and ISO input
  • Allow you to select preferred audio and subtitle to copy
  • Available on Windows and Mac
  • Free to use for up to 30 days without limitations

 i  Free Download     i  Free Download   

If you want to know the difference of such 6 copy modes, hare a review of another post. Next, let's see how to use DVDFab DVD Copy to download DVD to hard drive. 

Can you save DVD to external hard drive?

3. How to copy DVD to external hard drive

DVDFab DVD Copy is the best answer to how to copy a DVD to hard drive. Why? It can detect a DVD copy protection when reading your file and decrypt it automatically. So, with the help of this free software, you can copy DVDs to hard drive, even if they are copy-protected. Here are the common DVD copy protections potential in your DVD video, such as RC, RCE, APS, UOPs, ARccOS, RipGuard, Fake Playlist (99 titles).

Step 1: Launch DVD copy software on desktop

Download and install this free DVD copy software on a trial basis to copy DVD to computer and hard drive. This free DVD copy software works on Windows 10/8.1/8/7 and macOS 10.10 - 11.3. Is DVDFab DVD Copy safe to use? It is virus-free and very easy-to-use. 

 i  Free Download     i  Free Download  

Step 2: Click 'Copy' > Choose a copy mode > Load your DVD file

Can you save DVD to external hard drive?

DVDFab 12 includes many modules.

  • 'Copy' enables you to copy DVD to hard drive/computer/a blank disc
  • 'Ripper' allows you to convert DVD to digital such as MP4, MKV, AVI, etc.
  • 'Converter' helps you convert video and audio formats easily, like MKV to MP4, MP4 to MP3, Flac to MP3
  • 'Creator' lets you burn videos to DVD free with wonderful DVD covers and menu template

You aim to copy  DVD movies to hard drive, so select the module of 'Copy'. Then, choose a copy mode from the 6 options below.

  1. Full Disc: Copy all content of the disc/ISO/Folder source
  2. Main Movie: Only copy the main movie title of the disc/ISO/Folder source
  3. Customize: Copy any content you want form the disc/ISO/Folder source
  4. Split: Split one DVD 9 into two DVD 5
  5. Merge: Merge multiple DVDs or BDs into one DVD or BD (DVD and BD cannot be mixed)
  6. Clone/Burn: Clone DVD or BD in 1:1 ration with nothing lost

Next, import your DVD file to copy DVD to hard drive. It can be a DVD disc, folder, or an ISO file. Insert a DVD disc into the optical drive of your computer. Alternatively, press the ‘+Add’ button to load the ISO file or DVD folder, or simply drag & drop the file onto the ‘+’ area. DVDFab DVD Copy supports DVD to hard drive in batches, so you can add an many DVD files to this software to copy DVD to hard drive. You can copy DVD with different options: copy DVD-9 to DVD-5, DVD-9 to DVD-9, DVD-5 to DVD-5, and DVD-5 to DVD-9. Note that from DVD-9 to DVD-5, you will get output content inferior to the original in video image due to compression. But, you can improve video resolution up tp 1080p with Enlarger AI. 

Can you save DVD to external hard drive?

Step 3: Customize DVD output, video, and subtitle

Click the option of 'Advanced Settings' on the main interface of this DVD to hard drive software to identify output size: DVD-5 or DVD-9. Do not forget to tick ‘Copy DVD-Video (Video_TS folder)’, otherwise, you will get a blank disc or empty folder. Aside from copying DVD to computer, you can copy DVD to a hard drive via connecting your hard drive to the USB slot on your computer. Then set the file directory to save the output DVD content on a blank disc, as ISO file or DVD folder on computer HDD or on your external hard drive.

Can you save DVD to external hard drive?

In addition, you can set the output audio and subtitle by clicking such two options on the main interface of this DVD to hard drive program. Usually, there are multiple audios and subtitles in a DVD video. You can choose your favorite to make a backup copy of a DVD. 

Can you save DVD to external hard drive?

When you copy DVD to computer via Full Disc or Main Movie, the source DVD might contain Cinavia watermark. If so, you need a Cinavia-free tool DVD Cinavia Removal to avoid suddenly muted playback before copying DVD to computer with this DVD copy software. The same goes for copying DVD to hard drive.

Step 4: Set the output destination

  • If you want to burn DVDs to hard drive, click the first icon
  • If you desire to save DVD to folder, click the second option
  • If are expect to upload copied DVD to YouTube, click the third choice

Can you save DVD to external hard drive?

Step 5: Start to copy DVD to computer

Once done, tab the ‘Start’ button to copy the DVD. This DVD copying software will show real-time progress on the bar while copying DVD to hard drive or PC. In the meantime, you can stop copying DVD whenever you like, or just set your PC to auto shut down, exit the program, hibernate or do nothing when the DVD copy task is done. Once finished, you can watch the output DVD disc/ISO file/folder with DVDFab Player 6 on Windows or Mac, which will bring you a stunning visual experience.

 i  Free Download     i  Free Download  

The above 5 simple steps are how to copy DVD to computer with DVDFab DVD Copy. If you want to convert DVD to digital formats like MP4, MKV, etc.,  DVD Ripper in your best free assistant, a sort of disc ripping tool designed to rip and convert DVD to videos/audios of all popular formats that can be played on all kinds of mobile devices.

4. Conclusion

In a nutshell, next time when you wonder how to copy DVD to hard drive and computer, do not forget to read through this simple guideline. With this recommended best DVD copy software, you will be able to copy DVD to computer with high quality and blazing fast speed.

What is the best way to store my DVDs digitally?

Save DVD digital copies to cloud There're many choices of cloud storage services, such as Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Amazon Drive, and iCloud. They will keep your DVD digital library secure and allow you to stream them on demand to whatever cloud-compatible devices. It is easy to upload DVD backups to cloud.

Can I save my DVDs to digital?

If you want to convert your DVDs to digital files without paying money, you can check HandBrake. This is a free open source video transcoder for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It can convert your non-protected DVDs to digital files in MP4, MKV, and WebM. Without libdvdcss, it cannot handle copy-protected DVDs.

How many DVDs can I store on 1tb?

Normal DVDs are about 4.7 Gb. A terabyte is 1000 Gb so it would take about 213 DVD disks to store one terabyte.