Sorry, the current disc is protected by AACS.

[Cuddly Squid]

I installed DVDFab on a Win7-64 system. When I run it I get this message:

Sorry, the current disc is protected by AACS.
More info...

More info... is a link. When I click it, DVDFab opens Firefox. But the Win7-64 system is not allowed to connect to the Internet, so that fails.

What do I need to do to make DVDFab useful on that Win7-64 system?

Thank You.

[Gummigutta]

You are using the US version?

[Cuddly Squid]

Hi Gummigutta,

You wrote:

You are using the US version?

Yeah, I guess so. The installer was DVDFab9157US.exe.

[signals]

Therein lies the problem. Please read this: http://www.dvdfab.cn/how_to_do_disc_...htm#how_to_faq

You will still need an internet connection on that PC, the requirement is clearly stated on the website.

[Ozzie]

I think I understand why the AACS warning comes up on the US version when inserting a BluRay, but why does it not come up when inserting a DVD?

[Gummigutta]

I think I understand why the AACS warning comes up on the US version when inserting a BluRay, but why does it not come up when inserting a DVD?

There is no AACS protection on DVDs.

[Cuddly Squid]

Therein lies the problem. Please read this: http://www.dvdfab.cn/how_to_do_disc_...htm#how_to_faq

You will still need an internet connection on that PC, the requirement is clearly stated on the website.

The Internet connection is Linux running in a virtual machine. Windows does not connect. This is by design.

Is there a workaround?

Thank You.

[signals]

No, not that I can see. Walling windows off may be important for something you use, but it will prevent DVDFab and many other applications from installing or running. There are manual proxy config controls in DVDFab Common Settings->General->Network, but I don't know if they will help you.

[Cuddly Squid]

The Internet connection is Linux running in a virtual machine. Windows does not connect. This is by design.

Is there a workaround?

Thank You.

No, not that I can see. Walling windows off may be important for something you use, but it will prevent DVDFab and many other applications from installing or running. There are manual proxy config controls in DVDFab Common Settings->General->Network, but I don't know if they will help you.

A proxy is just a server in the middle that acts as an intermediary to hide the client's Internet address or to provide some other service as a gateway to the general Internet. My Windows system doesn't even know that the laptop computer has network hardware. Only the virtual machine can connect.

If you have connections with DVDFab, can you bring up the issue with them? The application must get files from the 'dvdfab.cn' servers. Perhaps there's an alternative way for me to get those files.

Thank You.

BTW, installing/updating directly from the Internet is just what's wrong with what Microsoft is doing. It is exactly the reason why I will not allow Windows to have access to the Internet.

[signals]

I understand what a proxy server is and how it works, I just have no idea how your unusual machine is operationally configured. I am afraid there is no practical way to do what you seek since 1)the files are too large and are proprietary and 2) there are several other reasons why DVDFab may need to occasionally phone home.

[Cuddly Squid]

Hi signals,

...I just have no idea how your unusual machine is operationally configured.

Gee. I don't think my machine is too unusual. Let me describe it. The Host is Windows7-64bit. There's one Guest running in a VirtualBox Virtual Machine. That Guest is Linux Mint 14. The Guest connects directly to the computer's WiFi hardware. The Host has networking installed, but the hardware driver is disabled. That's why the Host has no Internet access - or any network access for that matter. A web browser and email client in the host work, but they work off-line only. The Guest contains the main web browser & email clients. The Guest & Host share a directory named 'shared'. My email & download subdirectories are there. You can think of the Guest as a super-sandbox. I can destroy the Guest and recreate it from a stored image whenever I want, such as when I suspect it is infected (however, since the Guest is Linux, that's extremely unlikely). I assume you see the utility of this arrangement.

I am afraid there is no practical way to do what you seek since 1)the files are too large and are proprietary and 2) there are several other reasons why DVDFab may need to occasionally phone home.

Well, regarding "too large"... Huh? Too large for what? Too large to download? Isn't that what's happening now?

Regarding proprietary, I could use wireshark to capture updates, so if you think an Internet connection assures proprietary code security, think again.

Regarding DVDFab wanting to phone home: Why?

[signals]

Why do you always need to know the 'Why' of every characteristic of DVDFab? Thinking of building your own personal version? You should just assume that there are good reasons things are done the way they are. The purpose of this forum is not to satisfy idle curiosity. Your system is certainly odd, but I have not asked you 'Why'.

[Cuddly Squid]

Why do you always need to know the 'Why' of every characteristic of DVDFab?

Is there a problem with "Why"? "Why" is a good thing to know. "Why" is what every code developer needs to ask.

Thinking of building your own personal version?

Haha. Of course not.

You should just assume that there are good reasons things are done the way they are. The purpose of this forum is not to satisfy idle curiosity.

This issue is preventing me from buying the product. Isn't that reason enough?

Your system is certainly odd, but I have not asked you 'Why'.

I assumed you would know why -- there's that word again.

The DVDFab developers assumed that the target computer will be connected to the Internet. That's not a good assumption. There are corporate work stations that are not allowed to connect, and there are systems like mine that run virtual machines. It's not at all unusual. In fact, virtual machines are becoming more prevalent, especially with the advent of specialized CPU opcodes that explicitly support virtual machines.

Regarding my use of virtual machines: Are you familiar with Sandboxie ()? Well, I found that Sandboxie is not sufficient, so I went the whole-hog, virtual machine direction.

I virus clean other people's machines. I don't charge money for it, so it's in my interest to keep them virus free. I used to recommend Sandboxie and would set people up with it, but when I found it was inadequate, I switched to VirtualBox (). Afterall, Sandboxie is just a limited form of virtual machine. I recommend going all the way.

I suppose what you're really asking is, "Why am I isolating Windows?" Well, Microsoft is creating new vulnerabilities faster than they are patching the existing vulnerabilities. That and the fact that Microsoft has abandoned XP. In my opinion, a virtual machine running XP is an excellent throw-away system, perfectly fit for a virtual machine solution to surfing the net. The fewer people who run XP, the better. As XP fades, so will the virus threat to it as virus writers concentrate on Windows 8. In my personal machine, my VM runs Linux, but it could just as well run XP. The Host OS is Win7 and that's what my Blu-ray combo is connected to. That's what needs to run DVDFab, but the Win7 OS is NOT connected to the Internet.

I hope that's clear now. Feel free to ask questions.

Oh, one last note: The U.S. Federal Government has prohibited government use of Windows on the Internet. The Chinese Government has outlawed its official use on the Internet. I think the Russian Government has done the same. I think that the British & the French & the Germans are considering it too. Microsoft Windows poses a significant national security risk. I will not allow anyone I know to use it for on-line banking. In 40 years of computing, I've had 2 viruses: 'NYC' and 'Bagel'. I got NYC from a client's infected floppy disc (remember those?). It's a boot sector infector. Getting rid of it was trivial. Bagel, on the other hand, is a key-logging rootkit. It took me 4 months to get rid of it. It was delivered by a 'drive-by' trojan that I got when I merely visited a web site -- didn't click on anything. The web site had been hijacked. I isolated the virus and the trojan and disassembled them in order to figure out how I got it and how to get rid of it. I don't ever want to go through anything like that again.