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.VOB Files

The .VOB file extension is a file type used in all DVD media for audio and video playback.

All DVD movies stored in a DVD disc carry the .VOB file extension that contains multiplexed MPEG-2 video and Dolby Digital audio. These are the files, when activated by your DVD player (or computer playback software) that contain the video and audio components of the DVD - essentially they allow the DVD to play.

Opening .VOB Files

Individual .VOB files in and of themselves do not need to be "opened" - however they require two other support files that are part of the DVD file you are trying to play. It is the combination of the .VOB, .BUF and .IFO files that together play the video and audio files that enable DVD playback.

There are several third party applications that can playback DVD files (i.e. NERO Showtime, RealPlayer, WinDVD, winAmp, i-Tunes) not to mention multimedia players that likely came pre-installed as default a player in your PC or laptop. The most common .VOB player is Windows Media Player - because is is the default player associated with every Windows-based computer. In order to open and play a .VOB file you will need one of these video playback applications installed on your PC or laptop.

If you have downloaded or copied a .VOB file to your hard drive and can't play it you can try manually changing the file extension to .MPG or .MPEG and the .VOB file should still remain readable. Please note that the .MPG file format is not supported by the majority of MPEG-2 capable players. Some other file formats related to the .VOB files are, .IFO and .BUP which are required when burning DVD formats onto optical media.

Security Issues with .VOB Files

The file .VOB in general can be associated with any application that can interpret the MPEG-2 video format and the corresponding audio format multiplexed with it. The majority of security issues that deal with the .VOB file type is that it is an "executable" file that will automatically launch the DVD playback application you have associated with it - which can in turn expose your system to potential security threats. Once you activate the .VOB file you have absolutely no control over its actions.

There are some third party software applications that are capable of implementing a non-secure temporary file creation which can potential open your operating system to attack. This attack is executed during the copying of .VOB files from an optical media (the DVD) to your computer hard drive in preparation for editing or ripping.

Put simply malicious data can be appended to a .VOB file which is activated when you launch the .VOB file - depending on the specific actions programmed into the appended code the program can simulate your user privileges and can infect or otherwise destroy your system - depending on the nature of the embedded file. The most practical solution is to make sure that before ripping and burning .VOB files, you have trusted anti-virus, anti-spyware, spam controls, privacy software, a registry cleaner and data recovery tools activated and protecting your system. Scan the DVD with your installed anti-virus application before starting the ripping process and it is a good idea to have your computer backed up with a reliable data recovery utility in case there is an unforeseen problem.

Copying DVDs (.VOB files)

Making a copy of a DVD - otherwise known as "ripping" - is relatively simple. The process involves "decrypting" and "ripping" the DVD (including all of the .VOB files) to your hard drive and "shrinking" all of the files so they to fit back onto a standard 4.4GB. There are a few general steps you will need to follow to copy the .VOB files from a disc to your hard drive and back again to the 4.4GB DVD. You will need programs such as DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink that may not currently installed in your system but, are readily available on the Internet, in order to rip, shrink and copy DVDs.

Copy (rip) the DVD to the hard drive - this is more complicated than just dragging and dropping and needs a ripping application (such as DVD Decrypter) to remove the macrovision protection system and allow for the complete copying of all .VOB files.

Once the DVD has been ripped to your hard drive you will see a folder titled similarly to the DVD itself - inside there will be a folder called VIDEO_TS. Inside that folder will be a very long list of sequential files (.VOB, .BUF, .IFO) numbered, as vts_xx_y.vob, vts_xx_y.bup and vts_xx_y.ifo, one after the other. The "xx" refers to the title (chapter of the DVD) and the "y" as the individual part of the title. There can be a maximum of 99 titles with 10 parts along with the file vts_xx_0.vob, which contains the critical menu or navigational data.

Once the application has completed the ripping process you will have the option of leaving the files as is - in VideoTS format which many video playback applications will play. However this format will only play individual chapters at any one time. It is recommended you recompile the file with a recombining utility which re-establishes the original file structure and allows the DVD image to play normally. Downloaded and installing DVD Shrink will help accomplish this in two ways - it will recombine the raw TS files and at the same time compress the 8GB folder into a 4GB single file.

To recombine the TS files - launch your recombining application and select the folder in which all of the TS files reside. When the application has completed the process you have the option of burning the file image onto a new 4.4GB DVD or leaving it on your hard drive as is to be played by one of the installed video playback applications.

Third party software, such and DVD Decryptor and DVDFAB will enable you to copy an 8-GB commercial DVD to your hard drive and to copy it back to a 4-GB DVD. Newer DVDs have very advanced security features which you will need to bypass in order to decrypt and shrink the original DVD. Be mindful of international copyright laws around the duplication of DVDs.

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