Originally posted by: electrictroy
I have no idea what to do with these *.bup, *.nfo, and other confusing files.

Why can't these LD rippers just use normal MPEG4/avi files that I can view with DivX Player?

(extremely frustrated at having wasted several days downloading files he can't make work)
Troy Heagy
Electrical Engineer

There's a very quick learning curve to all those files, electrictroy, so don't worry and don't get frustrated. Thing is, most preservationists here want as nice and clean of a DVD copy of the LD as possible and I'd wager most don't just want to watch on their computers. For that matter, if you DO prefer to watch on your computer, just get a DVD viewing program like PowerDVD, make sure all those files are in a folder called 'VIDEO_TS' and use PowerDVD (or whatever) to open them- they'll play just like a DVD in a stand-alone player.

That said, there's a great informative website that will tell you everything you want to know about all those file types and what to do with them. It is VideoHelp.Com and has a wealth of great stuff!

As to the files you already mentioned, the .BUP files are simply back-up files of the .VOB files (the actual video file the DVD player reads) and an .NFO is just a text document (open with Notepad or the equivalent) telling you details about the rip and source. A DVD folder generally contains .VOB, .IFO and .BUP files. The .IFO files are navigational command lists for the DVD player.

Hope this helped and please don't get frustrated!

And welcome!!!!