dvd writers

My latest computer came with a dvd writer and I haven't the slightest idea how to use it. For example, if I wanted to make a copy of a movie on a dvd, how would I do it? More importantly, is it legal to make copies of dvds in this fashion (for home use, of course)? I figure it would be similar to the days of VHS and copying movies, but I am not sure if that is entirely legal either.

Any help would be appreciated.

Your computer should also have come with software that lets you burn DVDs. If you're running XP, this is built into the operating system; you can drag files onto the disk, XP will copy them to a buffer zone, and then you can use the 'Write Files To Disk' option within Explorer to burn them: open Explorer, click File, then click 'Write These Files to Disk'. I might have the wording slightly off.

If you want to do more, google for CopyToDVD, an excellent shareware program that will allow you to copy various things to a DVD. It costs around $40 to register it.

The history of copying DVDs is long and involved. First, know that most commercial DVDs are two layer, and therefore you can't copy them onto one single layer DVD. Sony is introducing two layer DVD burners now, but yours probably isn't one of them, because they're still expensive and not common.

It's supposed to be impossible to copy a DVD, but one of the manufacturers made a mistake in its decoding firmware, and from this, the entire encryption was rather quickly cracked. The code was freely available for awhile, then sites were made to remove it under the auspices of a law called the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which among other things makes it illegal to crack someone else's encryption and write about it.

For much, much more, check out the DVDRHelp.com website. There you can find specific tips, information about your drive, and so on.