The freeware app, DVD Decrypter, will allow you to make an ISO image and burn it to disk, aka 'copy.' It also has a mode called IFO I, which will extract the individual titles as complete mpg-2 files (with a vob extension and embedded audio) to your hard drive.

These files are fully compatible with DVD-A, and you should be able to author a new DVD and burn it without re-encoding.

Is this done from a menu selection, or must one concatenate the files manually? Which are the proper VOB files? It can't be a matter of just renaming them, can it?

There are many ways to concatenate the VOB files but I do it from a DOS or Command window. For example:

F:\VIDEO_TS>copy /B VTS_01_1.VOB+VTS_01_2.VOB+VTS_01_3.VOB d:\temp.mpg

Note that in my case VTS_01_0.VOB is the menu. If you have two videos on your DVD, the second will be prefixed VTS_02_1 etc.

Each video on the DVD will be cut into 1GB chunks, with the last chunk less than 1GB.

Don't forget the /B switch (binary) else the concatenation will be done assuming ASCII files.

You can just rename the VOB files but you will probably get a glitch at the end and/or beginning of each file if this is all you do. You see the original video file has been arbitrarily cut at 1GB boundaries regardless of the content purely to comply with the DVD file system restrictions. Some of the info needed to define the first frame on say the second file may be contained at the end of the first file.

Is there any way to extract one of the videos to make a new DVD? There are several ways to do this.

1. Use DVD Shrink (a freeware application) in the "re-author" mode. Before you do anything, change the DVD Shrink options to tell it create a single VOB file. Then, choose "re-author" and then drag the title you are interesting in copying from the right pane to the left pane. If you aren't certain which title is the one you want, you can play it first from within DVD Shrink. Then, click on Backup. This will create a single VOB file. You can then drop this VOB file directly into DVD Architect and proceed to create a new DVD.

2. As already suggested, use DVD Decrypter, another free utility. Use the File (F) mode. Prior to proceeding, change the options to tell DVD Decrypter to make one file. Proceed to backup the DVD and proceed as in #1 above.

3. The third option is perhaps the most intriguing. You can use a third free utility called "VOB Blanker" which lets you maintain everything about your original DVD, including the menus. What this utility does is copy all the original files, so you end up with an exact copy of your original DVD except that it "blanks" the VOB files for the part of the DVD you don't want to keep. You will still have the menu items for the video that no longer exists, and if you click on those menu items nothing at all happens. This option saves you from having to re-construct new menus.

Thanks guys. Very helpful.