#22, mike, yeah right. Blu-Ray has record sales year after year, it defeated HD-DVD, and this is no different than what happened when DVDs came out. Videocassettes remained the dominant format for a long time. For someone who professes to be a video expert, you can't tell the difference between DVDs and HD formats? My computer records hundreds of gigabytes of HDTV per day. DVDs are pathetic SD material. Blu-Ray is higher quality than HDTV. I have news for you, streaming video content is mostly YouTube. While its 1080p content isn't bad, it doesn't come close to even HDTV, the bandwidth isn't there, except for the very small fraction of the US population with fiber to the home. There's also a difference between streaming video and downloaded video.

Pardon me:

From #31 above...

I forgot to mention that I did get an installation error as described in #29.

The solution: Simply ignore it; close the error message; start the app.

Apparently it didn't "know" it had the error, because started without issue.

I'm a bit surprised at all the installation confusion...

I WAS able to copy and paste the registration keys without issue.

I had to enter a user name only for the "converter" package.

There was a wee bit of confusion, on the first attempt to open the packages as I needed to enter the keys before I could do so, but not difficult.

In addition, startup/shutdown of all three apps seemed quite snappy in win7-64.

I haven't taken it farther than that...

Downloaded and installed without any problems on Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista. Before running the setup file after extracting the zip download, I created a directory 'Aplus2' under the 'Program Files' directory so I wouldn't have to look all over for the files (and mess up the Aplus DVD program from October 2010 GAOTD). Next I ran each program's setup file and registered the program before moving on to the next program installation.

I tried converting a short Flash Video to iPod Mpeg4 and received and received the following error:

TODO: has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Looks like the same result as several other that commented earlier. If the program cannot convert a simple video I'm not going to waste the time on trying the other programs. I wonder if I can still get a free pair of Nike shoes from the developer (see their web site - link provided with installation). Free shoes with software - too funny.

I have followed the APlus programsfor over two years, and I have worked closely with "Vincent", the program developer if a major problem developed. All of the programs have worked well. I wanted to tweak one or two of the programs and they worked exactly as I wanted them to do after a bit of tweaking. The programs are complex and I expect the need of a little adjusmentment occassionally.

Bigun

I don't know of anyone other than myself #14 who ONLY uses bluray, I don't like it, it's more expensive and we LOVE DVD, as do most people we know.

I recieved these error messages when installing this software on (64 bit)
it seemed to install just fine until I got to the install of the
VideoConverter and than at the end of the install I recieved these errors here.


"not enough storage is available to process this command"

"installation did not complete"

and this here..............

C:\PROGRAM FILES (86)\Aplus Video Converter Free\videoconvertpro.exe

an error accured while trying to replace the exisiting file

DeleteFile failed: code5

access is denied

click retry to try again, ignore to skp this file (not recommened) or Abort to cancel installation

----------------------------------------------------------

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. I thought maybe to uninstall and try again but will wait to see if anyone else has same problem or suggestions. Thanks so much.
All the registration went fine by the way even the registration with the converter. It just gave the error at end. And I have a rather large drive to install to so that could not surely be the problem. I have over 150 GB of storage left on drive. Unless they are not referring to this and something else? Please help if you can and thanks so much.

In reference to my comment #28, The new version will overwrite the older version so be careful if you have an older version installed.

I use Acronis True image Software's Try & Decide feature to try out new software so no harm can be done to my computer especially nice when the software overwrites previous versions.

Tried the today's download and it failed to copy a DVD.
I had an older version 8.90 from previous GOTD and it did copy the DVD.

Guess I will keep the older version.

For those of you proclaiming mywot (Web of Trust) ratings, STOP THE IGNORANCE!!! Web of Trust is, and can be, manipulated and, overall, is a scam by the WOT developers. They make money charging website owners to clean their websites up (so as to clear away bad ratings) after unscrupulously being tagged with the bad ratings.

Just Google 'wot scam' and find out for yourself before you put your mouths, or actually your typing fingers, into gear!

Does NOT install to the start menu so you have to do all the work yourself, in getting it to a place you can use it. It is very amateurish, and does not bode well for the software itself.

Does the ripper rip the caption as well with the video?

It didn't work on win 7 pro 32 bit. Uninstalling and clearing the registry right now.

#14: "Companies still make DVD software? Doesn’t everyone use Blu-ray now a days? Blu-ray drives are less then $40, why even bother with DVD."

Actually I'm reading more & more from respected sources that Blu-Ray is/was FAIL. Flimsy, higher priced discs, players that if connected can cripple themselves with new DRM, often harder to figure out & use menus & features, & video that often is either slightly better or the same quality as a regular DVD using the same Blu-Ray player. Everything I'm reading says streaming video is becoming the most watched [why so many Blu-Ray players & HDTVs have built-in streaming players], & DVD's staying the most common/popular for owned content.

As Harrym I experienced problems installing Converter. *Not enough memory* - what a piece of shite......there's plenty of memory (both physical and RAM) but the converter-part seems totally rubish.

#4: "Dvd Converter tries to install windows media player 11"

It actually contains wmfdist11.exe, which is the winmedia format runtime, IOW what you need to play winmedia files minus the player. Ironically that's the least offensive part of the converter install, AFAIK used primarily by those who don't like or want Windows Media Player itself. ;-)

* * *

#5: "The ripper just crashes after installation on windows 7 32bit."

While all 3 run for me everywhere the APlus DVD Ripper does use Direct Draw, D3D, Internet Explorer, & Windows Media [i.e. WMVCore.dll] if that helps...

* * *

#9: "... still no mention of win7."

Following the link at the top of today's GOTD page it lists Vista -- generally if an app's compatible with Vista it works in win7 just as well, & in 7 ult 64 SP1 I didn't have any problems... That is I didn't have any problems that weren't there in XP too. ;-)

* * *

#12: "When extracting the setup files, I had to direct it to my main Hard drive, then search out the actual setup files."

FWIW I usually just browse to the same folder I've got the GOTD setup.exe in, then afterward delete that original setup.exe file.

"Now I’m having difficulty registering because there wasn’t a license name provided on the read me. Not to mention that it wouldn’t let me copy and paste the extra long license key..."

Again FWIW, didn't have any problems pasting in the key [ctrl + v], & used both 1 & 2 word names successfully, e.g. "test it" & "mike".

Today's GOTD from APlus is a package of 3 apps: DVD Copy isn't bad, & unless you have something better, e.g. DVDFab [an earlier GOTD] or AnyDVD, I think it's worth your while to grab it -- DVD Ripper is a bit clunky, so I'd only suggest this part of the trio if you haven't got a decent ripper or converter already, i.e. while you're waiting for better to show up on GOTD -- the Video Converter is old tech & cumbersome, & while it can work I'd suggest a pass.

The GOTD Setup.exe is a WinRAR self-extractor combined with the usual wrapper that phones home to confirm the date -- it gives you the 3 individual setup files for the trio of APlus apps. Installing DVD Copy isn't bad at all, adding Start Menu shortcuts, the program's folder [73 files, 2 folders, ~4 MB], 1 uninstall & 1 APlus DVD Copy registry key [118 new registry entries recorded]. Installing the DVD Ripper adds Start Menu shortcuts, the program's folder [126 files, 7 folders, ~26 MB], & I recorded 53 new registry entries. The problem I see with it is it installs an older copy of Xvid, overwriting an existing install if you have one -- I'd suggest (re)installing the latest Xvid version afterward http://goo.gl/a1Wrn . If you're running XP & don't have any video related software installed, you **might** get away installing the Video Converter & not breaking video handling in Windows -- otherwise I'd advise a purely manual install if you want to go through the trouble [more on this later].

Testing DVD Copy I found it copied a complete retail DVD [7.48 GB] to my hard drive in 13 minutes [my slightly older LG drive has riplock removed (think of a copy speed limiting governor) using MediaCodeSpeedEdit http://goo.gl/l2nXg ]. It may not work on every DVD (depending on the DRM), & I wouldn't use it to do anything but put a full copy of a DVD on your hard drive [it gives you the option of creating smaller files to fit a DVD9 on a DVD5 blank], but from there you could use any number of apps like the free DVD Shrink, ImgBurn etc... it's the process of getting the DVD on your hard drive that's a bit rare. Note that in win7 ult 64 SP1, during the prep phase before copying started, DVD Copy appeared to stall, with Windows saying it had stopped responding -- I just needed to be patient, giving it time to figure out the DVD.

Testing DVD Ripper I found it worked on the DVD on my hard drive, but not the original DVD disc still in the drive. It simply converts a DVD to other video formats -- some video converters will not work with a DVD as-is -- but as I've mentioned, using it seems a bit clunky. It doesn't have a great selection of output templates or profiles, & unlike other rippers instead of a list of found titles, you have to let it play the DVD until the title you're after starts playing, then click the start button -- I had to wait until about 3 minutes of the main title had played before it worked properly for that title. Output looked very good, but run a short test 1st since the aspect ratio can be off -- you have a few choices of how to handle aspects when you set up the conversion. CPU usage on an AMD quad was good, but without the latest QT coding [used in most other GOTD converters nowadays] it's speed is only average.

The problems with the Video Converter are many, starting with an older design that does not let you trim or do any other editing to the video & again a lackluster choice of output templates/profiles. The Aplus Video Converter also takes an older approach to handling video input/output, using several individual files where other converters use a relative few. This translates into a horrendous installation, substituting the app's Direct Show, Quicktime, Real, & VFW files for what you already have installed -- many, perhaps most of these can break other video apps &/or the way video's handled in Windows. The only way I'd suggest running this Video Converter is if you 1) installed to a VM & copied the program's folder to your regular Windows install, or 2) use Universal Extractor [ http://goo.gl/8upF ] to expand the setup files, renamed the "{app}" folder, & copied it wherever on your hard drive, setting up any shortcuts to your Start Menu or desktop after that. Now it may or may not do the conversions you want it to, depending on if the APlus Video Converter's compatible with whatever you've already got installed, but you haven't destroyed anything else either. In my testing it would not for example open DVD VOB files [the full install to a VM would], but it did handle a 1080p .mkv file in the AVC format, if very slowly.

@8. There's nothing wrong with URL keyword "stuffing". It's a legitimate way (unless it's over stuffed) to stand out from crowd.

Installed ripper, but it seems to stop at 2% then doesn't respond. Running on Vista

I had same 2 error messages as the one before - but I have 746 GB of free space on my drive - this could indicate something in the age of the original program (too many years ago & it doesn't understand the nature of Large numbers that exist today). I had NO problems installing (Win7 - 32 bit)! I just opened Readme and Copy & Paste the proper install numbers in the proper database field and it thanked me. I built my proto-type for my line of computers so, I have nothing else to compare it to right now.

Companies still make DVD software? Doesn't everyone use Blu-ray now a days? Blu-ray drives are less then $40, why even bother with DVD. Pass on this one.

converter would not load....kept crashing. Two out of three ..not bad

When extracting the setup files, I had to direct it to my main Hard drive, then search out the actual setup files. Now I'm having difficulty registering because there wasn't a license name provided on the read me. Not to mention that it wouldn't let me copy and paste the extra long license key, I had to type it all in.Now all that times three because it's not a all in one program. I remember having the same problem the last time GOTD had this product. It hardly seems worth the effort for a program that requires so much difficulty to set up.

I do not recommend this software. There are just too many errors with it. Second, I decided to check the so called "Awards" that is says it received and have found NONE to be true! Not one had any rating at all and some were from 2004 (7 years ago), and many of these sites do not exist anymore. I can't trust software from a company that has to falsify awards.

The recent winx dvd copy pro, and yes made a perfect portable out of it, works much more efficient. View all positive comments here I'll stay with that one.

http://dvd-ripper-dvd-copy-video-converter-free.tomp4.com [yes, that's the homepage] doesn't mention win7 at all..

and no success getting to any other listed parts of the site, like products or downloads, or FAQ.

using the 'featured titles' links drops you into the aplus site- still no mention of win7.

I don't like companies who stuff their URL with keywords like this, so I think I'll pass. Also, http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/tomp4.com

I got the same error installing the converter, but it seems to of installed properly regardless, just launch it from the start menu or its .exe. Everything else worked nicely.

I also had an error message when installing the converter, but it seems to have installed okay anyway.

Through trial and error I found that the license name field for DVD Ripper and DVD Copy had to be left blank, but you have to put something (anything) in for Video Converter.

I might report back later after I've given them a try.

The ripper just crashes after installation on windows 7 32bit.

Dvd copy and Dvd Ripper both installed fine and you can use your own name during installation.
Dvd Converter tries to install windows media player 11 during installation but you have the option to cancel that attempted install and Dvd converter installs ok anyway and seems to work fine. No big thing but i'm not fond of windows media player so you don't have to install it either if you don't want to.
One other thing which may be minor - Web of Trust gives the Dvd ripper and Dvd converter websites very poor ratings, in the 20% range.
Might want to use a bit of caution if you visit them.

Can we select to install without the "converter" and its codecs??

Is there any choice in the install options??

DVD Copy and Ripper installed and registered OK.

The installation of Converter aborted with insufficient disk space on a disk with 145 GB free (!). Before aborting, it tried to install many dozens of codecs as startup items. Installing Converter is therefore not recommended, as this can conflict with the codecs already installed on the computer.

Anybody have recent experience with the Aplus suite?? The package GAOTHD had about a year ago did not copy so well. How does this compare now with the recently available WinX package??