ABOUT FACTS NET

Product Review

Picture Source - Clipart.com

Click Here to see the specs of the computer this software is run on.

Do you need to make backups of your dvds? Its getting harder and harder to do nowadays because the entertainment industry is making it that way. They would like you not to be able to back up anything and not be able to copy any shows from your tv. But there are two software programs out there that address the copy problem and are great at what they do. Both programs must be run at once however and this means buying two pieces of software instead of one. If you are serious about making backups of your collection you will find the purchase of these programs well worth the cost. Both programs are from SlySoft. Lets examine the first piece of software:

AnyDVD - This program will set you back $39.00 if purchased alone. If you buy it with CloneDVD (which we didn't test, we tested CloneDVD2) it will cost you $78.00 This piece of software is a run and forget program. It runs in the background and you can even forget that it is there. What it does is descrambles DVDs automatically in the background. You won't even notice it doing its job, but do its job it does very well. When a copy program looks at your inserted dvd to make a copy, it sees it after AnyDVD has done its job. The dvd will appear copy protection free and region code free. Many copy programs will work with AnyDVD but many won't because the dvd will appear too large to put on a dvd copy. You need a program that will shrink it down to fit. While there are programs that do this, I suggest using CloneDVD2 which was made to work with AnyDVD. I have used the program with an older version of DVD XCopy Xpress and it seemed to work fine, even copying a dvd that XCopy Xpress couldn't copy on its own. I tried it with Nero but I got a report back that the resulting dvd was too big for recording to a standard dvd.

So how does AnyDVD fool the copy program into thinking that the disk is unprotected? This happens because it works as a driver. It will remove applications that cause subtitles, allows programs to execute on the insertion of a disk, allows you to control the speed of your dvd drives, allows sharing of dvds over a network even if they are protected, doesn't need an ASPI driver and will do the same for audio cds. It is claimed that it will work with any copy program, but as I said earlier, if that program can't shrink the dvd down to fit on a dvd then it won't be of much use to you. In all fairness, you are able to leave off portions of the dvd with some copy programs, such as trailers and extra material and the resulting copy might be small enough to fit but I doubt it. A full trial copy is available that will allow you to use this program for 30 days without restriction.

CloneDVD2 - This is Slysoft's new copy program for DVDs and Audio cds. At last check its cost was a little over $52.00. The price seems to ride with the value of the dollar vs the euro. You can pay for these programs in either dollars or euros. CloneDVD2 is fast, one of the fastest copy programs around. When you first start the program you may be a little confused on how to set up the source to copy from, but once you do it, it is quite easy. Just select the dvd then the main folder from the menu. The program will also allow you to copy dvd files and make ISO files. After you select the source to copy from, a preview screen opens up and you will be shown the details on the source. There is help available in the program and if you are connected to the internet there is also help available from the SlySoft website. After you run CloneDVD2 it will close if you don't have AnyDVD running and you have a copy protected DVD in a drive to copy, but first it will warn you. You can set the quality and a few other things for the copy process. I haven't tried it but there is a cut option that is also available. Limited information is available on you source dvd by clicking on the information tab.

If you click on preferences on the upper right part of the program there are some interesting options, such as check boxes, for automatic updating of the program, overwriting rewriteable media, enabling auto selection for removed streams, filtering unreferred material to improve file splitting and a section where you can select different sounds to designate when certain tasks are finished or to alert you of a failure. If you don't like the preset sounds you can insert your own since they are wav files. There are some choices for the types of copy to create, they are DVD-5, DVD+R DL, Mini DVD, DVD Ram and custom. Custom allows you to set the size of the dvd you are copying to. This will be useless to most of us that use standard dvds.

As with AnyDVD, a full trial copy of CloneDVD2 is available without restriction for 30 days.

I would have to go so far as to say that at this point in time, I believe that these two programs are probably the best on the market when run together. On the minus side, you are looking at an investment of over $90 for the two of them unless the company decides to give a bundle price, which could happen any day.