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In the previous post, I was talking about backing up data. Well, here it is not just any type of data I want to talk about. Don’t dare lie to me you don’t love movies. I bet you do. And if you deal often with DVDs, spread your arms wide open and say “AVI, Welcome”.

For the information of you all who are not very geeky about video files, .avi is just one out of a whole lot of video files. Each file type (of any media be they text, audio, photos…etc) is very unique in one way or the other. How is the video file .avi unique?

AVI videos can hold lengthy videos at high quality while maintaining a relatively small file size. Now, what comes to your mind? Back up? Not yet! Ah! Actually, yes. You got it.

If you really want to keep those DVDs of yours safe, then what you should be thinking of is backing them up. To maximize storage space, you will need to rip your DVDs and convert the files to avi files before doing the backup. The backup I am referring here is by saving on your PC or just burning the files on a CD as normal data to play back on your PC using software that supports AVI Playback.

You got loads of DVDs you legally own? Would you like to reduce that load by 75% or 80%?

4 or 5 DVDs riped and converted into avi can be burned on 1 DVD, thereby reducing the loads of DVDs you have at home. To do this, you will need a software that can easily convert DVD to avi and burn on CDs of DVD.

I am in no way affiliated to Movavi videosuite, neither is this a sponsored post. I just love the way the software works and the interesting stuffs it can do when it comes to DVD ripping, compression and backup. With Movavi videosuite it is very easy for a noob to make his/her own DVD collection for personal/home use.

After you have acquired a copy of this marvellou software,

1. Run the Videosuite, click the DVD button and Add DVD. This will allow you to backup everything on the DVD. Choose the correct IFO or VOB files that you wish to copy.
2. Select the correct audio track for the movie.
3. Choose the output format for the movie. You will probably want that to be AVI in DivX or Xvid format.
4. Select the place on your hard drive to save the movie after conversion.
5. Click ‘convert’ to start reading from the DVD and saving to your computer.

You can use this method to store many DVDs on one disk if you like. DVDs are converted down to as little as 1/4 or 1/5 their original size but still maintain good quality, so you can reburn 4 or 5 movies to a single DVD-R disc and store more movies on less disks.

More stuff, less space!

Recently, my PC started misbehaving so I had to backup my files, format and reinstall it. Usually, I ought to have avoided it if I took system restore seriously.

Whenever I reinstall my PC, the first thing I think of is installing an antivirus. After that, I proceed with basic software like my printer and scanner, web cam, browsers and yahoo messenger..etc.

This time around, however, I decided that after reinstallation, I should create my very first system restore point so that in the case where anything goes wrong, instead of reinstallation I would just restore the PC to the first system restore point and it would appear as a brand new PC.

System restore is a very vital process and easy as well, so that even a caveman can do it. Let’s see how it is done in Windows XP.

1. Close any programs that are open.
2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. The System Restore Wizard opens.Note If the System Restore Wizard does not open, the System Restore feature may be turned off. To turn System Restore on, see the “More Information” section in this article.
3. Click Create a restore point, and then click Next.
4. In Restore point description box, type a description for the restore point. Use a description that is easy to understand. If you are creating a restore point before you install specific software or hardware, you could use that information in the description.Note The date and time are automatically added to your restore point. Therefore, you do not have to use them in your description.
5. Do one of the following:
   • To finish creating this restore point, click the Create button. The System Restore Wizard notifies you when the restore point is created.
   • To stop creating a restore point and to return to the Welcome to System Restore page, click the Back button.
   • To stop creating a restore point and to exit the System Restore Wizard, click the Cancel button.
6. When you are finished, click the Close button.