DVDs can store many types of video that can be saved to a Mac hard drive.
Downloading, or ripping, a DVD to a Mac hard drive may violate federal law regarding copyright infringement. For this reason, many DVDs come with a copy-proof seal or an equivalent security precaution to protect the video on the disc. Whether a DVD can be copied depends on both federal law and the production team that created the video. Depending on the DVD, free software is available to download video from a DVD to a Mac hard drive for later playback or archiving.
Instructions
1. Go to the HandBrake website and download the Mac OS 10.5 / 10.6 version of HandBrake by clicking on "Download HandBrake" and following the instructions. For older Macs, other versions of HandBrake are available.
2. Open the downloaded file, and double click on the HandBrake icon. The folder will unzip and launch the HandBrake installer. Follow HandBrake's on-screen instructions to finish installing the software.
3. Insert the DVD into your computer's disc drive. Launch HandBrake, and wait for the program to load the DVD. Quit any other applications that may launch to play the DVD.
4. Click the green "Start" button at the top of HandBrake window to rip the DVD to the Mac hard drive. Upon completion, a window will pop up that reads "Put down that cocktail . . . Your HandBrake queue is done!"
Tags: hard drive