Hi I am a real newbie to DVDFab having chosen it after reading various Forums on the best copying software but I am having big problems trying to copy DVD's to go on to my Itouch and it is proving very frustrating. I don't profess either to understand a lot of the discussions on the forum but just needed something simple and straightforward to operate.

I purchased DVDFab Gold 5000 just before 5020 came out and when I found I needed CSS, DVDFab advised me to upgrade to Platinum Mobile 5020 which I did. However trying to copy any DVD's (CSS or not) literally takes hours. I have only managed to copy one 90 minute DVD which took over 4 hours and now anything else I try to copy says it will take well into double figures to complete so I just have to cancel it.

I have been in contact with Support who suggested resetting RMA which I have done but has not changed anything. I have gone through the FAQ's and Tutorial but can't see anything which covers this problems or explains whether I have the right settings.

Is my hardware at fault - my PC and DVD player is about 4 years old.

What is the average time to copy a DVD?

I have Windows XP Home edition.

I would greatly appreciate any advice from this very knowledgable forum.

Sounds like you are in the PIO mode and needs to be reset to the DMA mode in fab setting you will see the (reset DMA) just click it, also there is a fab forum on freaks also there is an update to 5.0.2.5. Is there a firmware update out for your burner ? You always want to make sure that your burner has the latest updates

Bridge Man
Welcome to CDfreaks
Please upgrade to the 5.0.2.5 version several minor problems with the 5.0.2.0 version.

bean55

Hi guys

Many thanks for your advice on this problem.

I have installed 5.0.2.5 and that appears to have helped a little. Certainly when copying my PC was more responsive as previously it just virtually went into dead mode. I also reset the DMA. BTW what is PIO?

The copying time was still around 6 hrs but better than the 17 / 18 hrs I had seen previously so with it dropping gradually I went to bed leaving things to run. Next morning it had copied the DVD but had then gone on to do a second pass, which was going to be another 6 hours, even though I had it set for just 1 pass. I stopped it at that point and ended up with just 25 minutes of copying. How can I make sure it only does 1 pass?

I have checked the burner (16X) but can't find a make on it to look for updates so thats awaiting a reply from the PC maker to see what they suggest. I am beginning to think that this might be more down to my hardware and at worst I will install a new internal/external burner.

However would appreciate any thoughts on the couple of questions posed and would once again thank you for your assistance.

Since your burner is more than 2 years old a firmware update is needed, if you give us the make and model of your computer we may be able to help you find the update.
If you can't get a firmware update I myself would get a newer burner, they are pretty cheap right now.

The average time to copy a DVD to the Harddrive is 20 - 25 minutes
Not sure on time for converting to Itouch.

bean55

First off, let get a couple of things clear. Its not copying the dvd that takes so long, its converting the format to one that can be played on your itouch. You can actually copy a movie with a fast drive to a computer in less than 10 minutes, but realize, that 8GB movie is still going to be 8GB. Further, dvd uses the mpeg2 format which your itouch doesn't seem to even support (not surprising as mpeg 2 is an old, low compression format that would be crappy for portable players).

You have to convert it to a format that the itouch can play and that is what is taking so long. I haven't really used dvd fab so I couldn't tell you how it compares. You might find another program that is a bit faster but its still going to take a long time. I have been converting a lot of movies to h.264 (an mp4 format that your player can play) recently using nero, and on my athlon 64 3200 it takes 3+ hours while on my conroe e6300 it takes 2+ hours.

What matters for conversion the most is processor power, period. A faster processor will convert faster. If you have a decent amount of memory, more wont help. A faster drive most likely won't help either. Better software might help. but even with the best, its going to take a few hours, depending on the speed of your computer. Fyi, what processor does your computer have?

You could try nero (there is a free trial), just to see how the speed compares. I can get you started with that if you like. You can also look here for guides on converting dvd to mp4 (h.264 is probably the best for good quality and small size but it takes the most power for the player to decode).

Look here for guides (that may use one or many programs)
http://www.videohelp.com/guides
Under the Format Conversion dropdown, change it to dvd to mp4, acc or h264 (all are mp4 formats).
Here are programs that can do it (some free)
http://www.videohelp.com/tools
Under the Tool features dropdown, change it to the same format conversions mentioned above and then click search.

One little side thing that might help just a little bit (at least it wont have to be accessing the dvd drive for hours), copy the movie to your hard drive first. Download dvd decryptor (it discontinued but google and you should be able to find it somewhere), and with it in file mode, copy it to your hard drive. I can help with that too if you like. On a fast dvd drive, it takes less than 10 minutes. I'm not sure about dvdfab but nero can just work from the folder it creates on your hard drive.

One last thing. Rereading your post, if the computer is 4 years old, then that is most likely the primary cause of the long times. Your computer may just be that slow, and converting is almost completely Dependant on the speed of the processor. You might be able to improve speed with different software, but on a computer that old, its still going to take several hours.