How to Copy DVD to USB Flash Drive to Play on TV/Computer/Car...

With the dramatic reduction of DVD players and disc drives, it's time to digitize DVDs to free them from the shiny silver prisons for more flexible playback. Saving DVD digital copies to USB flash drive offers a convenient way to enjoy the DVD content on any device with a USB port without carrying bulky discs. And copying DVD to USB drives also keeps you from troubles like disc loss, scratch, damage, declutters your room and saves your local storage space.

Nevertheless, in most cases, you cannot transfer DVD to USB drives directly, whether it's pendrive, flash drive, or thumb drive. The proper solution is to rip DVD to digital formats with a DVD ripper and then copy the DVD movie to USB flash drive for backup and playback on your TV, car, laptop. etc.. In this article, we will mainly talk about how to copy-protected DVDs to USB drive with or without computer. We'll also cover how to transfer DVDs to USB directly.

Part 1. How to Copy DVD to USB Flash Drive Directly

Is it possible to copy DVD to USB flash drive directly? Yes. If the source DVDs are homemade, then you can copy them to USB drive direclty and you can finish the job easily by yourself. And it's kind of conventional, and also super easy to operate.

Step 1. Insert the DVD into the disk drive and plug in the USB flash drive into the USB port.

Step 2. Open the DVD drive in your computer by double-clicking. Copy all the DVD's contents and files.

Step 3. Then go back to open the USB drive, and paste the selected DVD files to the USB drive.

Although copying a homemade DVD to a USB drive may seem easy, there are 2 things that you may need to know in advance.

1. This method is only applicable for non-protected DVDs. In reality, various encryptions are used on DVDs to prevent direct copying of DVDs to USB or other storage devices. If you attempt to transfer a protected DVD to a USB flash drive using the above method, you may find the DVD empty, the files corrupted, or unplayable.

2 This method only copy the original files saved in the DVDs and you cannot change their formats. So if you want to save them in a USB and play them on your smart TV or somewhere else, there may be some problems, since most smart TVs have its own unique media file format requirements.

Therefore, if you want to transfer protected DVD sto USB drives for playback without limits, you need a third-party DVD to USB converter to rip DVDs to digital formats. that is exactly what we are going to talk about in the Part 2.

Part 2. How to Copy Protected DVDs to USB Drive on Windows and Mac

DumboFab DVD Ripper is the best DVD to USB converter in the market which is able to rip any copy-protected DVDs to any digital formats in just a few clicks. It's is available for Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, etc. and it's also compatible with macOS Sonoma and lower. Its features include but are not limited to:

[Tutorial] How to Rip DVD to USB Flash Drive with DumboFab DVD Ripper

To begin with, you need to download and install this free DVD to USB converter tool on your Windows or macOS computer. Then, you will need a built-in or external DVD drive hooked to your PC. Finally, insert the USB memory stick into your computer's USB port. Once everything is OK, you can follow the steps below to start converting and copying a DVD to USB and then watch it on your TV or other devices.

Step 1: Load the source DVD.

Launch DumboFab DVD Ripper and insert the DVD you want to rip into the DVD drive. Then click "Load DVD" button to import souorce DVD. A couple of seconds later after loading DVD, all titles will be presented and main title will be selected automatically.

Step 2: Select an output format.

You can save files in any format to the USB flash drive. Below are some best settings:

1. If you want to copy DVDs to USB to play on a TV, LG/Samsung TV, PS5/4, Switch, Xbox One, PC, Mac, or other devices with a USB port, you're recommended to select H.264 MP4 from Common Video category for its wide compatibility, good quality and small file size. You can adjust the subtitles, audio tracks, edit, etc.

Important Note: Note that not all TVs support USB playback, so you should check your TV's user manual or specifications to see if it supports USB playback. Additionally, some TVs may only support specific video file formats, so you should check the TV's specifications to see which file formats are supported.

2. If you want to copy DVDs in 1:1 to USB drive without quality loss, you can click "Copy the entire disc" button to backup the full DVD content with original disc structure. Or you can click Format > Copy > Directly Copy to copy the main movie title as a single .VOB file.

Step 3: Choose your USB drive as the output folder.

Once you have selected the output format, click the "Browse" button to choose the folder in your USB drive where you want to save the ripped DVD video. Make sure your USB drive has enough storage capacity.

Step 4: Start to rip and copy the DVD to USB drive.

Once everything completes, click the big "Convert" button to start the DVD to USB conversion process. The software will begin to rip the DVD and convert it to the selected format for your USB drive. The time it takes to complete the process depends on the size of the DVD, the speed of your computer, and your settings. After the process is finished, you can safely remove the USB drive from your computer and plug it into your TV or other devices to enjoy your digital DVD video.

Part 3. How to Transfer DVD to USB without computer

Is it possible to transfer DVD to USB without computer? Of course yes. DVD to USB services near you can help you do it. There are many such services on the market and they typically involve sending your DVD to the service provider, who will then convert the data to a digital format and save it onto a USB drive. Below are a few DVD to USB transfer services for you.

Walmart Photo:

This DVD to USB transfer service accepts YesDVD, Walmart DVD, DVD, CD, VCD, and MiniDVD. You simply need to create order online, send in your media (drop off at a Walmart store or use UPS provided shipping label), wait for the media to digitize. The digital copies of your DVDs will be stored in your MemoryCloud account. This is open to you for 60 days in which you can view and download the digital copy to your computer, smartphone, or tablet, and you can order additional DVDs or USBs.

A digital copy charges $12.96 for the first 30 minutes and $5.46 for each additional 30 minutes. An additional DVD copy charges $3.96 while an additional USB copy charges $12.96.

CVS Photo:

This service accepts YesDVD, CVS YesDVD, DVD, CD, VCD, and MiniDVD. Like Walmart Photo, you simply need to create order online, bring your media to your local CVS Photo Center, wait for the media to digitize, and receive your DVD, Blu-ray, or USB, digital copy, and original media. The digital copies are also stored in your MemoryCloud account and they are also open to you for 60 days to view and download.

A DVD copy charges $25.99 for 90 minutes from 1 device, a Blu-ray copy charges $33.99 for 90 minutes from 1 device, while a USB copy charges $34.99 for 90 minutes from 1 device.

Forever Studios:

This DVD to USB transfer service accepts DVD, CD, Data & Mini Disks, SD, CF & Micro cards, USB flash drives, and data storage disks. You need to enter the quantity of media items you would like to transfer and how you’d like to receive your digital media back, send your media, wait for the media to transfer, and receive your USB copy. You can choose to get a Forever Safe USB, a Forever Cloud link, or a DVD set.

It costs $15 per DVD for the digitizing service. Additionally, you need to pay $29 per USB drive.

Important Note: The pricing and turnaround time for these services can vary depending on the specific store or studio location. And not all these DVD to USB transfer services offers services on your location.

Part 4: Q & A for Copying DVD to USB for Playback

1. Why do USB DVD movies not play on TV?

If you ask how many movies can a 32GB flash drive hold, it depends on how many DVDs you want to transfer to the USB and what settings you choose. If you simply need to make digital copies of your DVD collections to USB drives with exact same quality & data, you can use DumboFab DVD Ripper to make 1:1 DVD copy, which will be as large as the DVD movie. Then you may need a USB stick with a larger capacity sooner.

If you convert a DVD to MP4, a DVD can be shrunk to 1~2GBs. DumboFab DVD Ripper is able to reduce 80% of the original DVD size. That means a 4.7GB DVD can be ripped to a movie at ~700MB. A 256GB flash drive at about $35 can store 300+ DVD movies.

2. What USB flash drive capacity do you need to save your DVD collections?

When you insert the USB stick into your TV and try to play the DVD movies from the USB on the TV, it may not work and no files are here. In this case, consider the following reasons:

3. Can I copy DVD to USB with VLC?

Yes. Besides a full-fledged media player that supports a pretty extensive list of video and audio formats, VLC offers an easy way to transcode video/DVD to MP4 H.264, H.265, WMV, WebM, and more digital video formats. To copy a DVD to USB stick with VLC, you simply need to select Add > Convert / Save > Profile, select an output format and click Start to rip.

However, VLC comes with a few trade-offs. VLC just supports ripping CSS and regional discs. You can't decrypt and rip a sophisticatedly-protected DVD with VLC, and you have no control over the conversion - resolution, bitrate, frame rate, deinterlacing, aspect ratio, volume, and more. Read our guide on how to rip DVDs to MP4 with VLC.