Roxio Easy DVD Copy 2 Deluxe review

Like so many other disc-copying tools, Roxio's Easy DVD Copy 2 Deluxe is destined to disappoint in one very important area: it won't let you duplicate commercial DVD movie discs that are protected using CSS encryption, and it can't strip out Macrovision.

And besides, that would be illegal, wouldn't it? Roxio makes absolutely certain you know this with a disclaimer that appears when the program launches.

What you get for the very reasonable price of £14 is a program that makes quick and easy backups of your own DVD movie discs, as well as providing a few handy tools such as compression so that you can fit a two-layer DVD's contents on a single-layer 4.7GB disc.

The program's main interface couldn't be simpler. By default, it opens in CD & DVD Copy mode, and presents you with two drop-down boxes to specify source and destination drives. Don't worry if you don't have two DVD drives, as a virtual disc image burner is included, which enables you to copy to the PC's hard disk and back off again using a single DVD writer. As we've said, you can't use CD & DVD Copy to duplicate commercial discs. If the source disc is protected, a brief message tells you so and the Save As or Burn button remains greyed out.

Using a homemade DVD movie disc, we were prompted to choose how many duplicates we wanted to make and given a number of advanced options, including the ability to leave out any languages from the soundtrack that we didn't want. We're not sure how many people record DIY movies for the consumption of the entire Eurovision audience, but the option's there.

The second element of Disc Copier is a compilation maker. This works pretty much like standard disc-burning software: you simply drag and drop files into the window, check them in a small preview window and trim them to fit. It can then output files in Windows Media Video 9 format or, new in this version, DivX. This highly compressed format enables you to squeeze a full DVD movie on a rewriteable CD.

Two further applications complete the DVD Copy 2 Deluxe suite. Disc Image Loader allows you to preview the contents of disc images you've saved to your hard disk in a virtual drive without burning them first, which is something standard disc-burning software can't do. Sonic Cine Player is a very basic movie and DVD playback program, and lacks frills such as the aspect ratio correction or sophisticated surround-sound options you'll find in PowerDVD or WinDVD, but it can capture still snapshots from movies, unlike Windows Media Player.

Even if Easy DVD Copy 2's name involves a little sleight of hand, it's a very useful utility for anyone dealing with their own DVD movies. If you don't already own an up-to-date version of Ahead's Nero or Roxio's own Easy Media Creator 8, which includes the same facilities, it's well worth the money.