@69, Neil -

Hi, You seem to have difficulties extracting zipped Packages of GAOTD, if I understand correctly? - Have You ever tried to use "ExtractNow" for unzipping? (I use it all the time!:), It's free and tiny, goes to Your right-click when pointing on a zip if You can't be bothered looking for it, say, but should You open it's little window beforehand - You can just simply drag anything needing unzipping into it) - AND what's more - always creates appropriate Folder (mine goes on Desktop, same as downloaded GOATD zips, all matter of personal preferences) with ALL Files in it. It never failed me yet:), for unzipping (extracting) only.

Here's a link -- http://www.extractnow.com/

I understand those hoping to hear of alternatives to what is being offered on here for free. Give an opinion of whether you liked it or not.But I think most of us miss the whole point of GOTD. It is to try TODAY'S software being offered by a developer. Let those of us who come here try it and eventually purchase it if it is what we are looking for. I thank GOTD for not editing out those who choose to offer other alternatives. I wouldn't have blamed them. But it is the websites bread and butter to offer something different every day. To steer us in another direction is disrespectful. If I am promoting Sony products and you are steering people to another alternative I would delete your posts. If you have opinions on all products offered here just give us your website to visit or blog and we can go there and get your respectful opinion.

#64 - Rob: Definitely uncheck the update feature. If the program updates, it will revert to a trial version and you will not be able to use it forever. The programs we get to try and keep here are given to us with the understanding that future updates are not included. We have to buy the program to get updates or future versions. It is VERY unthoughtful of the developer to give us a program that has "check for updates" checked so that it will update and become unusable, forcing us to buy a new copy to continue using it!

this software is amazingly awesome. very easy to work if you've ever worked a dvd ripper before perfect for making digital backups of your dvds incase they ever get scratched up. you can also crop out a small scene the length is your choice can be 1 minute or 10 minutes less or more and just snatch that so far i only tested wmv format and it works fantastic i did have to set the audio to "2 Channel Stereo " setting in order to hear the audio from the dvd tho.

my only suggestion that could make this better is add a video converter in with it to where you can convert any type of video to any other type then it would be the ultimate dvd ripping and video converting software on the market today.

Another valuable use for Giovanni's free alternative listings is when you have a problem activating the featured GOTD software because of issues with the new "WRAPPER". Sometimes I just cannot get it to activate. By the way---- How do you get the 2 SETUPS to be in the same folder? Sometimes I think that is my problem. Would like to see an actual tutorial on how to activate using the new system.

I must admit that the comments given by all on this website are very fruitful and extremely useful especially that of Giovanni. Thanks very much to all the software developers who are giving their valuable software as a limited 1 day offer. Today's software is extremely useful for long term use. Thanks to all again for providing their valuable inputs in giveaway of the day.

Prams.

#18 Do not change the name in the start menu, otherwise the program will be crippled.

Here is a perfect example of Giovanni doing all the legwork necessary to save me time and disappointment. I read all the above reviews of today's software and I was really debating whether to install and try it.

Then today, Giovanni wrote: "That being said, as for today’s giveaway it looks like an excellent software…very similar to Wondershare DVD Ripper (looks like a clone actually)."

Well, since I installed Wondershare DVD Ripper Platinum in the past from GAOTD, and I am quite pleased with it, today would have been a duplication of that offering.

Therefore, I saved myself the time and effort and resources of installing and then removing a duplicate program.

Once again, a big "THANK YOU" to Giovanni and GAOTD for allowing Giovanni to assist us!

"Check for updates every week"
Should we switch that off ?

If you go to Settings (Big cog wheel center top), that option is ticked.
Should we untick it ?

The program offered here seems to do what it claims. I will keep it for when I run into problems that another can't seem to deal with.
OFF TOPIC:
Come on, kids, settle down or take a time out. I love this site and all the info I have gleaned here over the years, to say nothing of some really great software. What I DO think is a shame is 'bickering'. Did your mother never tell you "Sticks and stones etc"?
Without mentioning any names I will say that I have some separate folders on one of my hard drives for several persons recommendations, advice, opinions, whatever.
Let's try to belay the little kid stuff.
gen

#46 and #47
I ripped a DVD using DVDFab and it took almost 1 hour on a XP with Pentium 4 and a mid grade graphic card. uRex has been working for 90 minutes and is at title 1 and has 17 more to go.At this rate it will take over 24 hours to do this. I liked the easy installation and looks of it but it is too slow for me. I also have Aiseesoft installed it also takes less than one hour. Based on the speed alone I will uninstall but if you have a faster computer it might work for you.
One thing they could do is add the function to shut down the computer when it is done.

Haven't seen it mentioned here yet so I'll post this. I also found a free giveaway copy of "uRex Video Converter Platinum Special Giveaway for Olympic 2012" on their website:
http://www.urexsoft.com/giveaway/2012-olympic-giveaway.html

#5 Dan
#22 Hawkeye
#35 Giovanni
#17 Lauvignac
and to all
You all made very good points. Actually it was not my intention to attack Giovanni personally. As most of you, I recognize the unpaid service he provides to us. Same for me : his comments are one of those I would read every day. So probably my comment was not balanced because yesterday I felt some discouragment when I saw his long list, .. I thought "should I test all of these ?! Plus, to be honest, I questioned myself on what makes Giovanni run for us, give us a large amount of his time. And badly I made the assumption it was for self-esteem. So I apology if I was unfair. Let me thank Giovanni again for his valuable insights, and also I want to tell him I am impressed of his knowledge !

#5 I understand what you are trying to say with Giovanni's lists, but I truly enjoy his commentary and his extensive lists of alternatives. Honestly, I would rather check the alternatives for myself, rather than accept blindly the opinion of someone else, even if I respect their opinions. Bottom line, GIOVANNI, keep up the great work, as others have said your comments and suggestions are one of the reasons I enjoy checking this site daily, even if I don't care about the software.
Now, a bit more on-topic, this is a wonderful ripper I am giving it a thumbs up, my problem is I now have so many rippers and converters I need to go through them all and decide which is the best for my needs, I have a lot of clean up work on the horizin!!

According to the special offer webpage (http://www.urexsoft.com/dvd-ripper/index.html), these are the things you get for your $19.90:
- Get iPhone 5 DVD Ripper for free (Listed as $24.95)
- Priority customer service
- Free lifetime upgrade

GOTD free offers do not have upgrades or service. DVD decryption software needs frequent updates due to changes in copy protection, so if you like this product, it's possible you would want to pay for a lifetime license. It doesn't mean this is a crippled version.

I'm a little puzzled as to why someone would need the uRex iPhone DVD ripper if they already had uRex DVD Ripper Platinum (which can rip to iPhone format). This comparison page http://www.urexsoft.com/free-dvd-ripper/ doesn't show that the iPhone ripper does anything that the Platinum doesn't already include.

BTW, this is uRex DVD Ripper Platinum version 3.5.

When I tried to load Disney "Up" on a Vista machine, DVD Ripper Platinum worked itself up to about 2G of memory 9 times then gave an "Out of system resources" message and died. It was not able to get to the actual ripping step, probably due to copy protection.
When I tried another DVD, it loaded almost instantly, and took 36 minutes to rip (about 100M memory). The first try produced a file with white noise for audio. When I changed the audio from AAC to AC3, the output file audio was fine.

It appeared to only use one processor on a dual-processor machine (never went over 50% CPU).

I also tried it on a new quad-processor Windows 7 pc. "Up" still failed with an "Out of system resources" message, and apparently only used one processor.

Pros:
- did a reasonable job on the DVD it ripped
Cons:
- not obvious what settings to use
- can't handle Disney copy protection

Installed fast and easy on XP.

One slight worry, Zemana Antilogger reported that it had "inserted code into an application" and was a "Code Injector" threat. Any ideas what that would be for?

Had version 3 from an old giveaway. I loved it; it worked great and did everything I needed, which was just simple ripping tasks. It's pretty quick and easy to customize for file size vs. quality. For some reason I thought it would be good to apply the update to 3.5 (this version). The update installed fine, but the program wouldn't launch... Windows said it wan't a valid Win32 Application. So I tried using today's giveaway version, but Comodo flagged it as a virus right away. So I temporarily disabled my AV because I consider GAOTD and uRex trustworthy. Now when I try to launch Setup I get an error box that says "Failed to launch program." Sucks for me, but give it a try if you haven't already. If you can get it to work it WILL be worth your while.

*Updated

Edit to previous post – I restarted my computer, re-ran my registry scanner, and re-downloaded. It installed just fine after that. I imagine the first download was corrupted somehow; I’m just glad I have it back!

heh
i kind of missed a little bit when i posted above

seems with the trial version, you are limited to
5-minutes of output

so no wonder it was so quick to convert & the
output so small

DUH

I've used products by this company before. I tried to run the setup and activation. I'm running Windows Me with an XP shell. Your setup program doesn't work in this environment even though the actual program does work.

Furthermore, I downloaded and installed the unregistered version with no problem and then tried to activate it with the key given in the Zip readme file. Didn't work, but the problem clearly lies with the Givewawayoftheday setup and not the product.

I know this OS isn't generally supported any more but I run most anything with it and can configure my own hardware without input from MS.

When a product supports earlier Windows versions, the seup should as well, Otherwise don't advertise it.

Needs slide bar so you can see the whole software
page on a Netbook like HP or ACER.

@GiveawayOfTheDay - Thank you for your free daily downloads!

@Giovanni - Thank you for your excellent recommendation, ToolWiz TimeFreeze (as well as the free DVD rippers). I've just tried it and it works just fine on my Win7 Home Premium, 64-bit. This will enable me to keep my computer free from drive-by rogue software installations.

Frank D

cannot install sandboxed on XP so had to download
direct from urex

XP SP3
v3.5

installs into directory of your choice, 16 MB

includes CHM help file

mouseover of the icons show no tooltips

the trashcan, which i expected it to delete, something,
instead brought up a tells me nothing "Getting started"
window?

at which point i was kind of dead in the water,
confused, & i shouldn't have been

finally figured out that i needed to select my ISO file
again

Volume: has a set of numbers, but just what do they mean?

again not clear, but there are a lot of editing functions
available - like who would have known!
cut, crop, brightness, contrast, saturation, mosaic,
blur, sharpen, emboss, noise, ...
real-time, side-by-side preview of your settings - even
during playback

who would have ever known!

input source has to be an DVD, ISO, or DVD "folder", so
this is not a generic ripper, converter in that sense
(like the earlier urex video converter)

a 3 GB ISO converting to MOV, MPEG4, 2000kbps is progressing
quickly - far more so then i would have expected
output ended up being 77 MB & looked OK to me

looks like it uses "libdvdcss"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libdvdcss

could use a little polish, make it a bit more friendly,
but it works

Installed without problems on Win 7 64-bit.

Nice and simple interface and enough options. But it's indeed slow. I mean, normally I use mencoder from a MinGW shell and that's certianly not the fastest ripper (but delicious quality oh my) but uRex DVD Ripper took much longer on a dvd, about two full hours longer than the movie length. Strangely enough it did not recognize my nVidia GeForce card, which could explain the slowness. The video was excellent quality though, exactly what I'd expected from the settings applied.

But please include permalinks in your review and awards section. You downloaded the badge, copypasted the text, so how hard is it to copy the link as well? Seriously, everybody is claiming awards and reviews these days but when searched they simply do not exist. The uRex DVD Ripper Platinum review on CNet does exist (but not in the reviews section), but what if I wasn't so handy with old G? Then a search would have turned up nothing and I'd think you're all charlatans. So please do yourself and us a favor and include links. It's friggin' copypasta anyway.

The ripper itself is a real decent one but I'll stick with mencoder. Thanks anyway uRex, thumbed up and thanks GOTD.

Re: Giovanni. 2 flames and +20 white knights. Let's keep it down a little mkay? For a second there I thought I was on facepalmbook.

44 sjf - can't agree more

Giovanni if you have to settle a score, take it somewhere else.

Downloaded and tried to install. Just stops after the UAC popup box. Win 7 64 bit. Shame 'cos it sounds like it would be ideal for me to rip my DVDs to my server.

Video conversion is by its very nature a slow process, regardless of the software used. A faster computer is the only thing that will change this. I suggest setting up the video conversion job, then letting it process overnight.

Easy to use but so sloooow. I mean 10 hours to convert a DVD to MKV.

Giovanni wrote: "As far as I’m concened whenever I don’t like a comment here or elsewhere I usually skip reading it without moaning or complaining about it against the author of that comment…that’s it…end of the story!"

That was just AFTER he wrote, "You know sometimes I find simply incredible how people can be so naive and obtuse while being online."

I guess this was the ONLY time he decided NOT to skip reading the comment...or not. I guess calling someone "naive and obtuse" ISN'T "moaning or complaining" in the hypocritical reality occupied by Giovanni.

He's insulted people and/or their suggestions in the past. While his suggestions may be valuable, his high-horse and hypocrisy aren't.

Ashraf never insulted anyone, not even obliquely, if I remember correctly. He never insinuated that his suggestions were the best and others not so much.

I have been one victim of Giovanni's insults regarding my suggestions. Other knowledgeable users have also suffered at the hands of Giovanni's dismissals/insults regarding their suggestions.

Knowledge isn't absolute. Not even his. Like any opinion, it's subject to debate, but not outright insulting dismissal.

But maybe it's just me being "naive and obtuse" while online.

Thanks, Giovanni! I always find your comments (and free alternative lists) very helpful. Please don't let one sour apple discourage you from sharing your comments and opinions with us. You and your comments are very much appreciated!

Abysmally slow. 4+ hours to convert a pre-ripped 90 minute movie to MP4 (2500 bps). MeGUI does this in just under the original video time. Uninstalling.

I rarely comment, but feel an obligation to say how very much I appreciate Giovanni's contributions.

Hooray and Yes Yes for Giovanni #35 above. :)

Checking this site daily, its offers, and alternatives goes with my morning coffee. Very nice site indeed! Giovanni seems to be the name of the day so, thanks dude, i looked up timefreeze. Peace y'all.

Installed no problem on XP
Easy to use interface and fast processing, twice as fast as DVD Fab, Handbrake, and WinDVD using half of the system resources makes it a winner in my book!
Excellent quality rip.

Didn't try subtitled movie or encrypted disk but as a solid, basic DVD ripper, I think this will become my first choice. If the other features work as easily and as well, it'll win my praises hands down.

I also appreciate Giovanni's comments. Sometimes they are not what I'm looking for, of course, but that's just how it goes.
The DVD ripper I always use is Handbrake. It's not just free, but also open source. To me that is an advantage, but probably not to everybody.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/handbrake/?source=directory
Besides, it runs on linux as well. :)

Hi, Things were said about Giovanni today, some might call it "constructive criticism" (comm#5), or personal "challenge" thrown His way, of lately.., Others recognizing His invaluable Service here. In-depth expertize of given Daily Software is usually provided by different regular Guys - Experts and Users alike, so we have a full Meal, where everyone uses different seasoning methods - some like more salt, some prefer black pepper, some reach for something more "exotic", or risky:) to find which suits best..

I personally find Giovanni a very important Spice on this Site, and without Him (and His enthusiasm!:) - this dish would be INCOMPLETE in taste?.. He often points people to Softwares their very existence would go a miss (or saves bother googling for one's self), gives hope and cheer to Those who miss the daily Offer, and always comes with line: Why not try (TRY!, where TRYING is voluntary) this and that for Free..

If I try anything from His Lists out of interest, or need - and I have (saw, tried and kept the T-shirt, lol) - I truly don't expect an apple - pealed, cored and portioned on the plate, or even that that apple will go with the main meal in perfect way(!).., but if I find out that something I tried was in any way "unsavory" - I try to warn others to be on their guard. Thats all we can do regarding this aspect of occasional "bad luck" with provided links.

And now, in Giovanni's manner - Friendly Ciao!:)

Thanks Dan, Francis etc... for your comment.

You know sometimes I find simply incredible how people can be so naive and obtuse while being online.

As far as I'm concened whenever I don't like a comment here or elsewhere I usually skip reading it without moaning or complaining about it against the author of that comment...that's it...end of the story!

After all what makes Internet so great is the FREEDOM it lets you enjoy whenever and wherever you are online.

And yes, you definitely hit the mark when you said why I always mention a huge list of best freeware alternatives: in fact, if I do that, it's because I understand that people's tastes & needs may be different than mine, not to mention that system resources (RAM, CPU, OS etc...) are also different...so what is the best tool for me could not be as good as for others.

But the only way to figure out whether or not a FREE TOOL is worth downloading and/or it matches your personal needs & tastes, is actually to try it...then it's up to you decide what's the best app for you!!

To test any software without messing up the registry of my machine, I highly recommend you using a magic FREE TOOL called "Toolwiz Timefreeze".

Good freeware alternatives can also replace any GAOTD you have downloaded here, should you lose the GAOTD KEY LICENSE due to a sudden PC crash for instance, not to mention that they are always UPDATABLE, unlike any GAOTD offered here.

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

That being said, as for today's giveaway it looks like an excellent software...very similar to Wondershare DVD Ripper (looks like a clone actually).

It's even able to convert any DVD movies into HD videos with an excellent output quality, giving users the ability to customize their own settings. Supports multi-core CPU processing and NVIDIA CUDA...so you can't ask more!! So it's definitely a keeper for me.

2 huge THUMBS UP from me!!


BEST FREEWARE ALTERNATIVES (Bapegual and Bubby permitting, of course...LOL!!)

* DVDFab HD Decrypter
Can remove almost all DVD protections of a whatsoever DVD and then copy your DVD/Blu-ray to your HD at higher speed than this GAOTD (for FREE of course…LOL!!)

http://www.dvdfab.com/hd-decrypter.htm

* (Portable) Bluray Decrypter 2.1.00
It removes any copy protection from Blu-rays (AACS) so that you can copy your blu-ray movies to your HD without losing quality.
Can also keep the Blu-ray folder structure, original 1080p video, original menu, as well as the original audio/subtitle tracks.

http://www.bluraytoavi.com/blu-ray-decrypter.html
http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFTWARE/Multimedia/Video/Portable-Bluray-Decrypter.shtml

* Free DVD Copy Decrypter
Handy and reliable utility designed to remove copy protection from DVDs, thus allowing you to copy them on your hard drive.

h t t p://www.bluraytoavi.com/dvd-decrypter.html

Then to convert your ripped DVD movies in whatever format you like, you can use award-winning freeware like FORMAT FACTORY, FREEMAKE VIDEO CONVERTER, FREE STUDIO 5 (http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/) or better yet the PORTABLE version of "XMedia Recode", an all-in-one video and audio converter tool, which can convert for FREE and at high speed any DVD and Blu-Ray movies into any format you like. With this FREE cool app advanced users are also able to modify bitrate, keyframe interval, framerate and the rate control mode of both videos and audio chapters.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFTWARE/Multimedia/Video/Portable-XMedia-Recode.shtml

Enjoy!!

I hardly see anything "Platinum" about this software. 3 protected discs (sports documentaries) failed to rip. And reading the comments where others had trouble too, I am uncertain if this particular version of the program really does everything its supposed to do and more.

For now, this program seems crippled and I can't really test it unless I have a disc that is not copy protected

"Also do not miss 24 Hours Special Offer for GOTD Users, 19.90 USD for Full Version of uRex DVD Ripper Platinum and Free Copy of iPhone Converter."

Really? So we are not actually getting the full version here already?

Also, while installing on Win 8 64bit windows stopped the setup in it's tracks saying it is not a trusted app.....? I have never had that happen with any setup file before.

I agree with #25 (danceasy) - The job Giovanni and others do make GAOTD so much more valuable. 90% of the time the software offered isn't really all that great, so it is nice to have a comment to read that gives a list of (usually free) great alternatives. I come to GAOTD daily just for those comments. Thanks to Giovanni and any others that go to this great effort.

25*Danceasy,i agree will you,Ashraf, Fubar,and Giovanni comments are well appreciated on this site,as for this GAOTD,i give it 4thumps up...

Was simple to activate.
Was simple to use (DVD disc to AVI)
I am impressed.

Another thumbs up for Mr. Giovanni. I find his comments interesting.
Different people are focused on different software. I am not interested so much in DVD rippers and video converters as in software that will help me move 200 business emails from outlook webmail to text, for example,or software that will scan and list to ebay with three clicks.

I am willing to pay for software I need but I cannot pay for everything I like,so I appreciate his list of free alternatives.
Thank you GAOTD for this website.

I myself use longo dvd copy if I need to copy a dvd and use anyvideo converter to concert them to whatever I need, it was also free and works great, I have never had a problem, also the longo copies copywrited dvds

Installed without problems however, attempting to rip 'Zulu' to play on my ipad at 720 res is taking forever, I began at 11am, it's now 1pm and still not halfway done. This is just not worth the trouble, sorry until the tech finds a way to quicken ripping of media I will not bother again. Many thanks to GAOTD.

How much different is this from Aiseesoft Total Media Converter Platinum? I don't know but I've been using Aiseesoft when it was offered here, it has not "balked" at ANY owned DVD I've converted to my Galaxy Tab or iPod touch (for my kids)so I'll install this app and see if it's the same or doe it faster. I don't think the Aiseesoft uses my processors cores very well as it does seem to slow down after using it on a couple of movies.

As far as the Giovanni comments. Give me a frigging break. The guy points out software the does the same job, if not better, and is free. He's providing a great service to us all and I've used his "recommendations" as a one stop shop on the invaluable service that GOTO and the developers provide to us all. And for nr 5. Interesting how you try to try to complement but slap the guy at the same time. Nice try. Keep up the good work GOTO, developers and most of all, Giovanni. I salute you all.

Obviously Giovanni's comment was kicked out, what for my opinion is a real pity and absolutely unnecessary, because he does not hold back anybody to test the daily offer, but is giving some additional choices.
Guys like him, Ashraf, Fubar etc. are doing a good job to keep the world versatile, and makes it worth to visit sites like GAOTD.

I read all the comments re. Mr. Giovanni. I am an ammature person in this soft ware use. But after reading comments from Mr. Giovanni I always feel enlightened and frankly to speak, I copy and save the useful Giovanni comments on mu PC for further use. I really appreciate the sincere and hard work from Mr. Giovanni. Thumbs up for him from me.

Giovanni's comment is one of the reasons I read GOTD each morning. I do compare the day's offering with the free programs Giovanni lists. I think the personal attack by Bapegua should never have been allowed to be posted by GOTD. And finally as of yet Giovanni has not posted, I will check back, hope his post is here later.

I saw "urex" in my email notice and immediately thought this software would have something to do with divorce. It doesn't. Not a thing. So my suggestion is change that name.