well it looks like the answer was under my nose the whole time.Roxio creator basic 9,which came with my computer as a part of the free software bundle can save an image of the disk containing the VRO.files.i dabbled a lil wih roxio but most of the features require an upgrade so i left it alone for now.i can then play the images in WMP11.and compress the files with power archiver.the playback is not perfect but i did it without the "slower"processes.power arch only cut it down to 3gb,so i guess im at least half-way there.alls well that ends well.thanks for all the suggestions.