dvd shrink is the best for ripping the dvd to your hard drive. Than use winavi converter to convert the dvd files to avi. dont do a free trial for winavi because it puts a logo in the middle of the picture. and make sure you get version 6 or 6.3
i do it the cheap ass way, connecting my laptop to my dvd recorder and just playing them in real time. top tip for getting all the ski flicks off totalvid onto dvd though, haw haw