How to copy DVD on Macbook

[kaneohe]

DW has a copy of something.....a tutorial on a musical instrument......that someone gave her on a DVD which is labelled DVD-R 1-16x Speed 4.7GB. Can a 2 yr old Macbook make a copy of that? If so, I assume using the same type of disc. How do you do that ......step-by-step for the ignorant pls. Thanks.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes.

Use the Disk Utility application.

First, you make a "disk image" of the DVD on your hard drive. Select "New Image" and I think you want to choose CD/DVD master or something like that and create the new image from your DW's DVD. This will create a file with a ".cdr" extension, I think.

Then later you can burn that to a blank DVD. Using Disk Utility again, I think you can select that .cdr file and select "burn" and it will take the blank DVD and make a copy.

Hope that is clear enough. You might search on the web for how to copy a DVD using Disk Utility for clearer instructions.

Audrey

 

[kaneohe]

Thanks, Audrey. Good start, anyway. Will find out when we actually try to do something. It's much better searching for something when you "know" it's there than searching in the dark. I did find the disc utility after you mentioned it so it's encouraging.

 

[kaneohe]

Finally attempted copying a DVD. Nobody mentioned anything about it taking forever......over 1.5 hrs, I think. That was just to copy from source DVD to the Mac Is that normal? When I started, the default format seemed to be .dmg and I just left it that way. Is that the format of the original DVD? There also seemed to be options to make it smaller. What's the preferable thing to do?

Since it took so long , I didn't see it finish copying from source DVD to Mac. DW took out source DVD , replaced it w/ blank, then for some reason, attempted to eject blank DVD with the eject key on keyboard. Nothing.
I tried to do it w/ disc utility. No success either (don't know if she played w/ the disc utility before trying to eject it). Later on, I was looking at the DVD slot to see if there was some mechanical eject button like for floppies. Didnt see anything but I did see 2 small dots and when I attempted to determine if they were screws or something else, the DVD popped out as I passed my finger by one of them....almost like it was an optical input .
Is this normal ? Does it make sense to have trouble ejecting DVD?

 

[audreyh1]

To copy a CD or DVD, you need to create a *.cdr file - that is for a CD or DVD master image. You have to select that specific format as part of creating a new image like I mentioned above.

For a DVD, it should be around 4G or so. It can take a while, but 1.5 hours sounds way too long for a MacBook only 2 years old.

Can't explain your eject behavior - maybe some trick I don't know! No - I don't believe there are any mechanical overrides for eject other than restarting the computer. Did you quite Disk Utility? If things are behaving really strangely you might need to restart your Mac to get your finder back into a good state.

Audrey

 

[HsiaoChu]

Didn't take more than 35 minutes with a large DVD using my old 2003 Powerbook 800. Either you have a drive issue or you are using disks that you internal drive does not like.

Z

 

[kaneohe]

To copy a CD or DVD, you need to create a *.cdr file - that is for a CD or DVD master image. You have to select that specific format as part of creating a new image like I mentioned above.
Audrey

Yes, I must admit, you did mention that above. Funny how even when I think I get it, I only really got 50% of it. Take 2........
btw.....do you normally just leave the copy on the Mac after making the DVD? Is there a lot of room on the hard drive or would this stuff clutter it up?

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, I must admit, you did mention that above. Funny how even when I think I get it, I only really got 50% of it. Take 2........
btw.....do you normally just leave the copy on the Mac after making the DVD? Is there a lot of room on the hard drive or would this stuff clutter it up?

I leave the copy on the Mac only if I expect to make several more copies in the future. Otherwise, it can take up a lot of hard drive space.

The *.cdr file will only take up the space actually used on the DVD, so it might be significantly less than the 4+G size of a full DVD.

Audrey

 

[kaneohe]

ok...back to square 1. I googled for more detailed info (yes, you did say that too).
Found out that earlier version of disc utility use .dmg instead of .cdr so maybe it's still ok? Anyway when I look at the screen in the disc utility mode, I see a .dmg disc there in the tree.

Silly question...the DVD goes in shiny side down right? I guess I should know since I
put the master disc in.....probably that way but not sure. When I put the blank destination DVD in that way, it goes in for a few seconds and then get ejected by itself.
Now what

The copy to hard drive from source and copy from hard drive to destination got interrupted because it took so long and because there were 2 cooks involved.
I assume you can still do it that way, right? But maybe some order of things I'm not doing right?

 

[audreyh1]

It's usually blank side down - the upside usually has printing on it unless it's a printable CD/DVD in which case the shiny side would be down, I think, because the printable surface is usually matte.

Well the only way I ever have done it is by selecting Image Format = DVD/CD master; and Encryption = none. And this creates a *.cdr file. I don't know any other way, but the Disk Utility Help gives a method that I copied below.

On this issue of the blank DVD being ejected. If you open Disk Utility first, then select the image you want to copy on the left window, and then select "Burn" from the top row of buttons, you'll probably get some type of "waiting for blank DVD" and it should accept the DVD unless there is something wrong with it.

Audrey
------------------------------------
Duplicating a CD or DVD
You can use Disk Utility to quickly copy many types of CDs and DVDs.

Disk Utility cannot create usable copies of discs with an incompatible format or discs that are copy-protected. (These include most commercial movie DVDs and audio CDs and some software and data discs.) To copy music from an audio CD to another CD, use iTunes, not Disk Utility.

To duplicate a disc, you first create a disk image of the disc you want to copy, and then use that image to burn copies. To burn a disc, you need an optical drive in your computer or connected directly to your computer. You can’t burn a disc using a remote optical drive.

To duplicate a CD or DVD:


Insert the CD or DVD disc in the optical drive, and select it in Disk Utility’s list of disks and volumes.


Choose File > New > “Disk Image from [name of disc].”


Type a name for the disk image.


Choose “compressed” or “read-only” from the Image Format pop-up menu.

Choose “compressed” to create a smaller disk image. Choose “read-only” to create a disk image that’s quicker to create and open.


Click Save.


After Disk Utility creates the disk image, eject the original CD or DVD.


Select the disk image in the list of disks and volumes, and choose Images > Burn.


When the Burn Disc dialog appears, insert a blank CD or DVD, and then click Burn.

You can continue using the disk image to create as many duplicate discs as you need.

 

[kaneohe]

Thanks, Audrey.